Blood Bonds True Blood Letter Writing Campaign
Many of us have been dismayed, disappointed and upset with the direction that True Blood has taken in Season Two. As such, we at Blood Bonds have decided to organize a letter writing campaign in order to inform HBO and the creators of True Blood about how we feel.
Please Read the Following
Before I give the addresses of HBO in which to mail our letters, I want to give a mission of what this campaign is. It is NOT an attack and it is NOT a demand. I do not want to write angry letters to HBO that attack the creators of the show and demand things out of them. I do not want to put them down or sling insults. This is NOT a campaign of slurring.
What this campaign is designed to do is inform HBO and the creators about how we feel about the direction the show has taken. We want to be polite, respectful and consciencious. For if we aren’t, how will our words and opinions be heard? They will not. Our opinions and views will be dismissed as nothing more than those of fanatics and extremists if we attack, insult or demand. Therefore I implore you all to be strong in your intentions but honourable in your language.
Not only that, I don’t want us to be brushed under the rug because we are viewed as extreme bookies or overardent Eric fans. Let’s keep the cheerleading at a minimum.
Some ideas you may want to convey in your letter:
- Disappointment with the oversimplified portrayal of characters that lack any depth. Eric is a villain. Bill is the saint. The second they give the character any depth, they take it away. Eric’s good deeds are not given credit to, like saving Sookie’s life and Lafayette’s leg. Bill’s unsavoury characteristics are brushed under the rug and the writing absolves his action. The two speeches in the finale which made it clear that Bill was “the hero” even though his methodology was questionable and using Lorena as the blame for all of Bill’s actions before he was released as possible examples. We want to see more depth in the characters.
- The lack of strength shown in Sookie. She is constantly relying on Bill to save her, acting like a damsel in distress, instead of taking matters into her own hands. She only does so when he has to, not because a situation calls for it. It takes her power away and it’s like she needs Bill to tell her what she needs to do before she does it. She needs to be able to stand on her own two feet.
- Character consistency. While Sookie was more consistent this season…she was still bi-polar. An example would be her behavior in Episode 3 which was contrary to her behavior in Episodes 1. 2 and 4. Other examples would be the lack of follow through with Bill’s less than good actions and Eric’s grief over the loss of Godric in Episode 11.
Being that I have two addresses and is more True Blood related. Let’s prioritize what we will write with for each. One is an HBO address, to its offices at HQ in New York. Since they are the suits, we could include some details and data.
- You could point out how a great episode like “I Will Rise Up” pushed their ratings through the roof, a jump from 4.5 million viewers to 5.3 million viewers for “New World in My View” and then dropped to 5.2 million viewers for “Frenzy” when the episode was not as good, leaving the finale, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin'” with only 5.1 million viewers. You can even cite your data to : http://tvbythenumbers.com/
The Addresses
Snail Mail
True Blood
HBO
1000 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036True Blood
c/o HBO/Your Face Goes Here Entertainment
2500 Broadway
Suite 400
Santa Monica, CA 90404
general@hbo.com
Phone
212-512-1208
Once again, should you choose to participate with our letter writing campaign, I urge you to please be consciencious, polite and respectful.
Thank you.
~simba_317
We want to hear from you! We'd love to hear what you think about the Southern Vampire Novels and True Blood. 
Blood Bonds 
This is a great idea. I love this show so much, I don’t want people thinking they know what we want to ruin it.
We won’t let you down, Simba!
Will do simba!
Hey,I wonder if we will hear about Sam having erotic dreams about Bill next season?? LOL..somehow I bet AB sweeps that under the rug.
Dude, another homoerotic Bill moment? Hell’s yes! Is Bill making Sam attracted to him, so he won’t be attracted to Sookie? Will we see Sam do it ‘doggy style’? lol.
~simba_317
I will not be writing any letter. Please remember that this is a one hour show. They have to leave some aspects of the character’s well, character, up to the inteligance of the viewer. If it was constantly added in how sweet Eric was, I would barf… Eric is Popular for a reason.. he’s the bad boy. If they spent much of that hour focusing on flaws or praise of a character I would be very disapointed and would probably lose interest. This is not a soap opera. Season 2 just ended, and while that last episode sucked, overall the show is great just the way it is!!!
ok, great that is your opinion and everyone needs to respect that as we ask the same of you. Please don’t yell your opinion sweetie, it’s impolite.
