Is True Blood really worth wading through four seasons to catch up?
Also, too, here is the ear worm I have been dealing with since 7 am this morning:
You’re welcome. Or, I’m sorry.
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.
Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.
I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.
When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.
Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.
Optimism opens the door to great things.
Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard
Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.
Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.
Technically true, but collectively nonsense
Bark louder, little dog.
The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.
All hail the time of the bunny!
Come on, man.
Not loving this new fraud based economy.
Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.
In after Baud. Damn.
These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.
Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.
I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.
Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.
Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.
Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.
It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.
Joseph Nobles
True Blood is really soapy, but I find it a lot of fun. Plenty of skin for everyone. Watch the first season. If you get into the characters, keep going.
freelancer (iPhone)
I have a huge crush on Anna Paquin, but bailed after Season 2.
MikeJ
The books had the problem of many series, they recapitulated the whole series at the start of each book. But still kinda fun.
JR
It’s bad softcore porn.
Odie Hugh Manatee
I don’t know if I’ve ever heard it nor am I going to subject myself to seeing if I have or not. Good try. :)
I’ll just toss out the title of a song that I consider an ear worm: The Bangles: Manic Monday
If it’s an ear worm to you John, you’re welcome! ;p
Helen
Not a True Blood fan or even a series TV fan. Except for currently “Breaking Bad” and previously “West Wing”
But, Cole I’m with you on 2 things. Yeah I can’t sleep either. And young Cole? makes me understand the breeders even though I don’t wanna do it. Until I see babies like young Cole. And then I get over it.
trollhattan
Nope.
It was intriguing the first season but progressively collapsed into a soapy mess. They haven’t had an interesting story arc in seasons. (Subscribing to HBO I feel obligated to watch occasionally, to my personal shame.)
Odie Hugh Manatee
John Yoo, quoted from an article at the GoS:
Shorter Yoo: Obama is a bigger criminal than Bush was!
No Yoo, Obama is freeing people, you were into imprisoning and torturing them.
Quite a difference, Johnny boy.
Hunter Gathers
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Refusing to deport 800,000 immigrants – bad.
Crushing a child’s testicle – good.
skippy
no on true blood.
they lost me at the unsubtle hint of necrophelia rape when main vampire guy arises from his self-imposed shallow grave hibernation to ravish anna paquin in the dirt. tho i admit i finished out the season, i believe it was 2.
Ed Dane Defender of Donuts
That reminds me … I’ve had this song stuck in my head all day … well for the last half at least …
Bell Biv Devoe – Do Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1V3XSHr_Yg
Helen
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Who the FUCK asked John Yoo his FUCKING opinion on this?
This is why I’m outta here. Really? Even Ireland is striking back against the priests.
Yutsano
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Ask Yoo if he knows what prosecutorial discretion is. Then ask him how a moron hack like him got a job at Berkeley.
Mark S.
In John Yoo’s Constitution land, if the president decides it’s a matter of national security, then he is permitted to just kill 800,000 aliens.
Omnes Omnibus
I refuse to even recognize Yoo as a qualified commentator on the law.
Now, as people may know, it has, sad as it may be, become my habit to spend many Friday evenings reading Balloon Juice, having a couple (few, several) drinks, and trolling YouTube for something interesting. Well, tonight, I found this: The Clash, live in Paris, February 27, 1980. Links in three parts: first, second, and third.
JenJen
Hell no, it’s not worth it. I’ve enjoyed the show since the beginning, I’ve seen every episode, every season, but it’s not one of those shows I’d recommend watching all the way through from the beginning, like The Wire, or Breaking Bad. True Blood is more of a a guilty pleasure.
Then again, you don’t get Mad Men, so…
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Also reading the threads and drinking, but trying to stay away from YouTube and the inevitable downward spiral that would ensue.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: But I found a Clash concert from 1980 in Paris. The Clash. Paris. It made me happy.
Valdivia
I saw season one which I loved and season two which was kind of meh. But will catch up since I’m trying to not hear anything bout politics these next two weeks. That, reading and instagram will have to keep me sane through silly season. :)
Helen
Drinks? Hey Steeplejack and Omnes. Dunno what you are talking about.
But seriously, the Clash in 1980? I am soooo not a music fan. If it’s not Billy Joel or Elton John I don’t have a clue. When I need to know who is singing I hold the phone up to my friend Devon’s ear (she is 8) and ask her.
