Will Ferrell will be doing a Broadway show that will launch next year on January 20th. It will run until March 15th, and sometime between those two dates, HBO will be broadcasting the show LIVE.

The production is from writer/actor Will Ferrell (you may have heard of him…he’s kind of a big deal) and writer-director Adam McKay. This duo is responsible for films like “Anchorman”, “Talladega Nights”, “Step Brothers”, and numerous “SNL” sketches.

The last episode of the first season of True Blood is upon us and it looks like things could go off in a big way. Jason’s in jail, Tara is in the hands of the pig lady, Sookie broke it off with Bill, Amy the hippie is dead and Rene is the killer. Luckily for the fans, True Blood will be back with another season so its only a question of how far out the cliffhanger at the end of this season will go.

Renee knows that Sookie is on his tail and it certainly seems as though he’s gonna take her down ASAP. The scene is set for a crescendo. Sookie is driving somewhat nuts by the sounds of all the townspeople’s thoughts and decides to be alone for a while. Rene approaches her after sabotaging her truck. He offers her a ride home and once their back at Sookie’s house its only a matter of time. Sam smells the scent of the killer on Rene’s work clothes, transforms into a dog and runs to help. At the same moment, Sookie has a vision and realizes that Rene has come to kill her. Bill’s connection with Sookie is reawakened but as its daylight he begins to burn as he trudges out into the sun and tries to come to her aid. Sam makes it in time to stop Rene, but in his dog form. Bill awakens Sooke just before he’s melted by the sunlight and Sookie drives a shovel right through Rene’s neck, killing him. Its as grotesque as you’d imagine, but Sam leaps into naked action burying Bill in an attempt to save him.

Andy the dumb ass sheriff if forced to let Jason go as its been proven that Rene is the killer. Its a nice moment of comeuppance for Andy, though I’m worried that the embarrassment will drive him nuts.

Tara wakes up in the comfy guest bed and waited on by Maryanne the pig lady’s butler. Tara lounges by the pool and relaxes for the first time all season. A handsome guitar playing man tries to put her mind even more at ease. We see Maryanne communing with a pig in the yard. It becomes clear that Maryanne is also a shape shifter and has some prior connection with Sam. She’s been looking for him and he’s clearly scared of her.

Bill heals in his Sam made grave and he visits Sookie. She turns down the quick heal of his blood, but the two end up in each other arms again. She’s such a child and this scene is just absolute drivel.

Suddenly, we get the two week later tag. The town is getting back to normal. LaFayette has disappeared after Bill fed on him, and I tell you this, if Lafayette is gone permanently this show is gonna be on life support.  Eric the boring returns Bills annoying vampire girl, throwing a monkey wrench into his new happy life with Sookie. Sam appears to making a run for it as he’s loading up all his cash.

There’s also a new body found in Sherrif Andy’s car as the credits roll on the end of the first season. As end of season enders go it was pretty tame. I propably expected too much from a series that wasn’t sure of its fate when it fiished shooting. There is a lot of ground left to cover and a lot of big plot points dangling out there, so next season should be pretty interesting. On the whole, the first season of True Blood was entertaining. I was surprised at how shallow it was considering all the build up that was given regarding the allegorical qualities of the civil rights of vampires. The series saved itself though, with great performances by Amy the hippie, Eddie Lafayette and Tara and the occasional trip to the goth bar.

There are only two more episodes left in the first season of True Blood. HBO already green lighted a second season. Goth and Emo kids everywhere will be happy to know that there will be even more goth vamp stereotypes raining down on us next year.

Last week, Bill was forced by the high councilman to make a new vampire life in order to repay his debt for killing the vamp bartender. Bill still isn’t trusted by his fellow vampires and is being watched carefully. After spending the night in the ground, Bill’s new vampire is absolutely terrified and Bill recoils. Jill hasn’t come to grips with her new life. Hilariously enough, she is excited over being given this freedom from her overly christian family. She whines and cries like a child. Bill now realizes that for Jill, being a vampire is excitement and freedom and he can’t stomach it. Bill turns Jill over to Eric promising him his unyielding gratitude which I’m certain Eric will be cashing in before too long.