NO ONE wants AB to spend an hour raising up E, he already does that with Bill…… wellllllll it’s true. So I think really TB is soapy enough. More than making E who he is in the books, I want to see Bill as he is in the books. Bill in the books is so much more exciting, layered and yes sexy, and while he is still tortured by his existence he is not a high handed self righteous hypocrite. 😉
Ummmm, I don’t believe I yelled… sweetie. I didn’t use any caps. If you disagree, which you do since this is your campaign, that’s fine. But please don’t be a comment/manners nazi. I didn’t use any foul language or insult anyone. So, thanks for letting me voice my opinion, tho I see if I want to do it again, I just have to agree w/ the crowd. I must say, I’m disapointed. I thought this would be an interesting board to check out often. I was wrong. but hey that’s just my opiion.
Being a badboy is one thing…but if they continue to portray Eric in such a biased way…he too will become a joke. I want to see layers in the characters. It’s like with Sawyer on Lost…he can have tremendous growth…but he needs to remain salty and we love him that way.
~simba_317
Dre I took your !!! as you yelling, but since you did not mean it that way I will apologize. Your view is valued here, and I guess my snarkiness was misplaced. We want you to remain and give your opinion and I am sorry if I hurt your feelings.
I do want to remind those who plan on writing a letter to PLEASE keep it respectful and pertaining to the show. I am sure HBO wants to hear the feedback but they will tune out of the letters are “berserker” letters. I personally would avoid commenting on the actors too. JMO
thanks,
Lil
Is the idea to convince the network directors to speak to Alan Ball to make him aware of who’s the fan favorite? Cause he’s not listening to the fans at all.
He thinks we are the “Eric fans” and he’s not aware that the “Eric fans” are most of the show fans, like 80%…
the truth is it’s just a platform for fans to speak out. we don’t have the personal relationships to show execs/writers/creators like other blogs and websites. this is really the only way for our voices to be heard.
he says he’s not listening? I find that rather insulting after all if it wasn’t for the fans he wouldn’t have a season three to write. he has no problem listening when it’s what he wants to hear so to me it seems he has selective hearing and again cements the theory is a BL.
Is it possible to find the HBO Headquarters postal address (not just the e-mail or the TB ones)? AB already said clearly that he doesn’t care to hear or read fans, he even insulted the fans with his expressions on ausiello’s interview. That means that unless we don’t knock at the door of the ones who are ranked above him in the HBO executive-professional hierarchy, the letters will not have any real effect in improving the quality of the show. That’s why we need to have an HBO headquarters address to sent a copy of the letter we’ll send any of the TB addresses. I really think the letters should include all the details Simba pointed as examples. But I do think we need to remember them that HBO is paid television, and being it, we as customers have the right to expect to receive what their publicity say they are selling us: the best quality on programming.
The New York address is the address for HBO itself. It’s where the HQ is located. The location is California in more specific and fan orientated…It’s a cache all place that’s more for fanmail.
~simba_317
Thank you Simba, that difference between the addresses is very important to know.
Alan Ball: ” It’s funny because the fans are so rabid. Of course, that’s fantastic. And the fact that they’re so completely wrapped up in the show and they get upset and they think, “I don’t like that! I love that.” It means people are watching and the show is really affecting them. I think of the show as having a long life. You can’t explain everything and blow your wad in the first episode the first time time you introduce a character. All I can say is keep watching. It will make sense.”
I would love to see it make sense…I can’t wait for it to…but I think their objectives could have been met with more depth all around… lol. Great to see ya, hooka!
~simba_317
Oh, I would love to see the way he diminished some fans, especially the fans that had the nerve to do the awful crime of reading the books in which TB is based on, make sense.
THAT is what I would love to see “making sense”.
Not much makes sense. If he stuck to the books a little more, then it would’ve made a little more sense. I can’t believe Charlaine Harris knew this stuff was going on in the scripts and allowed it. The whole Saint Bill thing pisses me off because he’s the “good guy” with everything bad he’s done completely thrown away. I don’t know if i’d be eloquent enough to write a letter though, especially without pushing Eric 😉
P.S.- Dre- This board is awesome. If you can’t take the heat, step out of the kitchen.
