TOOBWORLD'S TAKE: "THE VAMPIRE DIARIES"

I watched the series premiere of 'The Vampire Diaries' on the CW and for me, it's a case of "one and done". I am just not in the right demographic for this series. (When I saw "Twilight" in the theater, I squirmed in my seat as if I was being tortured - at least until the baseball game scene.) If it sliced away all the ancillary teen angst crap and focused on the centuries-long feud between the brothers Damon and Stephan, then I might have stayed longer.

But at the same time, if they did that, they would lose their biggest potential for an audience. 'The Vampire Diaries' may not be for me, but I think it's going to be hugely popular with the young ladies in the audience, the target demo.

But I'm happy for Ian Somerhalder who's playing eternally-young bad boy Damon. I'm hoping this won't affect any chance he could come back to 'Lost' at some point during the final season, because I would prefer to see him as Boone. However, it's nice to know that he's on to bigger - if not necessarily better - roles.

I'll probably still follow along via episode guide recaps, just for Toobworld's sake. As things stood in the pilot, the artificial blood substitute drink Tru-Blood may have been introduced into this little patch o' TV Land known as Mystic Falls, Virginia. But that doesn't mean vampires have to live openly as such.

As this is the type of show that will probably have plenty of "current" pop culture references (One of the characters claims to have predicted "Obama and Heath Ledger".), we have no choice but to consider it as contemporary on the Toobworld timeline. So the events of 'True Blood' are already underway. Stephan may be using Tru-Blood to supplement his choice of nourishment from animal life rather than from humans, but that doesn't mean we have to see him doing so. Damon, on the other hand, looks as though he revels in the dark side of the vampiric "life" and has no qualms about still hunting humans to slake his thirst.

If anything else comes along to challenge the show's residency in the main Toobworld, hopefully the episode guides for 'The Vampire Diaries' will give me a head's-up so that I might find a way to disable the Zonk.....

BCnU!