Sam continues protecting Sookie after the town murderer tried to come after her again. Sookie fears that Bill won’t ever return and in her doubt she is turning toward Sam. Sookie realizes that her visions of the another of the murderers victims works at a pie shop nearby. Sam and Sookie go to investigate.

At the pie shop, an older man gives them the skinny on the murdered pie waitress. She too was rumored to be involved with vampires. Though they don’t get much, they do get the name of the victim’s brother who was a suspect but has disappeared. Sook and Sam get on the trail, and the two’s closeness is working in Sam’s favor. The inevitable happens, Sam and Sookie begin making out on her couch just as Bill returns. After breaking up the fight, Sookie lays down the whiny adolescent law. She rescinds Bill’s invitation and kicks him out.

Tara gets arrested in her tacky prom dress after getting drunk and swerving into a field to avoid a lady and her giant pig. Her now uber-moral mom arrives and tells her that she will not bail her out at all. Not surprisingly, Tara tears her a new one and passes out in the jail. When she wakes up, Maryanne the naked pig lady bails her out and offers her some help.

Lafayette is infuriated with his state Senator client after he goes on TV proclaiming the evilness of vampires, their human blood drinkers and homosexuals. The scene gives us perhaps the greatest single line this season. Terry, the shaky war veteran proclaims “I can’t listen to politicians no more, I get a seizure.”

Lafayette decides to pay the Senator a visit and bring the hammer down. I’ve said it before, Lafayette is an enormous ball of awesome and the show would be nearly unwatchable without him.

After staking Eddy, Jason and his “hippie bitch” girlfriend clean their now blood soaked basement. Jason begins to feel guilty and reminds us that although he makes some monstrously bad decisions, he isn’t evil. On the other hand, Amy is the most fantastically evil character in the show. Despite being earth friendly, she is an absolute monster drenched in pachouli oil. Jason makes perhaps the best decision he’s ever made in his life and smashes the vampire blood, proclaiming that they are forever free of hallucinogenic plasma. Amy pledges to clean up and the two share a gentle moment, but its soon lost since Amy did keep some of the V and entices Jason to do it with her again. Again they go on an insane sexual nature trip in their underwear. While they are running loose in their own minds, the killer comes into their home and kills Amy. Jason wakes up and calls the police.

Jason begins to believe that he killed Amy and he’s the town killer since he’s been around when all the murders occurred. I have to give Jason credit. He has become a fully rounded character with emotions, feelings and dangers.

While at the police station, the audience gets some pretty exciting evidence. The always awesome Rene is the brother of the murder victim at the pie shop. This is a fine set up for next weeks season ender.

Coon-Ass

True Blood looks to get back on track this week after last week’s train wreck. It seems to be on the right track too as in the opening moments Sam admits to being a shape shifter to Sookie. I’ve been waiting on that one for weeks. Plus as a bonus, Tara is getting an exorcism and LaFayette waxes his chest.

Last week, Jason tried to see the human in Eddie their vampire hostage. Jason even went so far as to defy hippie girlfriend and bring True Blood to their depleted hostage. Amy begins to suggest a plan to Jason. She wants to induce a degree of stockholm syndrome into their hostage, hoping to convince Eddie that he should have sympathy for them and become a willing participant.

It was only a matter of time until LaFayette discovered Eddie’s kidnapping. LaFayette confronts Jason at Arlene’s engagement party. LaFayette thinks that Eddie’s been taken away by vampires and he might be next on their list. Jason is moved and decides to let Eddie free. Amy tries to stop him and in the struggle, she kills Eddie. Its a real shame too as Eddie in just a few episodes had become one of the more compelling elements on the show.

After being discovered, Sam gives Sookie the lowdown on his shape shifting abilities. He can change into any creature, though dogs are his favorite. He takes offense at being called a werewolf so I suppose I owe Sam an apology for referring to him at the “were-tender.” Sookie feels betrayed for some reason and continues to act like a child. No real surprise here, Sookie’s reactions are shallow and glib as usual. For someone who has been hiding a psychic ability her whole life, she sure is hypocritical with others. Her childish behavior is as usual, the weakest element of the show.