Lilbooth, thanks for the apology, greatly accepted & appreciated! I am a exclamation point whore and use it often..
As far as your comment qtlex…. the “heat” was on in the first place b/c that was only my second posting, and it was already bashed. After that I didn’t get the impression of awesome.. I got the impression, truthfully, of nerdy snobs. With Lil’s apology I realize I made an error as well, we all have at least one thing in common, and I would love for the board to fill the void of the show’s hiatus.
I am a nerd so you got that part right………LOL I have also been called a dork and a drama geek.
I just like to call you Evil Lil 😉
Interesting. I wonder if Alan Ball is going to be more inclined to listen to fans or to Charlaine Harris, who wrote the books and has said numerous times that she is pleased with the show and Alan Ball’s vision and feels her characters are being portrayed accurately. As a long time reader, so do I. The powers that be at HBO adore Alan Ball. The ratings for True Blood are phenomenal, the best HBO has seen since The Sopranos. He has free reign, and will continue to take the story in the direction he sees fit.
I don’t see Bill as a saint. He has been shown hiding things from Sookie, being over-protective, and his past with Lorena was obviously not admirable. I am sure that there is more deception to be uncovered. He is pretty much the same character from the books, although a bit more outward in his romantic gestures. Same for Eric. In the books, we only see him from Sookie’s perspective. I have no doubt that Eric is capable of imprisoning Lafayette, tearing Royce apart, or summoning Lorena to deal with Bill (I always suspected him of that in the books). As far as the attraction between he and Sookie, it wasn’t there that much in the books at this point either. So, I really don’t see what all of the fuss is about.
FYI, I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m a Sam girl. 😉
Lol. I do think that there are layers in both Bill and Eric’s portrayals on the show, we are shown that they are more than the saint and the villain…but, the layers don’t seem to stick and get negated pretty quickly. That’s what I take issue with. Oh, Bill was a crazy psycho killer! But it was only Lorena! And then, Eric has attachments, especially to Godric. But then, TEACUP HUMANS! And then the next time they pull out the layer…it’s very diluted.
~simba_317
I actually thought ‘Teacup Humans’ was hilarious. And again, very true to character. Eric cared about Godric because he was his maker and they had spent time together. He loved him as a child loves a parent. As to his comment to Pam about the kids… I am sure that Eric (and maybe Bill, too, although since Bill had children of his own as a human, probably not) fed on children. We know BookGodric did more than that. Again, I don’t see the fuss.
It was funny, however, when it was placed after we got an a stunning emotional arc, which basically changed Eric in such a fundamental way…teacup humans was just cheap and poor follow through. It was like the emotional arc he just had didn’t matter anymore. In episode 11, you NEVER would have guessed his maker had just died.
~simba_317
so true simba
Book Eric had children too
have you all considered that maybe your view of Eric from the books isn’t on track for how the story will end? It’s very possible that AB has an inside scoop on the real intentions of the characters since he discussed his views of the books with Charlaine before she agreed to allow him to buy the rights from her. If you read Dead and Gone then you may have realized that some of the Eric we saw in the show is also shown in the books.
I don’t personally care who Sookie ends up with since I’m just enjoying the books for their entertainment value. Another awesome read is Stephen King’s Misery. It’s a great movie with Kathy Bates too.
Charlaine and Alan have both said repeatedly that they do not share plots and they do not influence each other or tell each other where to go with their stories…..so yeah I have thought of that! They are both crafty and I don’t trust them…lol.
And TV Eric vs. Book Eric? TV E in D&G? More like Book E on TB. And of course we all read D&G silly silly geta! *hugs*
That may be so, but this isn’t about how Eric is different or not different in the books. It’s about the sloppy and inconsistent characterizations of several characters on the TV show. The issues I have with True Blood are mostly there because of True Blood in itself and not the books. In most cases, they’re unrelated.
