Moonlight

If it hasn't become obvious already, I've been shopping around for a new show to get into. And I think I just hit the jackpot, assuming the show lasts. According to IMDB, six TWELVE* episodes have been shot so far. By comparison, 14 have been shot for Bionic Woman. The show is about a vampire detective, and, yes, that's been done many times before, but I really like the feel so far.

Partial list of predecessors: Angel, Forever Knight, P.N. Elrod's Vampire Files, and I feel like I'm missing an obvious one... Anita Blake almost counts. I've been into vampire stories since I was pretty little and saw "Love At First Bite." I was too little to realize it was a comedy, btw. Not kidding. When I saw it again years later I was a bit, um, shocked. On the other hand, it gave me a direct comparison between the way I saw things as a kid (probably 6 or so) and as an adult.

But this series held its own. One of the IMDB comments is that it's a Forever Knight rip-off, but I don't see it. Nick was a cop, and he was looking for a cure for his vampirism. That was established right off the bat in the pilot. This vampire, while not exactly happy about what he is, has shown no desire for a cure. His 'partner' is a reporter, not a doctor. The biggest similarity is that the pilot involves a wanna-be vampire murdering people, and, of course, leaving obvious fang marks in the neck. That was also the plot of the FK pilot, insofar as the murders, but the killer and the motive are entirely different. And it feels nothing like the Buffyverse. Honestly, it reminded me more of P.N. Elrod's books than of any of the similarly themed tv shows, but her books are set in 1930's Chicago. Moonlight is clearly set in modern times.

Okay, there was one similarity to Forever Knight that I thought was a bit glaringly obvious: the contacts used when Mick vamps out. Someone explain to me WHY, other than entertainment convention, the eyes would change appearance? They did it in Lost Boys, in most horror vamp movies I've seen... P.N. Elrod does a version of it, but in her case it's after feeding: the eyes turn blood red. No clue if there's any real physiological basis for that, but it makes more sense than "fangs come out; eyes go all glowy". But that's a minor nitpick. I really want this show to make it. I'd call myself a vampire junkie, but that has really bad connotations in the Anitaverse... Let's just say that I've been feeling deprived since Buffy and Angel went off the air.

So this one's a keeper. If it lasts.

*Just read further at IMDB and 12 episodes have been produced. Strangely, apparently only 6 of them star the main character. That or something didn't get updated properly `/^ So, worst case scenario, the show is cancelled tonight and in six months or so, all the eps are released on DVD. Sorry if I sound pessismistic; the shows I like the best nearly always wind up under the axe, so I tend to expect the worst.