Does Anyone Watch The Vampire Diaries?

[racheltng]

No, it's no Buffy, but the show has some redeeming qualities. First, there's vampires. Always a good start. Second, there's teen angst out the wazoo. Every character on this show could get into a brooding contest with Angel. Problem, it's all pain, no now humor. I can probably count on one hand the number of times someone has cracked a joke on this show.

The reason I posted this question here is I keep getting smacked over the head with the number of parallels to Buffy.
-Bestfriend is a witch.
-Two hot male vampires who spend most of their time fighting/annoying the hell out of each other.
-Female lead immediately drawn to brooding male vampire who she doesn't know is a vampire for several episodes. Initially rejects him but then comes back for more because can't resist the brooding hotness. (Besides, the line "I'm bad for you" is guarenteed to send any 16 year old girl's heart afluttering.)

What's missing, besides the humor, is the strong female characters. Witchy bestfriend is showing some potential, but she's still afraid of her power. Female lead, Elena, has no capacitance of her own at this point, though could certainly kick Bella's ass, or at least give her a good tongue lashing.

Still given the derth of options of TV right now, it's fairly reliable show.

Thoughts?

 

[Black Eye Guy]

I stopped watching after the main girl told the main guy that their love was epic - if it was epic you don't call it epic!

 

[Lyri]

I just started watching. I'm on episode three. I'm not loving it, but it's filling my Tuesday nights. Stephan's eyes are really bothering me, I wanna sting Caroline up by her hair, and I kinda want Vicky, Matt and Tyler to get eaten by Damon, lol.

 

[Emzzie]

I LOVE IT!!! I thought it was dumb at first but it really picked up after the halloween episode. I definitley see those parallels but it drives me crazy when people say its a rip off of Buffy. The books the show is based on were written 6 years before Buffy! Damen is such a bad boy and I adore him. Did you catch the latest episode? Wasn't it so disappointing?! I kind of knew it was going to happen because I've read some of the books, but I was still sad!! I'm excited for it to return.

 

[thevikingsgirl]

I like it. Damon is fun, and I don't dislike Elena. I think she's pretty tough. She would definitely kick Bella's butt. It's not a really GREAT show, but it's only in its first season. When I watched the first season of Buffy I had no idea what all the fuss was about. So you never know, it could get better.

 

[Angels baby101]

Honestly I watch it every week and at first I wasn't sure about it but I kept watching it and now I just love it. Of course I tape it and watch it Friday mornings because it comes on at the same time as Bones, but I'm addicted now. I love Damon, he's just hilarious and boy is he absolutely delicious looking. Stefan is not bad either, gotta love the romantic boy. Elena I dont have much opinion on grant it she's the main girl but i just look at her and i shrug lol. Caroline isn't so bad lately in the new episodes, I love Bonnie she's awesome. I really like Jeremy a lot better in the newer episodes as well. The show is getting really good and I cannot wait till the next episode in march 🙂

 

[thevikingsgirl]

I like Jeremy too. You have to wonder what he'd be like if Damon hadn't worked his mental magic on him. Has anyone read the books? I read the first one. I'll get to the others eventually. It was okay (I actually like the show better, which hardly ever happens).

 

[Taake]

I gave it a try but after the first two episodes ... I don't know. It's mostly cheesy and annoying and i agree with Black eye guy, if you're love is epic you dont' call it epic.
I'm not sure if it's the show or if I have simply had my fill with the type. A lot of it actually made me think of Roswell, only by now the actors have dropped to a scary small dress size.

oh and the Vicky chick, so irritating! Not to mention the 'vampire eyes' almost as irritating as the fangs in True blood.

 

[InsaneMystic]

It's currently airing here after Desperate Housewives, so I do follow it (we're around ep 5 or so), but I still don't know what to think of it. Up to now, yes I agree, the parallels to Buffy are huge (Bangel, Spike, Willow, heck the Salvatores even got "Gems of Amara", for crying out loud), but I can't help thinking it just misses Buffy's spunk. Not giving up on it though... just yet. 🙂

 

[VisionGuy]

I watched the first episode. I wasn't too impressed by it.