~simba_317
I don’t really see any inconsistencies or sloppiness in any of the characterizations on the show. Let’s see Bill is in love with Sookie, never acts as if he’s not. He’s consistently caring and mostly supportive of her, not so much with Jessica, although he did seem to be trying in Dallas. Sookie is impetuous, mouthy, and stubborn. She loves Bill and doesn’t like Eric. She takes advantage of my man Sam (which I think is fairly true in the books, as well). She’s a good friend to Tara. Eric is a businessman/vampire first; anything else secondary. He was loyal to his maker, which shows a certain amount of integrity. All the three main characters you seem concerned about have acted consistently and relatively predictably in the story thus far. Sam also seems consistent to me, in that he’s unsure of himself as far as relationships are concerned, so he makes bad choices. Maybe finding his family will help him deal with that.
As to some of the supporting characters being inconsistent, the only one I really see at all is Tara, and some of that was plot, since she was under MA’s influence.
I love Alan Ball, I think he’s a fantastically talented writer/producer who has surrounded himself with some of the best writers in the business. There isn’t an actor on the show who is doing anything less than a knock-out job. All are extremely talented and seem wonderfully down-to-earth in the interviews I’ve seen. I just love this show, and I was honestly shocked to find out that some people seem upset with it. No one I know personally who is watching it is critical at all. We’re just along for the ride.
There is a lack of followthrough on important character developments, at least for me. If you tell me that Bill was a crazy killer in the 20s and it added such depth and complexity to his character, why revoke it one episode later and place pretty much all the blame on his maker? What was the point of telling me that, if Bill is the same person again? It didn’t really add anything to his character, sure it did tell us something about his relationship with Lorena, but it wasn’t something we couldn’t have found out with a line or two, something that would not need to facilitate a 20s/30s flashback sequence. If you revoke something so quickly, it’s telling the audience there’s no investment, things don’t matter. There’s not a consistent depth. It’s much more concerned with making Bill look good, rather than complex.
As for Eric…why show me such a powerful, emotional scene as Eric begging Godric not to die, only to have Godric ultimately die, Eric lose someone he loves and then show me teacup humans? What was the point of getting invested in Eric’s emotions, if there’s no followthrough on them? Sure, we see him react to Godric’s death in the finale…but by then, it was almost too little too late. True Blood really ruined their chance of having Eric mourning Godric be impactful when they made Episode 10 a dream, for the most part, and then following that up with ‘teacup humans’. Why get invested when something is negated or basically retconned? It’s these messages that make me wonder why I should bother to take the show seriously.
I watch most things with a critical eye, I love analyzing texts and literature. In that, I follow the tradition of the New Critical Theorists and T. S. Eliot. The thing is that when I place a close lens on this show, things just do not hold up. If a show is great, when you place a close view on it, it should be flawless, like episodes 8 and 9 this season, to name two.
As for Alan Ball, he has yet to impress me with his work on True Blood. I weigh him against Ron Moore, Jane Espenson, Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, Andy Horowitz, Eddie Kitsis, Drew Goddard, Jason Katims and Joss Whedon. They are my standard to which for the most part, I weigh TV shows against. It’s how I say… On True Blood, he hasn’t held up and especially not in season 2. His better work was in Season 1.
I’m glad you enjoy the show, but everyone has a different opinion on it…and the Internet is the gathering point for the most extreme of views on any media and moderate views are few and far in between. Like seeing Sawyer get the rip in Season 5 of Lost was disheartening to say the least.
~simba_317
With Lil talking about inconsistencies in the show, I brought up the question of where the Tacky Trio fit in with this new sanitised version of Bill’s behavior on the show in a TWoP Bill-friendly thread.
After all, if it was only Lorena’s terrible influence as a wicked vampire which lead Bill to do all those dastardly things then surely after she released him, he must have lead an exemplary mainstream life the way he’s so sanctimonious about it. And yet we have these three vampires who show up, expect to be Bill’s best buddies, expect him to be as bloodthirsty and dismissive of the ‘meatbags’ as they are. You can’t tell me that Lorena didn’t keep Bill joined at the hip from the day he was turned. So…when did he run with the Tacky Trio? And isn’t it likely it was AFTER Lorena? Which makes his whole blame of Lorena for his actions look hypocritical?
Needless to say, I have been soundly ignored. No-one is daring to address that topic with a barge pole.