Tara’s exorcism seems to consist mainly of voodoo priestess’ spit and that leaf incense you used to be able to buy in the parking lot of Phish concerts, plus, even more projectile vomit. Tara slays the demon inside her and she falls down in tears. She and her post-drunk momma reconcile in the wake of her turn around and go get crawfish. In doing so, Tara discovers the voodoo lady is really a fraud who works at the local drug store. Tara now has to decide if she’s going to ruin her mom’s turn around by telling her the truth or lying to her. She decides to cope with it like most people. She puts on an ugly prom dress, gets drunk and tries to have sex with Sam.

Bill’s tribunal looks pretty bleak since they kick off the proceedings with the ripping of a vampire’s fangs out for the crime of feeding on a human who belongs to another vampire. The inquisition-trained magistrate is clearly going to bring the hammer down on Bill. The real question is how hard. The vampires have kidnapped an innocent girl who snuck out of her parents house and they want Bill to kill her and make her a vampire. Its a pretty brutal scene emotionally and its meant to remind us of Bill’s conflict between being a blood-sucking vampire and being a humanist. We’ll see how it all comes together net week when he has to face Sookie again after he’s engaged in this latest barbarism.

Over the last few weeks I’ve struggled with my own opinions about True Blood. I feel let down by the lack of seriousness when dealing with what could be an important allegory for civil rights. More recently, I’ve learned to love some of the goofier exterior story lines like Jason’s inane life decisions, Tara’s mother’s drunk demon and the term “fang banger.” Something has troubled me about the series, though. I’m concerned that the idea of an allegory of the civil rights of gay Americans being touted in True Blood is actually a significantly ugly one. If we’re to believe that Vampires represent gay Americans in this narrative, then the representation is unfair and frankly, bigoted. There is only one vampire in the entire world of True Blood who behave with anything less than complete contempt for the normal human world. That vampire is Sookie’s lover Bill. Even in that case, Bill is held up as an exception to the murdering brood that vampires are as a while rather than the rule. I hope very much that this isn’t the intention of the writers and producers, but I’m concerned that they may be playing with fire.

Last week the vampire sheriff Eric asked Sookie and her telepathic abilities to help find a thief in his vamp bar. Sookie fingered the bartender who then attacked her, only to have Bill stake him in the back covering Sookie in his blood. It was just horrifying and over the top. The bartender just exploded and vomited blood all over Sookie. Bill’s killing of the bartender has consequences, and the jackass bar owner Eric demands Sookie in payment for Bill’s crime. In the end, Eric the lame settles for sending Bill away to a tribunal for judgment. Bill goes to Sam and asks him to protect Sookie while he’s gone. Sam agrees and decides to spend some time as a collie on the foot of her bed to protect her. Sookie wakes up to a naked Sam on the foot of her bed. Next week, we may finally get a proper explanation of Sam’s ability.

Jason’s new girlfriend, who seemed such a good influence a little while ago, has convinced Jason to kidnap LaFayette’s vampire lover Eddie to drain him for his blood. Jason actually seems to have regrets. Sadly, he drinks those regrets away over the screams of their captive and has sex with his sadistic hippie girlfriend Amy. Later on Jason has an absolute meltdown when Rene tries to Jackhammer the roots of a tree. Its good to see Jason have a good old Stackhouse freak out. Jason spends some time downstairs with Eddie the captured and learns of his pre-vampire life. Luckily, Jason has some humanity left and is unsure about the morality of draining Eddie.

Tara reluctantly returns to the witch doctor with the fear that she might indeed have a demon as well. I love Tara and her family, but this whole demon bit just isn’t working for me. What is working is the Sam the were-tender and Tara conflict. Sam is opening his heart to her, and right on cue, Tara slams the door. Sam gives Tara the money she needs to have her swamp exorcism. It looks like we may see another drowned possum next week.

This episode was an absolute train wreck. Sookie and Bill’s teary goodbyes are just as hollow and unbelievable as their whole relationship. Other than Jason and Eddie the vampire’s basement conversation, there were simply no compelling scenes. However those scenes of Eddie and Jason are captivating and worth the price of admission.

My Blood Red Swingline Stapler

Last week may have been the most enjoyable episode of True Blood yet. It still had some eye rolling moments with Sookie still enraptured with her post vampire coitus mood, but that was almost entirely saved by snort-able vampire blood and LaFayette’s hilarious gold thong. The truth is, I’m not sure if my initial disappointment with the show had to do with the show or with my own preconceived notions of what the show was supposed to be. On the other hand True Blood just might be like mold, it just has to grow on you.

