Skipped 1000+ posts in the hope you folks were talking about Trueblood - good job, people!

I'm quite hopeful for the show, based purely on the website. I really find the prose and the white trash stuff rather hardgoing in the books, but they did improve rather. (One of the early ones made me want to punch someone repeatedly, largely because of the characterization of the chef*, but if they can have him be a gay black guy WITHOUT making me want to punch Sookie for still liking him even though he's black and gay, because she's just so goshdarned openminded, then that would be good. He looks cute in the trailer.)

I'm very fond of Six Feet Under, so surely the TV show could be good. Please?

*well, okay, and also the attitude towards sex. Ack.

but if they can have him be a gay black guy WITHOUT making me want to punch Sookie for still liking him even though he's black and gay, because she's just so goshdarned openminded

in all fairness, in small town Louisiana, she is. Although, if they are true to the books he won't be around for long. But, I don't know.

RE: Vortex's whitefont - the first ep covered only, what, 2 chapters of the first book. Time, it seems, is pretty elastic.

I can't find the first book, but I re-read a couple of the later ones, and I cannot GET how they are going to get the NEW IMPRO...ANNOYING Tara to go with the character as written in the later books.

I mean, I understand beefing up a secondary character for TV, I really do, but this isn't beefing up...it's redux and it's kinda awful.

I do think that Anna Paquin's doing a much better job at Sookie than I thought, and I quite like her as an actress anyway. Sookie really IS/WAS that naive and hopeful. And also, startled me to realize that she was 25 in the first book.

in all fairness, in small town Louisiana, she is.

Oh, I'm not doubting that being broad-minded is a rarity and virtue in small town redneckville. But the way that Harris coyly hammers home with anvils (writing in the first person, so it's the character's self-assessment) how gosh darned broad-minded and tolerant little Sookie is just makes me want to stab someone.

However, I have (after a couple of years) ventured into reading some more of the books, and I think that the prose gets less irritating. I don't think Harris is a bad storyteller, and her prose isn't anything remotely approaching the awfulness of Laurell K Hamilton's writing or characterisation.

I'm laughing my ass off at the Enquirer headline on True Blood.

Is Tara a compulsive lier or does she just say stuff to get a reaction from people?

And Bill's accent is much better this episode.

I don't think that Bill killed the Ratrays--if they were dealing v-juice, I suspect that the same vamp that killed Maudette probably took them out, too. But there has to be a misdirection, I suppose.

Jason's not really bright, is he?

And I was wrong.

Well, he was justified because they were hurting Sookie.

I think that the dog is another vampire who can change form.

I couldn't decide to be amused or disgusted when Jason pointed at himself in the mirror when he was having sex with that girl.