Z so not ignoring you here! Excellent point! I do believe Diana and Bill knew each other in the 20’s that is when she was turned, but at least for me from they way season one was written Bill came to Bon Temps to mainstream and to get away from his vampire roots so really up until then Bill could have been doing anything. Who knows how many helpless wheelchair bound scums of the earth he took care of. I mean Bartlett was scum, but why is Bill his judge and jury? And is that not another commentary on human behavior? Is it not a habit for humans to judge others? To condemn them while they themselves live in sin? Is it not an example of a vigilante taking the law into his own hands? It’s illegal, people get arrested for that! But it was Bill so let’s go have over choreographed sex instead……sorry that was mean, but true for me.
LOL.
Yes, and just like Bill judges humans, the humans judge him, like Jason and the rest of Bon Temps.
~simba_317
LOL. He had sex with Diane in the 1930s, shortly after she was turned. It’s mentioned in Episode 3 of Season One. Lor-Lor is NOT going to let Bill have sex with another vampire…So, putting that time line in place…Bill’s a big fat hypocrite.
~simba_317
thanks Simba, she was a newer vampire, having been turned in the 20’s but Bill didn’t chill with her until the 30’s….. right? I thought I remember him saying she was turned in the 20’s and let’s face it we both know my memory is horrid! LOL
Ah…Jane Espenson, Drew and the Joss Man! Those were the days, the days when I learned what good television should be like. Buffy spoiled me, apparently, because like you and so many others I feel so angry now. I need more than this, and “Buffy” showed me it could be done.
Season two was a weird mix of pure brilliance and utter tripe. I may not be a professional when it comes to writing or literature, but even I can spot a Mary Sue. And yes, her name is Bill Compton. The biggest no-no in fan fiction has the lead in True Blood. Horrible, just horrible.
I don’t live in America, but please write those letters with me in mind as well, because even if we Europeans don’t pay for HBO, we still are potential viewers and DVD-buyers.
Keep up the good work, simba!
Thanks morissa. That’s really what it comes down to isn’t it?
~simba_317
Geta, I don’t want to write a spoiler here to answer your question, it isn’t fair for those who don’t want to know. But IF anyone wants to read what really CH said already about it, can do it on The Sookie Stackhouse Series Forum under the topic CH Q & A’s, Interviews, etc… here at: http://tangler.com:80/forum/sookie-stackhouse-series/topic/52987
look for question 2161 on 2008-12-03 08:29
and below it is CH answer 2163 on 2008-12-03 09:08
*(just use ctrl+f and the question number to find it easier)
😉
i think some people are missing the point. this is all opinion so yes if you don’t see a problem with the writing or the characters I get that. I also get separating the show from the books.
BUT my issue with AB and HBO is from season one they had an entire show about the rules of True Blood Vampires, they touted it as a vampire show, and then bam! Hardly any vampires and world rule after world rule has been thrown out the window. The world rules they made a show about! They had the actors, Alan, and Charlaine recite them for the audience I might add. It’s like false advertisement. I pay to watch True Blood, it’s why I have HBO still and I feel like I was let down. And I have to say because of this blog plus my extremely large Irish family and all my friends who do not participate in the threads, forums, blogs, or twitter a majority of them were extremely unhappy with the last two episodes. And like my sister who barely even calls me left me a message saying she felt epis 8 and 9 were stand alone episodes from the rest of the season and after the finale she was done disappointed with TB. She is NOT alone. She is not a bookie, and she never will be, so she is not book biased. Other viewers, friends, and even a couple *cough* “non-friends” have emailed me asking if I knew why AB and the writers thought all that was important was the shock value? Where is the story? Why is it so campy?
What makes the books work so well is vamps and supes are thrown into real world America. It’s about how humans in general judge everyone around them while ignoring their own faults or worse hiding their own depravities. Think about it. In the books humans do some awful evil things, they are the real perpetrators of sin and evil. Yeah all the supes are angles but they never claim to be. The books show us all sides of racism, sexism, bigotry, etc. The books have layers of love, desire, passion, hate, violence. The books show there is no such thing as black and white, only shades of grey. The show has repeatedly erased Bill’s sins against humans by having Sookie forgive him in a 5 second turn around and bed him. Lorena was supposedly forcing him for 80 odd years to gorge himself on humans and preform sex acts in their blood (roll eyes).
