Williamson and Julie Plec--working from L.J. Smith's books, which actually preceded "Twilight"--mix these familiar elements into a crimson cocktail that even gets reasonable mileage out of its cliches, which ought to give this early riser a chance to establish some fan loyalty before the other networks launch their Thursday lineups.
No, it's not Twilight--but it's not bad, either. The Vampire Diaries, The CW's new fang-gang drama, successfully hitches the sanguinary sexuality of the vampire ethos to the in-group/out-group dynamic of the teen soap.
You will want all the extras who played vamps on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (which was great, by the way, and not to be blamed for this lackluster cousin) to return en masse to eat the cast of "Vampire Diaries," plus any remaining scripts.
The first series i've watched and the story who made me fall in love with vampires back when i was 8 years old... it brings back so many good memories! I always rewatch the series, especially season 1 (rewatching right now btw),that is my favorite season. I cried my eyes out watching the last episode. I almost turned off my humanity when the show was over, lol.
This is a solid show that has quite the fun cult following now. None of the writing is great, and the acting is hit or miss depending on the actor, but you do fall in love with the characters.
All of the actors and actresses are substantially good looking, which is appreciated; even though the program clearly didn't shell out the paychecks to hire even a single gorgeous actress who happens to also possess large breasts- truly disappointing. By and large, the only acting ability through the entirety of the Vampire Diaries comes from Ian Somerhalder, who plays the highly attractive, cunning & intelligent, aggressive, Damon Salvatore. Aside from Somerhalder's Salvatore, the only other acting, of the entire cast, that you may find captivating, even explosive, occurs seldomly when Nina Dobrov plays the part of Katherine from rare time to time; with many seasons and episodes to the show. Aside from Damon Salvator and the all-too-few Katherine occurrences; prepare to be lulled to sleep by how boring and empty every line, by just about any character, comes across as being. Prepair for each moment of dialog to sound sexy in a depressive, detached, ethereal manner; even by characters who aren't supposed to be considered sexy, and even in moments where great looking men and ladies in real life situations wouldn't be giving a flying F how sexy they sound; due to currently being pissed off, frightened, or in any emotional state or situation when even the sexiest would actively be making sure they're not constued in such manner. In other words, consider the Vampire Diaries to be an excellent choice of show to throw on during nights where you'd love to fall asleep, yet no matter how hard you try to do that, sleep is not forthcoming. The banal and insipid acting performances of pretty much the entire cast will put you to bed for you. Don't worry if you can't follow all the elements of plot. The Vampire Diaries is just one of those shows that most fail at following or remembering the various plots, or even have a remote idea of what's going on. Is it because the program is soo intelligently written most are floored with unexpected surprise! Is it because so many different highly important things are happening, even in the same episode, you can't possibly keep track of it all! Is any given episode so awesome and gripping you're emersed in far too much excitement to know what's going on! No, no, the only difficulty in really understanding or remembering the plotline is simply due to the show really not being able to hold your attention- perhaps you've already started to yawn. At least you may end up having sex dreams of small chested lovely ladies; or, if you prefer, studly men with voices as monotone and uncaptivating as Ben Stein's.