Please do not hate me. At least I who my congressperson and senators are. Devon does not.
RadioOne
I think True Blood has one of the best opening credits on TV right now. You could open an episode of True Blood by having two characters talk for five minutes about how best to varnish a hardwood floor, break to the opening credits, and still be interested in how the rest of the episode will play out. It’s silly, campy as hell, and soapy, but it’s fun.
Xecky Gilchrist
@JR: It’s bad softcore porn.
I won’t argue with that except to say it’s kinda good bad softcore porn.
Though I wasn’t able to stay interested in it past season 2, FWIW.
Xecky Gilchrist
@RadioOne: And yes, this. It’s worth watching some True Blood just for that intro.
chris
To answer your question about True Blood: No.
This has been another edition of Simple Answers to Simple Questions.
(And yes, I watched every episode until last season, when I tried to keep up, sorta, but kept seeing visions of Henry Winkler in a leather jacket and water skis.)
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Hunter Gathers: @Helen:
and others… :)
If the Republicans think that Yoo gives them any credibility… oh FFS, they don’t give a shit about credibility. It isn’t necessary when they can lie endlessly and not be called on it by the bought-and-paid-for M$M.
Hell, their rich ‘owners’ own the damned M$M that refuses to confront them with their lies!
Omnes Omnibus
@Helen: My left eye is twitching, but I do not hate you. I just do not understand you. I know my Congresscritters as well. Music is important to me in a way that it is obviously not important to you.
RossInDetroit
I don’t watch TV but we’ve been enjoying True Blood on DVD. It’s uneven after season 2, but when it’s good it’s great. It has a bit of that great Whedon dialogue thing going on here and there. Which makes me wish I could watch Buffy all over again for the first time.
Arclite
The first season of True Blood is good, and is a complete arc. Watch that at least. I have the second season sitting here on my shelf and haven’t been motivated to watch it yet. Still watching GoT.
J. Michael Neal
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m going to see Marillion in Chicago next week. How does that compare?
Helen
@RossInDetroit: Yeah – it’s weird right? I cannot understand it at all. Music is soooo important to so many people but not to me. OK I am thinking here. My mom was from Ireland. I can sing lots of Irish songs. She died when I was a little girl. Maybe that’s the music that is important to me?
Omnes Omnibus
@J. Michael Neal: If it makes you happy…. It does nothing for me, but I try not to judge. I have always been an incipient/recovering music snob – not to say proto-hipster.
JGabriel
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The story that’s the source of the line “Dingoes ate my baby” is actually kind of tragic:
I had no idea.
Maybe we should retire that line from the rotating header?
.
Omnes Omnibus
@Helen: I presume this was aimed at me. If the songs stick with you, they are important to you. OTOH, music is not everyone’s thing. My brother likes songs that sound good to him, but he doesn’t really give a shit about it.
Who did what and why matters to me. For others – they like the sounds. Wine is something that I like, but I have a palate that registers that this is crap, this is decent, this is good, and this really fucking awesome. That is as far as I can go. Whatever.
Can't Be Bothered
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0lMQl6ZMGs
There. You’re caught up. The show is…. not good. But then again you don’t seem to have the most discriminating taste (as evidenced by your rabid posting about Chuck until that show was finally, mercifully put down) so you may like it.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@JGabriel:
Wow, I never knew the story behind the line. Now that this is known, I would think that it’s not much of a joke or tagline.
She will never get back what she lost but it’s good to see people of Australia show contrition for their railroading and making a joke of her loss.
Just wow.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
I give you joy of it. But if I go over to the YouTube I know that three hours from now I will be listening to theramin music (alt-theramin, not the crappy regular stuff) and/or looking at snippets of insect fear films from the 1950s. Already had to tear myself away from Mothra on TCM.
electricgrendel
No. The first season is okay. I really liked the second and third seasons. However, the fourth season is just phenomenally bad. Truly, mind wrenchingly terrible.
That said, I made it through more season of True Blood than I did Game of Thrones. In both, though, the night is dark and full of titties. So- your mileage may vary.
Steeplejack
@Helen:
We all have our categories in the Juice hive mind.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Oh god, I saw that Rodan, Mothra, etc, were on and turned off the TV. I couldn’t face them tonight.
Omnes Omnibus
@electricgrendel: Winter is coming. Just saying.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
I was tempted but I was strong. Although I did watch 10 minutes of Mothra when the islanders were doing National Geographic–with–jazz-hands dancing to summon the hatching of Mothra.