And let’s face it anyone who thinks Eric is a saint is not watching the same show or reading the same books as me, but at least he accepts responsibility for his actions! (and while I am thinking about this having Eric call Lorena to come and snag Bill was a long time Bill Lovers theory and I got to say when I watched the show it gave me pause.) And the one thing that kills me and maybe as CH has herself admitted to forgetting important plot points from the early books because she did not re-read them, so maybe the TB team forgot it too, Bill himself says technically Eric is one of the good guys because he does not kill for food anymore and then after the Were attack in book 3, Eric says it was a VERY long time since he has had blood in large quantities, but somehow in the translation of the characters from book to screen that was completely forgotten along with the fact that yes Bill feeds from humans and NOT from Sookie. He feeds from a human while she waits for him in the next room in LDID. He wants Sookie to have her full strength when they go into difficult situations and he wants to be strong so he feeds from willing donors. Feeding from willing donors is not hunting FFS. I also want to point out giving of vampire blood is actually taboo and something vamps to not share easily. It was a world rule, it was why Bill feeding Sookie to save her was such a big deal. In season one in order for him to completely heal after burning he has to feed, but I guess the only real reason for him to feed and tell sookie about it was to raise suspicion regarding Laffy. That is just weak.
So I guess me biggest issue is why can’t the writers write within the world rules they established, why must they warp and change everything for convenience? And in truth no one wants AB to just hand Sookie over to Eric, again happy couples are boring, but taking amazing layered characters and making them into one-dimensional card board puppets of what is already laid out for them to use simply does not make any sense to me. And so that brings me back to my main point…
In the end this is simply my experience, this is my opinion and I don’t expect to change anyone’s point of view by sharing my opinions. I do not feel comfortable telling people they Should be emailing and writing HBO, BUT if they do we have some suggestions and ways to keep the letters on target and I don’t see anything wrong with that. No one wants to crucify AB, HBO, or TB but we would like what was touted to us over and over to actually be there Sunday nights at 9.
Yes…Eric can cut his hair…but Jessica’s hymen grows back?
~simba_317
Godric cut his hair too by the way…..
oh and sorry about the rambling post everyone, sometimes I can get “wordy”
I think you all over analyze this way too much. LOL. I can’t see spending so much time complaining about something you have absolutely NO control over (and don’t kid yourselves into thinking you do). Just sit back and enjoy it, or, if you can’t, cancel your HBO. I guarantee that will get their attention quicker than a bunch of letters.
I am in desperate need of distraction not to mention an outlet right now, stop trying to ruin my fun! LOL
I completely agree with both of you.
Who’s the one to blame for all this HUGE quantity of book’s fans demanding quality changes at the show if not AB himself? According to him (and SM *roll eyes*) the show had only 5% of readers… But, can’t he understand that the show is making more and more readers each day? I’m a trubie who became a bookie. Aren’t these reactions the result of an inevitable dissapointing for watching how the real main characters are managed by him and how weak has becoming at our eyes “his” version of the original story? AB even insult the intelligence of CH, her readers and the fans of Eric’s character in his interview at EW.com with this answer:
“Speaking of which, are you surprised at how passionate the Sookie/Eric fans are?
BALL: Yes. I try not to get involved in that because it just sort of — it’s too confusing. I don’t want it to influence what the show is. Personally, I’m like, yes, Eric’s hot, but beyond that he’s dangerous, and I don’t know if he’d love anybody besides himself. What’s the appeal there? The bad boy? The danger?”