The Vampire nest was burned and Sookie believes that Bill was killed along with them. Its a sucker’s bet, its only a question of how they bring Bill back, not if. Tara’s mother seems to be demon free as well, even going so far as to act like a normal church going person. Jason and his new hippie girlfriend have some great post drug induced pillow talk. They seem to even be falling in love. I can’t believe something good is happening to Jason. His inevitable downfall is going to be absolutely epic to make up for it.

Of all the characters on the show, I find myself to be continually disappointed by Sookie. She’s lame. Even when given the opportunity to shine, Paquin can’t seem to get her beyond wide-eyed lovesick child. Even as she cries over Bill’s “human” grave it feels false. Even her giddy-ness over Bill being alive felt contrived. It isn’t real clear how he got away and ended up buried in the graveyard, but he did.

Speaking of contrived, Eric the not very impressive “sheriff” of this region’s vampires demands Sookie’s assistance in finding out who’s been stealing money from his stereotypical vampire goth bar. Bill relents and acts like an absolute wuss in the face of Eric’s authority. Sookie stands up for herself and gives the super dangerous bartender up as the thief. I’m sure the bartender is killed in the next episode. Its a shame, I was really digging his Latino Dusk ‘til Dawn look.

As usual LaFayette and Tara are my favorite components of the show. Tara now also believes she has a demon inside her. She assumes because she can’t commit to a healthy relationship she has a demon inside her? There are a lot of demons running around these days apparently. We get to see how LaFayette gets his vampire blood. Its both hilarious and frightening to see Lafayette in his jiggelo role seducing a pathetic vampire for his blood. Adding to the cringeworthy-ness of the scene, Lafayette’s client is played by Stephen Root who you might know as Milton from Office Space.

Jason’s downward spiral is beginning. His new hippie girlfriend is fiending for V and the couple follow Lafayette in the hopes of finding his source. Stunningly, hippie jumps the gun and kidnaps Milton. That is total madness. Regardless of how impotent Milton is, he’d still have enough strength to take down Jason and a hippie.

A good episode for the most part, this one had all the ingredients. Tara swearing at everyone, LaFayette being a vampire escort, bumbling policemen, lame wide-eyed Sookie and even a cute scene from Rene the only man with a Louisiana accent on the show.

Jason in the Sky with Diamonds

Last week after her Grandma’s funeral, Sookie and Bill finally consummated their unholy relationship. Afterward lounging in his insanely large tub, Sookie flashes back to her memories being molested by the exceedingly creepy uncle we spied at the funeral. Sookie regrets that this moment of happiness with Bill is marred by her memories. Bill seethes and you just have to believe that the creepy uncle is gonna get the fangs at some point.

Slow witted Jason once again visits awesomely gay LaFayette in an attempt to score some more vampire blood. LaFayette refuses and in the scuffle it becomes even more clear how strung out Jason has become. Sookie even catches him stealing Gran’s silver to sell for drugs. Once again Jason looks destined to continue his awesome meltdown. Right on cue, Jason decides to head for the vampire bar in Shreveport. Trying to score vampire blood from vampires seems about the most moronic thing I could imagine. Jason begins to draw attention to himself and a girl grabs him and tries to talk some sense into him before its too late. Eventually, she convinces him that she has what he needs, and the two leave together. For the first time it looks like Jason might catch a lucky break. The hippie dippy yankee chick seems to have some deeper knowledge of the vampire blood and give Jason a lesson. She creates a mixture of the blood and aspirin creating a snort-able version. She and Jason embark on a mind melting trip and bond in a seemingly magical way. It looks like Jason is about ready to head out on Phish tour.

Tara’s demonically possessed and alcoholic momma says she needs money to pay for an exorcism that she is convinced will save her from her alcoholism. The depth of what she will do to get her exorcism is painful and gut wrenching. Tara and her family continue to be the stars of the show for me. I can feel the fear and anguish from them. Tara finally relents and takes her mother into the bayou to meet the insane witch doctor who perform the exorcism. Tara is obviously skeptical of this voodoo crap, but as her mother believes in it fully, she goes along. After the exorcism, the crazy bald witch doctor claims that Tara too has a demon inside of her.

