TVSquad

Remember when rock 'n roll was to blame for teenagers being out of control? What about when John Lennon's quote about The Beatles being as big as Jesus drew the ire of the church and resulted in deejays advocating the destruction of LPs and singles?

Well, here's another missive from an "authority figure" about how pop culture is ruining today's youth. Sociologist Kristin Aune claims that Buffy, the Vampire Slayer is responsible for young women not attending church.

Dr. Aune, who's written Women and Religion in the West, and is a teacher at the University of Derby (that's in the U.K.), doesn't know if Buffy has also affected young men. Her research doesn't address if boys are abandoning the church, too, so I guess they're safe.

This is no joke, although it does sound like a good way to promote a book that would otherwise be ignored. Mentioning Buffy is a good way to let the world know that Dr. Aune wrote it.

Ewww! This poster is so creepy, it makes me want to hurl! And watch this show! Of course, the fact that Alan Ball is behind it -- the man who helmed one of my favorite shows ever, Six Feet Under -- has nothing to do with it. Nope, it doesn't. Okay, I'm lying. It has everything to do with it.

HBO's True Blood, starring Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, is set to premiere on Sept. 7 at 9 p.m. Here's the newly released poster for it. Makes you want to dig into a jar of strawberry jam, doesn't it?

Based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire novel series, the show follows the world of vampires set in small-town Louisiana. They're able to co-exist with humans by drinking a Japanese-manufactured synthetic blood. (Well, what fun is that?!)

Ladies and gentlemen and vampires, the winner of the TV Squad Nuttiest Fans Award 2008 is... Moonlight!

Punches were thrown, names were called, hearts were broken, but the TV Squad team has made its decision. Not only did Moonlight win the Readers Choice, but we decided that the fans of the show are the most scarily hardcore out of the five nominees.

This was a tough decision, with both the fans of Jericho and members of the Colbert Nation putting up a fair fight. All three groups have done considerable work for charity and have made their dedication well-known through various bizarre acts of fan-love. However, the overwhelming excitement for Moonlight has been compared to the likes of the the Beatlemania era. For a show that has lasted only one season, that's pretty darn impressive.

I experienced some of this manic fanaticism first-hand. As I have mentioned before, I attended the Moonlight panel at this year's New York Comic-Con. I spent the majority of the session in the secluded balcony seating, as I was genuinely a little freaked out by the shrieking horde below. Luckily, I had made it up there before the stars of the show, Alex O'Loughlin and Jason Dohring, appeared onstage. My eardrums would have burst otherwise, I swear. However, even that couldn't compare to the intensity of the crowd's reactions during the clips from the show itself. Words cannot describe the shrill, absolute glee that filled the room, especially when Shannyn Sossamon got a chair leg through the chest. It's stuff like this that drives the Moonlight fans crazy:



Fans have also teamed up with Red Cross in organizing dozens of blood drives across the country. Over 3,000 fans promised to donate a pint each in an effort to show their support for a possible Season Two. Even show star O'Loughlin joined in, serving as the official spokesman for the effort, as the drive followed him through various promotional appearances.

What is it about vampire-themed things that make fans extra nutty? Anne Rice's work has had incredible followings, the mediocre Twilight series has an unusually large fanbase and Sesame Street's Count has groupies lined up 'round the block. I guess ladies can't resist broody, pale men and their sharpened canines. If you need some convincing, check out some full episodes at CBS.com and reviews right here on TV Squad.

(S01E12) "I was human" - Coraline to Mick St. John

What a season ender! It wasn't really a cliffhanger, though. Sure, there were un-resolved threads (which I won't discuss 'til after the jump), but I thought it was a pretty decent ending to the season, without making me feel like I will chew my own arm off waiting for the next season (or the strike to end-- whichever comes first!). What did you think?

(S01E11) "I love you, too." Beth to Josh

I wish I could say this was a heart-breaking episode, but it wasn't. In fact, I'm torn because some parts of it were truly excellent, and others were pretty predictable. Let's unpack it a bit, though, and see if we can uncover whether it was a good episode or not. And by suggesting that we critique it, that is with the caveat that I am a big fan of the show-- but everything that is good should be able to stand up to a little scrutiny, yes?

Visually, the episode was stunning, starting with the opening shots of Mick working out, shirtless, in his apartment. I am pretty sure the voice over was talking about how vampires spend a lot of time alone at night while the rest of the world sleeps, but I was pretty much paying attention to Mick doing push-ups.

(S01E10) "I became human for you. Doesn't that count for anything?"-- Coraline

Awesome! This was a great episode. This show continues to up the ante and it gets better all the time. We finally got to know Josef a lot better. However, there is still enough mystery and intrigue left to keep me poised on the edge of my seat for the next episode. I only wish I knew when that would be.

Of course, this was the case with the most urgency for Mick yet: Find out who killed Josef Kostan. Mick's grief was so poignant and so great that I thought it was greatly affecting, even though I suspected Josef was still alive. It was absolutely great the very next moment when Beth and Mick walked into the apartment and Josef was sitting there asking them to find out who killed him. I adore him.

One of the best parts of this episode is that we still have no idea how Josef survived. It's almost like he is unkillable. I wonder if that is part of Josef's curse-- maybe he really can't die.