 

[thevikingsgirl]

To me even though I can see the parallels with Buffy, it feels totally different from Buffy. It feels more like a Twilight (movie) rip-off than a Buffy rip-off, but as it progresses I think it's standing on its own fairly well.

 

[Emzzie]

guys! It cant be a rip off of anything because it was written before Buffy, True Blood and Twilight. If anything, you could say they were a rip-off of it (even though I dont think so)

For those who gave up after the first couple episodes....I was right where you were. I told everyone is was stupid and they were only trying to cash in on the rise in popularity of vampires. But if you really stick around it really finds its stride after the halloween episode (where something happens to the annoying Vicky 😛 ). It had ok viewing numbers before the halloween episode, but after is when they increased and started gaining popularity.

As you can see I'm a die-hard fan now (not as much as I am for Buffy though, never as much as Buffy 😀)

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I gave it chance, I really did....I watched two episodes, and I'm not impressed. I liked Damon, he was pretty hot and seemed sort of interesting, but the show bored me, honestly. I don't think I'll watch it again.

 

[socrgurl1396]

at first i wasnt that into it, but lately its really getting better im actually really intrested in catherine, i like her character and i hope we see more of her. i also like anna and pearl i hope we see more of them too. im not a huge fan of elena, i think the acting isnt very good there. but it definetly kicks twilights ass.

 

[The Ferg]

I gave it chance, I really did....I watched two episodes, and I'm not impressed. I liked Damon, he was pretty hot and seemed sort of interesting, but the show bored me, honestly. I don't think I'll watch it again.

Agreed. I'm sorry, but 75% of TV shows are just crap, and this falls right in the middle of that pile. It is a COMPLETE rip-off a Buffy, and to an extent Twilight. Nothing here is original.

 

[Emzzie]

Agreed. I'm sorry, but 75% of TV shows are just crap, and this falls right in the middle of that pile. It is a COMPLETE rip-off a Buffy, and to an extent Twilight. Nothing here is original.

It CANNOT be a rip-off because the books the show is based on were written 6 years before buffy started and 14 years before Twilight was written. It is original. GrAwR is everyone ignoring my posts??!!! 😛

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I wish you'd give it another chance Joan but I definitley get why you won't 🙂 And I can see why everyone else does not, because I know I hated the first half.

So does anybody out there watch the show, like it and maybe want to chat about it? Or am I all alone? 🙁

 

[thevikingsgirl]

guys! It cant be a rip off of anything because it was written before Buffy, True Blood and Twilight. If anything, you could say they were a rip-off of it (even though I dont think so)

For those who gave up after the first couple episodes....I was right where you were. I told everyone is was stupid and they were only trying to cash in on the rise in popularity of vampires. But if you really stick around it really finds its stride after the halloween episode (where something happens to the annoying Vicky 😛 ). It had ok viewing numbers before the halloween episode, but after is when they increased and started gaining popularity.

As you can see I'm a die-hard fan now (not as much as I am for Buffy though, never as much as Buffy 😀)

The books are nothing like Twilight. But the show has a definitely Twilight feel - they even make jokes about it ON the show. The show is really different from the books, and the things they've changed make it more Twilight-esque. And the show started well after Twilight.

 

[racheltng]

I hear you, Emzzie. You've convinced me that's it's neither a Buffy nor a Twilight ripoff, though I maintain that the reason it got produced now is that it's riding the wave of Twilight and teen vampire angst popularity. Not that I mind. I just can't seem to get enough vampire, or teen angst.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Well, maybe I'll check out the latest episode if I have time today...

 

[The Ferg]

It CANNOT be a rip-off because the books the show is based on were written 6 years before buffy started and 14 years before Twilight was written. It is original. GrAwR is everyone ignoring my posts??!!! 😛

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I wish you'd give it another chance Joan but I definitley get why you won't 🙂 And I can see why everyone else does not, because I know I hated the first half.

So does anybody out there watch the show, like it and maybe want to chat about it? Or am I all alone? 🙁

I don't mean to be all confrontational, and admittedly, I don't know too much about the plot, but some friends of mine that read the book series say the TV show is quite a bit different than the books.