TVSquad

Well, you guys were absolutely right. Season five of Angel is awesome, and I'm so glad I slugged through some of the earlier seasons that didn't exactly float my vampire boat.

The writing in season five is excellent, the characters are both fun and multidimensional (especially Wesley, whose story only gets more and more tragic), and it's just a great all-around season. Here are five reasons why I loved this season as much as any TV show (including Buffy).

Last week, I devoted my first Jane After Dark column to my top five Buffy moments. I was thrilled to read all the responses, both here on TV Squad and at Whedonesque, where the post was picked up. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are a passionate bunch!

This week, I thought it would be fun to delve into my favorite Buffy hookups. One that didn't make the list but holds a special place in my heart is Giles and Joyce. It was a fleeting moment, but one that was fun and would have made for great storytelling had it continued.

But who to pair Buffy up with -- Spike, Angel or Riley? What about Spike and Drusilla? And while Willow and Tara had a special love affair, there's a lot to be said for Willow and Oz. And what of Xander? Sure, he and Anya had a fun romance, but his hookups with Cordelia and even Faith were intense in their own way.

Oh the choices! Read on for my thoughts, and please add your own in the comments below.

Now here's some news I can sink my teeth into. Aside from my Buffy fixation, I spend my days and nights awaiting the return of Alan Ball's True Blood on June 16. I'm on a vampire roll.

The HBO show has just picked up Evan Rachel Wood, who will play a vampire queen in the second season. You know, she sort of has that vampire look to her. Or rather, the goth look I imagine a female vamp might have. I think she'll be great in the role.

Wood's character is the Queen of Louisiana, a 400-year-old vampire who rules over the undead residents of the Bayou State. She's a pivotal character in Books 2 and 3 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels on which the series is based (loosely, some would say).

I'm starting a new column here on TV Squad called "Jane After Dark." Some of you know I work the "night shift" here at the Squad, editing and scheduling posts into the wee hours. I'm a big multi-tasker, so I also use those hours to get caught up on all the great shows I've missed along the way.

Over the past year, I've watched some really cool shows, including Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Moonlight, Weeds, Entourage, Gossip Girl, and many others. So I thought it would be fun to write about my After Dark musings, and I hope you'll chime in with your own thoughts about whatever I'm watching.

I just finished Joss Whedon's magnificent Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I loved so many things about the show. No one could look as stylish as Buffy as she slayed those vampires. Angel and Spike were both hot in their own way. The love between Willow and Tara was sweet and gentle, but also powerful. And the characters continued to grow and evolve throughout the series. By the last episode, you really felt like you knew these characters and had grown right along with them.

I'm neck-deep in the midst of a vampire obsession. I'm one of the Twi-hards eagerly awaiting the Nov. 20 release of Stephenie Meyer's next vamp-flick, New Moon. I was immediately sucked into HBO's True Blood, and can't wait for its return in May.

I recently sped through the short-lived Moonlight and fell in love with Mick St. John. And its taken me all of about a week to get to season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (though I don't know if I can take much more of the on again-off again romance of Buffy and Angel - don't tell me how it plays out).

I'm sure I'll be equally enthralled with The CW pilot, Vampire Diaries. It doesn't hurt that Steven R. McQueen, grandson of the legendary Steve McQueen has landed a lead role. I bet even those not as enamored with vamps will tune in just to see him: Does he look like his grandfather? Act like him? Have the same "something"?