For God’s sake! I’m a PhD. Psycholoyst, not a rabid teen desperate to buy his new TB soda or searching for a Team Eric or Team Bill shirt! CH may not be Shakespeare, but her books are fun and anyone can enjoy them over and over, and still find each time new remarkable details on their characters complex personalities and the social issues she presents in them. I’m asking myself if he really read the same CH’s books I read, or if he read or watched episodes 8 or 9 of his own show. Am I on the twilight zone??? He SOLD us (literally speaking because HBO isn’t free, we have to pay for it) his show as (and quote) “popcorn for smart people” …Excuse me??? How can smart people enjoy a show so shallow and weak, lacking of continuity and full of inconsistent actions and dialogs? I really thought what he really meant to say was it “is like popcorn for FOOL people”. Must be the truth in his case, because he is always saying the contrary of what he meant and doing the contrary of what he said. Maybe he has some kind of aphasia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia ) as a consecuence of a some kind of hemorrhage at his brain… (maybe a personal “narm”?). HBO is paid television, and as it, they have the duty to give us the quality of shows they are selling us and we deserve, and is also an insult being taken for a fool with this kind of programming.
I understand this letters as a personal initiative and not as an imposition. No one is obliged to do this, but at least I’m doing it because I’m paying for what they said they were selling to me, and not for this lame show they are presenting.
And this is my personal opinion and no one has to feel forced to share it.
xoxo
Yeah, exactly…I mean, like I said about Episode 3, it was Swiss cheese for smart people.
~simba_317
I am smart. I love the show. To say that no intelligent person could be captivated by it is a little insulting. I suspend my disbelief to even watch it. It’s about vampires, shapeshifter, telepaths…things that don’t exist. Who cares if AB bends the ‘rules’? There really aren’t any rules. And if he made ’em, he can break ’em.
BTW, Alan Ball and Stephen Moyer came by those figures from the top brass at HBO It isn’t like they got out their calculators and figured it out themselves. Someone compared the sales of DAG to the ratings for True Blood. Doing that, it is accurate. It’s almost impossible to use any other set of figures, since the other books have been out for so long.
Why do I get the feeling that all of these inconsistencies would be fine with a lot of people if Sookie was simply enthralled with Eric?
This is why I love Sam. No big arguments. No one says mean things about Sam. I feel sorry for SM and AS.
Why do you feel bad for SM and AS? No one is even talking about them. People have issues with how the show is going down, that’s all.
Okay…so Bill states in Episode Three of Season One that vampires cannot change their appearance, but Eric and Godric can both cut their hair…but Jessica’s hymen grows back? That’s an OBVIOUS inconsistency within one season. You would think they would take care of their vampire rules…If you don’t stick to a rule book for your supernatural creatures…it’s just a total lack of consistency…Yeah, it’s his rules to make, and his rules to break…but something SO fundamental to vampirism?
I think that calculation is incredibly shallow and doesn’t amount to much. It does not account for libraries…or friends borrowing books from friends…there’s so many other factors…Does the New York Times Best Seller list count digital copies? Measuring bookies vs. Trubies by that methodology makes about as much sense as the Nielson ratings system for television…
Just because Alan Ball is a good screenwriter doesn’t mean that he’s beyond criticism or that he should not be criticized. He is not an infallible god.
~simba_317
I will be writing a letter – because I AM cancelling my HBO this week. We got HBO just to watch this show. It was one that my husband and I could watch together. After this season neither of us have any desire to watch it again.
My husband is not a fan of either coupling – he’s been remarkably middle of the road through the whole series (books & TV). He get annoyed with comparisons between books and show – but even he said after the finale, “THAT was it?”
The first season had us both intrigued and watching and excited for this show. It lived up to the hype and expectations and we were excited for the second season.
Now we could care less and see no point in spending money to keep HBO.
If AB can turn my husband off the show – a man who has no allegiance to having a show married ot the books, or to a particular character, who only watches for the STORY…who is such an avid fan of watching anything good (or even halfway decent)…AB really screwed up. I consider my husband well-versed in TV and movies and how things translate on screen, how it all works – and he told me today to drop HBO. He doesn’t care to see Season 3, and if it DOES end up redeeming itself we can always get HBO back…but for now HBO has absolutely no draw for us.
True Blood had us hooked…and then yanked us in only to leave us cold. That’s not how you do good TV…we should be wanting more (and not jsut more ERic…there was hardly any Eric in season 1 – he was NOT why we wanted to come back)…not dropping HBO because we could care less what happens to these characters.
Thanks for the addresses off to email them now!
