TVSquad

First of all, I should probably apologize for the title. I just couldn't help myself.

You may have missed it in all the excitement and hullabaloo over a certain Comic-Con convention over the weekend, but BBC America debuted a new show on Saturday night. A little thing called Being Human. You know how popular the vampires are with the kids these days, right? True Blood is huge. This one's got 'em. How about werewolves? New Moon's rocking the werewolf action. This one's got 'em. And a ghost, too, for good measure. (As Joel reported, they also presented at yesterday's BBC America press tour session, which generated far less hullabaloo).

What's an oddity about this show is that the premise sounds like an outrageous comedy idea. "Okay, here's what we got. A vampire and a werewolf move into an apartment with a ghost, where they try to live normal everyday lives." Shenanigans? Sure, but it's so much more. It's unexpectedly amazing television.

So few shows achieve greatness in their first episodes. Within the hour, I felt like I knew all three of our principal characters.

• John Mitchell - Our resident vampire, he's every bit as charming and good-looking as the stereotype. And he certainly has the bloodlust, but he's trying to be good. He's really, really trying.
• George Sands - Our werewolf, brilliant but as socially awkward and clumsy as you can imagine. He's got a great heart, but is absolutely riddled with anxieties.
• Annie Sawyer - Our ghost, she haunts the house the guys live in. She's insecure, a little giddy and completely fixated on the man she was to marry before she died. She's a little needy, but she's been through some crap what with they dying and all, so we can forgive her.

I like how they immediately tripped up some of the stereotypes. The vampires are running around in broad daylight having a gay old time. Thus, they can hide in plain sight and infiltrate every aspect of our society, creating a secret society within. They're Cylons. Or something like that.

The vampires, being as long-lived as they are, are the only one of the three to have built an organized society. Now I say that having not seen the rest of the series. It's just as possible that the werewolves and ghosts have structured societies, as well.

And John himself, while he's trying to not feed, did turn a woman into a vampire in a moment of weakness. A weakness that leads to the death of the woman George had a huge crush on. There was a beautiful moment in the alley as she was bleeding out, and you could see both John and George wrestling with whether or not John should save her by turning her.

That's not to say there aren't stories to unfold with George and Annie, as well. There's more about Annie's death and her former fiance; otherwise why would they have made him such a part of the series -- he's their landlord. And George has apparently made a connection with some dude in a hat who's followed him home.

It's not all dark, either. There are some genuine moments of humor that come through the characters and their personalities. When Annie's fiance came to the apartment the first time, I found myself laughing out loud several times at George's attempts to "play it cool." That sound? It was a bird upstairs. That I killed. With a shoe. Uh ... And of course, John, who is so cool, asking George how he did it. How did you stay so cool and collected?

Random highlight of the first episode: George's transformation in the apartment. It showed as such physical agony for George, you could see the empathy on Annie's face as she watched him contorting in pain. And John, sitting outside with the television; to protect it from the wolf's rage; was just as pained, though we can assume he's seen this many times before. It was a beautifully raw moment for all three.

If you missed it, you can catch the first episode all week on BBC America. Thursday at 8 and 11 PM, Friday at 1 AM, and even Saturday at 8 PM before the new episode at 9 PM. If you enjoy True Blood, Twilight, Supernatural, Buffy, Angel, or really just quality television, you owe it to yourself to at least give this one a try.