ETA: FYWP.
Helen
@Omnes Omnibus: You presume correctly. Bad click on my part. I am a visual girl. I see colors first then words then patterns.
As far as wine goes. I am a pino grigio girl. Can’t do red. Makes me drunk like you you not believe.
To each his/her own.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Good man. We are here for you. If/when they put on an Audrey Hepburn marathon, I am toast.
joes527
traveling sucks.
hotels suck.
airplanes suck.
i will sleep in my own bed tonight.
that is all.
Omnes Omnibus
@Helen: Red, huh?
::rubs hands evilly::
Helen
@Omnes Omnibus:
Rut Roh – and I read your conversation with Steeplejack. Are you boys (you’re boys right?) saying that Mothra and Rodan are on MY TV RIGHT NOW??????
Tell me where!!!!!
Janet Strange
@JGabriel: I think so too. I never understood that being used as a tag line and cringed every time it came up. Maybe because I never saw the movie or heard anyone joke about it. I’ve always been mystified why Cole would think a child being killed was funny. It seemed so out of character.
Omnes Omnibus
@Helen: Boys, yes. The Japanese monster movies are on TCM tonight. I cannot tell you where they are in the process though.
Steeplejack
@joes527:
Maybe I didn’t do enough of it, but I loved traveling on business back in my corporate software days. I love sleeping in hotel rooms, I love the feeling of skimming the surface of a mostly unknown place, I love the feeling of being totally outside my day-to-day rut, etc. But this was before 9/11, when airline travel was at least bearable. Now I hate to fly, but I’m usually happy when I get to my destination.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: The non-airline parts of travel are still great. Airlines are doing their best to make flying suck.
Steeplejack
@Helen:
Well, they were before, on Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Now it’s Hausu (just starting) and then Empire of Passion, two Japanese supernatural thrillers from the ’70s that may or may not be sufficiently cheesy.
Steeplejack
@Janet Strange:
I believe the joke aspect was that it was used in Seinfeld. I don’t remember the context, but it I think it was Elaine somehow mocking the movie. That sort of put it at a couple of removes from the actual tragedy.
Okay, here it is. Let history judge.
trollhattan
@Steeplejack:
In an extremely odd pairing, Country Music Teevee showed “Blazing Saddles” tonight. Presumably unironically. The sheriff was still near.
JGabriel
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Janet Strange:
I think most of us knew it as the name of Oz’s band in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and didn’t realize it was a reference to an actual event.
ETA: Thanks, Steeplejack. I didn’t know it was a Seinfeld joke too.
.
Helen
@Steeplejack: Yeah they are not there now.
trollhattan
Teevee alert: Finished tonight’s Maher and the ending crawl said next week Rachel Maddow and the Fonzie of freedom will be on. Last time Gillespie was on Maher he didn’t smack him properly, I don’t think that’s likely to be a problem this go around.
pjcamp
No, it’s not but you should do it anyway because it’s fucking hilarious. Especially Denis O’Hare. You cannot miss that.
Steeplejack
@trollhattan:
The unpaid intern who was allowed to draw up the late-night schedule and who hasn’t seen a movie from earlier than 1990 probably looked at the title, thought “Western” and slotted it in. He’s pissed that he didn’t get the gig at MTV (or at least VH1, for chrissakes).
Joseph Nobles
@Steeplejack: Hausu! Oh, my god, you must watch it once. That movie is flipping nuts.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
The movie being A Cry in the Dark (1988), with Meryl Streep doing a full-on Ozzie accent. The Seinfeld episode came out in 1991, so this would have still been floating around in the pop culture zeitgeist.
I’m surprised at how many people were unaware of the original incident until it came up again in the news this last week. Another of the artifacts of getting old, I guess. You remember stuff that happened because you were there. And I wore an onion on my belt, because that was the style.
Steeplejack
@Joseph Nobles:
It’s on in the background, and I have to confess I am feeling the gravitational pull. If you tell me there’s nudity in it I will be lost.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Give me five bees for a quarter.
People really did not know the the reference(s)? I am surprised.
Well, I am off to bed, but I shall leave you with some revolutionary music.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Okay, I’m going to click that link, but if I get sucked into the YouTube maelstrom [. . .]
[Shakes fist menacingly]
ETA: Damn it to hell. Went from that straight to “Someday Soon.” It’s my knee-jerk Judy Collins reaction.