Back at the bar, Sookie’s tryst with Bill is exposed and Sam has an absolute meltdown. Sookie stands her ground, openly defending her decision to sleep with Bill in front of the whole bar. Not surprisingly, the rednecks openly mock Sookie. At that moment, the nest of vampires we were introduced to a few episodes arrive and begin to make trouble. Sam stands up to the crew but its Bill, fresh from killing the molester uncle (surprise!), who runs in to end the vamp nest’s fun. Bill agrees to rejoin the nest and return to his old ways. The angry villagers at the bar seem to be sharpening their pitchforks and dreaming up revenge for the vampire nest. Sookie tries to warn Bill of their plans without success. At dawn, the rednecks throw molotov cocktails into the vampire house burning it down and  seemingly destroying the nest possibly with Bill inside.

This was one of the better episodes so far. I think I found it so because of Sookie’s absence from the focus of the show. Often, her aw-shucks nature and wide eyed optimism have just been annoying. Tara’s family problems and Jason’s ineptitude are far more compelling and honest plots. Sookie is supposed to be the anchor of the show, but more often than not, she seems to be a lost wide-eyed child. She seems unable to be made real. Sookie feels like a satin doll. Beutiful and delicate, but without any real feelings or motivation. Even when her grandmother was brutially murdered, I just didn’t feel for her. The good news is, Tara has taken an even more central role and Jason’s roller coaster of a ride is bound to hit the downslope again soon.

Over the last few episodes True Blood has swung from the thought provoking to titillating to ludicrous and back again. Between Jason’s meat-headed drug-induced philandering and Bill’s civil war era tears of blood, the show has tried to push every emotional button it can get its blood crusted fingers on. Last week, it stomped on that button by killing Grandma.

Bill and Sam the were-tender have their expected confrontation at the murder scene while the Bubba police officers debate the merits of this latest murder. After her grandmother’s body is carted off, Sookie morbidly cleans the puddles of her grandmother’s blood off the floor. Even though I wasn’t exactly taken with grandma, it was the only time I’ve seen some quality acting out of Anna Paquin. After finding out, Jason has an expected freak out and runs off presumably to get high or hump something.

At the funeral Grandma’s brother Uncle Bartlett arrives, visibly angering Sookie. Looks like there are more weirdos in the Stackhouse clan. Tara’s drunk mother decides to share her feelings at the funeral actually making herself into a two dimensional character for the first time. Tara’s mother tries to make peace with Tara claiming that all her years of abuse is due to a “demon”. Once again Tara and her family are more compelling than the vampire, the telepath or the were-tender.

Jason is totally spun out on vampire blood at this point and he’s obviously in withdrawal.     His downward spiral has almost made me love this guy. He’s actually incapable of making a good decision. Its like watching a massive train wreck in super slow motion. Speaking of slow motion, there was a tediously long scene of Sookie eating her grandma’s pecan pie while crying. I wonder if the writers had been to cryingwhileeating.com

Now for the big news, Bill and Sookie actually do have sex in this episode. I have no idea what really triggers it. Sookie just seemed to burst out of the house in her nightgown running all the way to Bill’s waiting arms. Sookie not only loses her virginity to a vampire but she also allows Bill to feed on her blood.

Once again, Tara is the one to watch. The story lines of her mother, her feelings for Jason and her own lack of confidence make her as compelling as any story line with an actual vampire. Bill and Sookie finally consummated and it looks like the action is about to pick up. Let’s hope so, I can’t take a full season of grieving for grandma.

After four episodes, it finally dawned on me last week that True Blood may in fact not be a parable about civil rights and the need for integration and acceptance in small town America. In truth, True Blood has been far more shallow a show than I was expecting. The show has been twisting and turning its way around the civil rights question for four episodes. To my surprise, this time the show finally brought some real emotion.

With Jason’s horrible penis-draining last week, I thought we might see him turn over a new leaf. Unfortunately, LaFayette convinces him to try “V” again, this time using a proper dosage. LaFayette suggests that taking the proper dose allows the user to feel the feelings of the vampire. Now with a more manageable high, Jason shows up at the historical society out of his mind on vampire blood.

