HBO will be airing True Blood season 2 this June 14th. I have to admit that I couldn’t care less about the show and that I really am quite perplexed that it actually has fans. Don’t get me wrong about being a vampire snob because when it comes to vampires I often can not get enough of it. I was obsessed with Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and of course watched the film though I’ve read all the books. I love Underworld, Twilight is ok, and you can still catch me watching old episodes of Angel. So when I first heard that HBO was coming out with a vamp series I was really excited. Fast forward to episode one of season one and my first reaction was that I was floored. I was floored that I hated the whole thing. I was stunned how could HBO have messed up a vamp tv show?

The pilot episode’s tone was just not right. I couldn’t decide if it felt more like porn, lousy comedy, or drama. Whatever it was it seemed that they tried to cram too much in the first episode and in the end everything just fell flat. Despite my very negative experience with True Blood though I know that my mistake is not sticking around to even see any of the following episodes because it seems that it finally took off. Just goes to show though how important pilot episodes are. Hopefully season 2 will start of a lot better. If it does I might even bother to get a dvd copy of the first season and watch it all, except for the first episode of course.

What do you think? Should I give True Blood another chance? Are you a fan or are you one of those that was really turned off after seeing the show’s pilot episode last season?

Big Love producers may have issued an apology for the show’s upcoming episode but they have also declared that HBO will still air the controversial episode on Sunday. The episode immediately drew the attention of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) or the Mormon church when they found out that the ritual called an “endowment ceremony” will be part of the episode.

LDS gave a statement regarding the controversy saying that, “Certainly Church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding.” But despite the offence they feel they are definitely taking the high road by opting not to call for an official boycott of HBO according to LDS, “Individual Latter-day Saints have the right to take such actions if they choose. The Church … as an institution does not call for boycotts. Such a step would simply generate the kind of controversy that the media loves and in the end would increase audiences for the series,” a smart move for a group that is often presented in the media in a bad light.

As for HBO they stand behind their series saying that the writers have done their best to ensure that the sacred event which will be shown in the most accurate and respectful manners.

This will be the first time in history that the LDS’ sacred ceremony of endowment will be seen on television. The endowment ritual is an event performed within the LDS temple wherein particular gifts or powers were “endowed” upon members of the church. So far that is all I know of the ceremony and have no idea if I’ll learn more when I see Big Love on Sunday.

When you think of the South, what comes to mind? Thick southern accents perhaps? Mullets? Beer? Country music? Perhaps all that and more. While some of these stereotypes may hold true, real people from the real South know that there is so much more about them and their way of life than what the rest of the (perhaps uninformed) world knows. You have to admit, what Hollywood brings to the screen – TV or movie – is not always the real deal.

With Eastbound & Down, however, we just might get a taste of what southern living is really all about. Danny McBride, the writer behind the series and the main actor as well, wants the world to know that the show is not all about the “Hollywood south.” Instead, he wants to shout that this is the real thing – the real south with real people living real lives.

So what is this six-episode series all about? Amy Hotz of Star News Online wrote:

McBride plays Kenny Powers and “Eastbound” is about his down and out life. Kenny used to have a very successful career as a pro baseball pitcher. He had the money, he had the girls, he had the drugs. Progressively, though, he just seemed to have lost his power on the mound. And then he lost his job.

Forced to find something else to do, Kenny had no option but to put his head down in shame and return to his hometown, Shelby, N.C. To add insult to injury, the only job he can find in this un-glamorous town is with his old middle school, which needs a substitute P.E. teacher. Oh, and he’s so poor he has to live with his brother’s perfect family.

The unique thing about the show is that they found actors who are really from the south. To quote McBride, “When people that aren’t from the south pretend like they’re from the south it just brings out all the cliches and, you know, just all the stuff that you’ve seen a million times. It’s not even that accurate and not even that entertaining anymore at this point.” As such, do not expect any of the usual portrayals we see. Looks interesting to me.