The Vampire Diaries on the CW

I saw the previews on TV about a month ago for the Vampire Diaries and I was intrigued, enough so that I went out and bought the original book series - including the reunion (book #4). Since Twilight I've been more perceptive to 'new' Young Adult and Teen paranormal or fantasy series, so I was actually pleased to have something new to read that could compare.  And it did, compare that is.

L.J. Smith's Vampire Diaries perhaps wasn't as compelling and addictive, for me anyways, as Twilight was but the series itself and the romance between the young 'teenaged' male vampire and the human girl was, and is, an interesting read.  In reading the two different series quite close together, I found that while I read I was making a lot of comparisons between the stories.  That's probably not entirely fair to either Meyer or Smith, but I hope that they won't mind.  Smith wrote her books some time ago and the mind set of our society at the time and the driving 'plot requirements' for young adult/teen stories was different.  In many ways, I think as a society we're just maturing more quickly and also we're not quite as protective of what our youth are reading (and watching on TV).  But personally, I really liked the Vampire Diaries book series.  

I liked reading about Elena and Stefan, Damon, and all the other characters.  I liked the plot line and the color that Smith was able to incorporate into the story with flashbacks to Stefan and Damon's past.  When it comes right down to it, I liked the series as a whole and I don't think there is anything that I could complain or criticise about it.


Not so with the TV version of the same. 

 

When I saw the previews the first thing that I said to my husband was, "They've got it all wrong - Stefan is 500 years old, not 100, Elena is a blond, not brunette and Bonnie was a short redhead, not a tall-ish African American."  And that was just from the preview!  I was almost tempted to not watch the show.  I didn't want to have to rearrange my vision of what the characters looked like in my head.  I didn't want to have to adjust my vision of the town and surrounding setting.  I didn't want to have to adjust to changes in the story line.  I just didn't know if I wanted to risk watching the show and having it skew my pleasure of the book.


But I watched it anyways.  Yeah, it's different.  There's no arguing that, those differences are just to glaring to ignore.  Yet surprisingly, so far anyways, they fit.  I just finished watching the series premiere and I liked it.  For as skeptical and downright pessimistic I was about whether it would be any good, that is actually saying alot.  It's certainly not my favorite show and I wouldn't compare the TV adaptation of Vampire Diaries to the movie version of Twilight but I do like it and I will be watching next week to see more.

So once again I've been surprised by my enjoyment of something that for all intents and purposes I didn't think would be as good as it was.  It was that good, and I can only hope that the show will continue to get better as time goes by.  

Here's hoping?!?!

For more information about the CW's production of Vampire Diaries please visit the official website, here.
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I have part 2 of Feehan's Dark Carpathians nearly ready for posting, so I'll be getting that up this weekend sometime.  And a hint on it's content, one word: madness!