After the incident at the vampire bar, Sookie has completely reevaluated her relationship with Bill. Bill’s performance with the policeman really struck a chord with Sookie. We all know they’ll end up together again, but for now she’s won Sam the were-barkeep’s approval. He finally works up the courage to ask Sookie out to grandmother’s historical society meeting. When Sam and Sookie arrive at the meeting, Bill is already there as the guest of honor.

With all the principles in place (and Jason high as a kite) Bill begins his speech to the terrified and curious townsfolk. Bill reinforces the idea that vampires and humans can and should live together in peace. The results are mixed. A child in the audience points out to his mother how “white” Bill is. His mother replies “No, we’re white. He’s dead.” Bill’s speech recounting his experiences in the Civil War does quite a bit to rehabilitate him in the eyes of the townspeople. He’s even embraced by some of them after his speech.

Now alone, Bill flashes back to his civil war days, before he became a vampire. A soldier fleeing the Yankees, he sought refuge in a cabin with a new widow. The widow offers herself to Bill and he recoils not wanting to sully his marriage. The widow is a vampire and she feeds on Bill. The widow claims Bill as her own and makes him a vampire. Later, Bill goes home to his family with the widow knowing that he can never return to his human life. Obviously, Bill still feels the pain of that loss.

Sookie returns home, having made a good faith attempt at a date with Sam, to find her grandmother dead. I certainly didn’t see that coming and I can only imagine the horrific impact that it will have on the generally sunny and positive Sookie and the already unstable Jason.

Despite Jason’s boner-ific adventures, the show took a more serious tone this week. I was all ready to give up on the narrative and just sit back and enjoy the nude bloodletting when the show changed its outlook. Bill dealt with the pain of his lost humanity, the townspeople took a step forward in understanding vampires and LaFayette got to beat up some bigots. Pleasantly, my rather bleak outlook on the show last week was reversed.

The Eggplant

Sometimes when a show begins to take itself too seriously, it finds a way to become more interesting simply for the sheer camp. I got to that point about 1/3rd through the first season of Twin Peaks. I’m hoping very much that True Blood doesn’t cross that threshold, but I’m afraid that this episode may have.

After finding Dawn dead, Jason is once again the principle suspect in a murder. Afraid of being caught with the vampire blood he bought from LaFayette last episode,Jason chugs all of it in the backseat of the squad car as the Sheriff hauls him off. Jason’s, er libido becomes uncontrollable to the point of ridiculousness and has to run to the bathroom to try to contain himself. Eventually, Tara comes to save Jason as the two hick law enforcement officers where unable to actually charge him with anything. Jason ends up at home masturbating furiously in a vain attempt to get his juggernaut of an erection under control. Instead of relief, he gets calluses on his hands. Tara saves his butt again, dragging Jason to the doctor to have penis drained. The following cringe-inducing scene is so wrong and painful on so many levels that I could hardly stand to watch it.

At the request of her grandmother, Sookie listens into the townspeople’s thoughts hoping to clear Jason’s name. Their general consensus is either Jason did it, or it was because of Dawn’s recklessness hanging out at the Vampire bar in Shreveport. Sookie asks Bill to take her to the Vampire bar. The bar is both silly and  stereotypical. Sookie makes fun of the bar’s atmosphere calling it, “a Vampire bar at Disneyland.” It slowly gets more serious as the night goes on. Eric, the eldest vampire summons over Bill and Sookie. Unsurprisingly, Eric takes a liking to Sookie and it seems not even Bill could protect Sookie from Eric if he desired her. A police raid breaks up the exchange, but its clear that Eric’s presence will be a regular one.

In the final scene, Sam the friendly torch-carrying bar owner opens the door to Dawn’s apartment, smells her sheets and pillows while wallowing in her bed. It’s the latest in a long line of clues that Sam is in fact, a werewolf. I’m not sure how adding a werewolf to this already confused plot is supposed to help. Regardless, it seems sure we’ll have a werewolf in the mix at some point as well..

I might have been wrong about the seriousness of the tone of True Blood, but its easy to see how one could get confused. When I originally watched True Blood I believed it was an attempt to draw a thematic line between civil rights and the character of the vampire. I might have been fooled. It feels more now like it was a gimmick. The plot took a campier tone as we get to see the horrifying effect of vamp blood on the penis and a man rolling in a dead woman’s sheets like a dog. I have no idea where this show is going and I may have to let go of the desire to even want to know. We may just have to let the show surprise us.