The Marat/Sade piece was good too.
ETFA: I can already see myself dropping into Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Pure Prairie League, etc. I don’t even need YouTube. Eek. I am feeling a burning thirst for steel guitar right now.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Seriously, I am going to bed, but Someday Soon is a very good song.
Kittehs to the rescue
Hell no. Season 4 was especially bad (what’s the point of having a gazillion characters if you can’t do anything interesting with them), but the series never really took off.
Season 1 being uneven I could live with: there was a lot of potential. (Although it should have been much better: FFS Alan Ball made “Six Feet Under” before this.)
Season 2 improved but at the same time it wasted lots of time of “look at us aren’t we scandalous” scenes that came up over and over again.
Each episode of season 3 took a wild ride on the roller-coaster of quality: one scene could be fantastic, the next could be cringe-worthy. The last three episodes of the season were mostly rubbish though. Also, one of the main characters had become a annoying whining mess, and yet she has survived to this day while other far more interesting characters have bit the dust.
Season 4 was terrible: entire story arcs that just went nowhere, lots of attention of uninteresting minor characters, yet more supernatural elements were introduced while the series couldn’t be arsed to do anything substantial with the ones they had.
Joseph Nobles
@Steeplejack: No nudity that I can recall. But one lady gets eaten by a piano.
Steeplejack
@Joseph Nobles:
I got halfway sucked in anyway. It has that cringeworthy sexy-schoolgirl-infantilization thing that is so bad that you think it’s going to be good but then no it’s just bad. Managed to tear myself away and come back to the computer.
Thoughtcrime
@Omnes Omnibus:
Rude Boy & Man In Black:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGVSTsgcCvw
The prophet Nostradumbass
Weird, Michael Moore seems to have come to his senses, if at least for one tweet’s time.
The prophet Nostradumbass
Shitheaded crap:
My brother, to my mom, Friday morning: “(X) thinks you don’t like her”. (He knows it is not true) I think I have the most idiotic, shitheadded brother on the planet. Goddamnit.
Raven
Yesterday there was much pearl-clutching about 50 year old men leering at 24 year old women. So the first comment is “Plenty of skin for everyone”. Make up your fucking minds.
Jess
Reeeeally enjoyed the first three seasons of True Blood, especially the satire of Bible Belt “culture.” Lots of fun. Goes down especially well with gin’n’juice. Only saw bits and pieces of season 4, but it looked like a major disappointment. Oh well.
Anybody following season 3 of Justified? (Don’t have cable, don’t keep up with these things.) How’s that going?
Joey Maloney
Anybody following season 3 of Justified? How’s that going?
It ended with a hillbilly reenactment of the Black Knight scene from The Holy Grail.
Timmy Olyphant is a lot of fun to watch, but they’re going to have to come up with a better Big Bad for season 4 if they want to keep my attention. Otherwise I’ll stick with Sons of Anarchy for my boy-soap opera needs.
As for True Blood, read the books instead. They’re better. Plus the author is a really nice person and if you buy the books you’ll be contributing more directly to her kids’ college fund.
Miss Mouse
I actually just finished watching the first three seasons last night in a two-week marathon, and am about to borrow the fourth season. It’s not be best show that HBO has done, but I’ve enjoyed it anyway. There are some episodes that really draw you in and make you want you to keep watching, and some episodes that just fall flat. Sookie is also annoying throughout the series, but there are other characters that I really enjoy watching.
If you want something to pass the time late at night that doesn’t require too much effort to watch (ie: Deadwood is amazing but you really need to pay attention to get what they are saying) then I would definitely recommend it.
Just be careful where you pause it! My dinner delivery arrived right in middle of one of Jason’s and Amy’s v-trips and the delivery guy gave me the sickest look because freeze frame was straight from a porn.
RossInDetroit
Regarding True Blood:
I finally got around to liking Lafayette’s boyfriend Jesus and they went and … altered his role. He was interesting and I’m pissed.
Needs more Faeries.
I like Bill better as King.
I liked Eric better as a mental defective.
I hate Sookie feeling like she can have them both. They’re DEAD and they’re MONSTERS! get a nice boyfriend. Why does she hang around that hellhole? It’s not like she’s a Slayer or has to finish High School.
The Witches thing didn’t work for me. Too many random possessions, though the mom-ghost part was well done.