Just my two cents almost 2 months after the last comment. I feel like Season 2 got too bogged down with the whole Mary Ann/maenad storyline. They had 2 big storylines–Eric/Godric/FOTS and then Mary Ann. First, I think everyone on the show has great talent esp. the actress that played Mary Ann (don’t know if I’m spelling the character’s name right) and I, like another viewer said above, just suspend all my beliefs and get carried away by the entertainment value of the show. But, the season finale was truly anti-climactic and I even kind of feel embarrassed for the actress who played Mary Ann to give such a power house performance throughout the season and then to have her death scene just be so weak. The season certainly went out with a whimper, even with Bill’s disappearance. It’s almost like AB got so carried away with the maenad storyline he didn’t have enough time to devote to the Eric/Godric/FOTS storyline and had to wrap it up way too quickly (i.e. not much shown of Eric’s grief over Godric after the pivotal episode-although Eric is very old and perhaps he has learned to deal with his more complex humana emotions very succinctly.) However, the thing that bothered me, and I know it has been stated over and over again that the show is really stand alone from the books so maybe I shouldn’t let it bother me, was the desecration of Sookie’s grandmother’s home. I didn’t read the books until after I was well into watching Season 1 so I’m not the typical fan who started out with the books first. Even so, I thought that one of the worse things AB could do was allow Sookie’s grandmother’s home to be violated. The books and therefore, the TV show, are based on Sookie Stackhouse and that home is her sanctuary and has been since childhood when Gran took her and Jason in after their parent’s deaths. That, out of all the things AB has done seems to be my biggest complaint about Season 2 and I don’t think Charlaine Harris, if she has any say at all, should have sanctioned it.
The thing with Eric’s lack of grief being shown…we simply shouldn’t need to justify it. It was a significant arc. It had the most moving and emotional scene of the entire series. Godric’s death scene is probably THE best scene in the entire series…All the actors just brought it. The writers created a truly amazing moment and did absolutely NOTHING to pay it off that was worth mentioning. The best they could do was have Eric wibble a bit in Sophie-Anne’s clutches and give us a fake out dream sequence?
The Maryann arc just absolutely lost all semblance of reality, so when Maryann desecrated Sookie’s house, by that time I was so emotionally void from the unbelievability of that arc, that the desecration was just completely lost on me. I didn’t give a shit. It was ‘Home Alone’ screams, missing fingers, cuddling with pine tree sodomizers, baths in the sink, Grudge eyes and giant eggs. The WTFs took away all the emotional impact I was supposed to feel. It became something problematic and hallow. So instead of a violation, it was just…maenad vomit, someone clean it up!
~simba_317
Exactly! But you know what I really think is the real problem that cause a disaster like this? Making Tara a lead character in the show when she isn’t one on the original stories (I’m not talking about the actress, I’m talking about the character). In their effort to keep Eric out of the leads and don’t give the character enough screen time, they made Tara a lead and had to create this whole maenad vomit for her. And this is their greatest mistake of all. When they are trying to keep out a lead character of the original SVM series as Eric, being him one of the stronger (IMO the strongest) character of them, they are weakening (if not killing) the whole plot and just have to create this kind of lame and ludicrous arcs for their new leads.
(and forgot to add…) That’s why after such amazing emotional arc of Eric, because they wanted to make clear that he isn’t a lead, it wasn’t important for them to give continuity to it. So… we had Tara’s manead vomit. Pathetic…
I am truly fascinated reading all of the comments and critiques on this blog. For myself I find the show extremely entertaining and that is what I watch television, a movie, or read a book for to be entertained. My life is in no way affected by what I watch or read so I don’t get too deeply involved with the symbolism or intent. I just enjoy.
My only critique of the show is purely selfish. All I care about is that Eric is given more airtime because it has been a long time since any character has fascinated me as much as the Eric character in both the TV show and the books. Perhaps he is inconsistant on the show but I think that is only because he is such a multi-demensional character to begin with. AB not understanding what the draw toward his character is intrigues me because we all have an evil side that we are able to indulge by watching or reading about them. Along with the fact that a large share of women love a bad boy, they always want to tame them, but Eric is so much more in both venues he has so many more layers to his character than any of the others.
Anyway, thinks simba317 I am finding this blog a fun read and will visit it often. Also, I applaud your letter writing campaign. Everyones input can only improve an already entertaining show.