(S01E09) "I've never been almost killed before."-- Morgan

Now that Beth has discovered some of the secrets to her past, she is hellbent on discovering all of it. There were some definite inconsistencies, though, in what she said about it this week compared to last week. Last week, she said that she had always felt safe, and she knew it was because Mick had been watching over her. We even saw that in the scenes from last week.

This week, she tells a different story: She says she needs to find out the truth about her past in order to feel safe, and she doesn't know whether she will ever feel safe again. So, did she just start feeling unsafe when she started putting together the pieces? Mick is still her guardian angel, right? So, why won't she feel safe again?

(S01E07) "It's like one of those true stories that sounds more like fiction."-- Morgan Vincent

This was the best episode of Moonlight yet! Excellent. Everything about it was fantastic: It had a gripping storyline, well written, well performed. It was great! Of course, there were a couple of teeny inconsistencies, and I have to mention those, but in this case, think of it as the imperfections that make a Persian rug so exquisite.

First and foremost, it was nice to see Jason Dohring get more to do in this episode. His snarling and showing his teeth was exactly what we needed to see in a vampire who was four years old in 1603. His reluctance to jump to the balcony at Hank Mottola's house was odd, considering he is the one who is always telling Mick to embrace who he is. But I loved how he said, "Ugh," and then flew up beside Mick.

(S01E06) "Vampires can't really be trusted with pets."--Mick St. John

I'll go ahead and admit it: I like it, in episodic dramas, when subtleties of the plot further a developing theme or subplot. Bear with me here: Moonlight isn't a soap opera, because the storyline isn't continued every week. There are definite cases with beginnings and endings. However, we all know by now that at its heart, Moonlight masquerades or moonlights (ba-dum bum!) as the burgeoning love story between vampire Mick St. John and human Beth Turner. In the backdrop. we also learn more and more about vampirism and its culture. So, I appreciate when the investigation, in its fashion, furthers the love story every week, and this week did not disappoint me.

(S01E05) "I saw how you two looked at each other." -- Josh Lindsey

A big shout out to Isabelle Carreau for covering Moonlight for me last week. I was in Canada, and I really felt the pain of not being able to watch an episode online. Stupid ISP blocking. If you haven't heard yet, CBS has ordered four more scripts of Moonlight, which is promising for our current favorite vampire addiction. Of course, that could simply be due to the impending writers' strike, but considering the fact that cancellations have already been made, I choose to think of it as a good sign. Even so, I have to say that I enjoyed last week's episode, "Fever" more than tonight's "Arrested Development." One of the things Moonlight writers do well is to lay out Mick and Beth's relationship, layer by slow layer. Their attraction and their bond are growing almost painfully slowly, but each week we get more and more and more -- but not too much by a long shot.

(S01E03) I love it when form follows content, so I really enjoyed this episode. In fact, I think it was the strongest episode yet: It was tight, it had pathos and humanity, and it had humor. "The Red Cross doesn't mention that in their literature." It was a funny line, but Sophia Myles' delivery made it great.

In this episode, the characters are starting to find themselves. Beth is more driven by curiosity than anything else. It makes her good at her career, but it also helps her overcome any fear she has toward Mick. Unfortunately, it also puts her into dangerous situations. And as she tells Mick, "That's why it's a good thing I've got you around." Rather than thinking maybe Mick isn't such a good person to hang out with now, she considers him her own personal body guard, and is more driven than ever to solve cases. I think her drive to solve cases and her curiosity are more compelling to her than her news stories; in any case, a journalist like Beth will protect her source, so I think she will protect Mick's secret.

(S01E02) My name is Jen, and I have taken over reviewing Moonlight. If you have read some of the reviews so far, you will know that my colleague Rich Keller hated the show. Most of the commenters hated it too. I seem to have a higher tolerance for it, though, so here goes.

I watched this episode with my best friend, and she said, "If you like vampire smut, you kind of have to like this show." And we both like vampire smut. One other difference between my friend and me and Rich Keller is that we think Mick St. John is good-looking enough to tune to in every Friday night when we have nothing else to do. That might not be the greatest criteria in the world, but I don't understand why people tune in and watch Desperate Housewives week after week, so there you go.

Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, is coming back to HBO with the new series True Blood, based on the Southern Vampire books by Charlaine Harris.

It's been a couple years since we've mentioned the series, but Variety recently reported that the series was officially picked up by HBO. Both the books and the TV adaptation take place in a time when human beings and vampires live together, thanks to the creation of synthetic blood. A pilot starring Anna Paquin, Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell, Stephen Moyer and Brook Kerr was shot earlier this summer. Paquin plays the Louisiana waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who becomes romantically involved with Moyer's Bill Compton, a vampire.

Hot from this morning's Variety: NBC has purchased the rights to a new script by O.C. writer John Stephens. Warner Brothers TV will produce the show under a previous deal Stephens made with the peacock network.

The premise of the show? What starts as a normal cop-show takes a "hilariously horrifying" twist when the not-so-super police officers have to face the likes of vampires, mummies and other supernatural ghouls -- return of werewolf man?

It seems like there is plenty of drama on CBS's new vampire detective show Moonlight, and it hasn't even debuted. Just months after Angel co-creator David Greenwalt was hired to executive produce the show he left. The head honchos at CBS have tapped Dark Angel's Chip Johannessen to take the reigns from Greenwalt according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In addition to the Executive Producer difficulties, the cast of Moonlight has had more changes than Kelly Osbourne's hair color, including dropping Shannon Lucio earlier in the spring.