I’m glad Lafayette has toned down his fabulousness. That was way over the top and became the one note of his character. Nelsan is an interesting actor and I want to see more of him.
I wanted Pam to finish rotting. She has it coming, the bitch.
Werewolves = Bikers. I get it already.
Culture of Truth
TB has interesting characters and scenarios, but terrible plots. It’s a shame. I have enjoyed some of it, but it’s not that great.
McJulie
True Blood is like Buffy’s dumb, slutty cousin. Questionable life choices, sure, but fun at parties.
Evaluating its quality is tricky, because at its absolute best, it’s still a cheesy WTF supernatural southern gothic soap opera turned up to a giddy buckets-o-blood eleven. It’s a B movie. But a good B vampire movie is one of my favorite things in life, so I’m there.
Season 4 was a disappointment because the actual scenes were too frequently boring — dull is death to a B movie. But I hear Season 5 has VAMPIRE INCEST…
Ron
@trollhattan: I saw that too. Real Time is worth watching generally anyway, but that should be extra special.
Joolz
I watched most of seasons 1, 2 and 3 of True Blood and then stopped watching because I realised that in every episode I was hoping that at least one, if not most, of the main characters would just die so that I wouldn’t have to watch them any more.
RossInDetroit
@Joolz:
If you get to the end of Season 4 a lot of that happens. Though it’s more like cast layoffs than plot driven character changes.
Mousebumples
I enjoy True Blood, myself – and I just recently rewatched (most of) the episodes in all the seasons. Yes, there was some judicious FFing going on, for the rewatch, but – overall – I enjoy it.
I try not to take it too seriously, for starters, and just try to enjoy it for what it is. A fun, campy, and sometimes ridiculous show that’s filled with sex and nudity. (C’mon, it’s on HBO. Like we should be expecting anything different?)
EDIT: Also, regarding all the character deaths, etc., I don’t know that that necessarily means that the actors/actresses are done on the show. For example, Sookie’s grandma has reappeared on the show various times after her death. Same with a few other characters. Given recent Lafayette revelations, I’d expect his boyfriend to appear now and again too.
I think that the reappearance of dead people on the show is similar to some other supernatural shows whose names escape me right now. Just because they’re dead doesn’t mean they’re done.
meander
“Dingoes Ate My Baby” was the name of the Oz’s band on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Atticus Dogsbody
Nope.
YellowJournalism
@Mousebumples: You mean supernatural shows like Supernatural? How many times have the Winchester brothers died?
Bubblegum Tate
E-40’s version, “White Girl,” is pretty good, too. (No, he’s not actually talking about women.)
Shinobi
I like true blood. (And not just because Eric Northmann is the sheriff of my heart.) The first season especially started out with some interesting allegories to gays in the US and vampires. And that does continue a bit with some of the vampire hate groups.
Though, I don’t know if I would worry about “catching up” because honestly I prefer to wait until the season is over and watch all the episodes. It is one of those shows where the episode ends and you’re like “BUT WHAT HAPPENS.” I hate this.
So I would just watch it if you enjoy it and then watch the 4th season when you can. Watching it live is overrated and torturous.
boss bitch
Love Love Love True Blood. It’s awesome! Watch all of it. Now! New season started already.
OmerosPeanut
It’s very campy and fun, but it’s not great television. If you ever do show-watching parties with friends, I’d suggest catching up 1-2 episodes per party if they’re game. Otherwise, hold off unless you get a strong urge.
Diana
can we have an Avengers thread sometime?
Just saw it and oh boy for what it is (a comic-book movie) it is perfection.
Diana
I apologize for the previous question, I found the avengers thread.
And, sure enough, people were discussing which gem of the Infinity Gauntlet was reflected in Loki’s spear. That was the kind of discussion I was looking for, thank you!!!
Monkey Faced Liberal
John:
True Blood is worth it. Or at least worth a try.
Just make sure to watch it while drinking a lot of red wine. :-)
Janet Strange
I had no idea. I never watched Buffy or Seinfeld, so I never thought of it as anything but a terrible tragedy – parents were out camping and a wild animal killed their child. (I always believed the parents, by the way, from when it happened.)
Interesting how we understand things so differently depending on what we’re exposed to in pop culture. I think that’s why we have trouble talking to extreme right-wingers. We have no idea what certain topics and phrases mean to someone who watches Fox and listens to Rush, etc. So they’re always blindsiding us.