“True Blood”: Only Skin Deep

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC

Not my type.

I finally got around to watching the first season of “True Blood” on DVD — yeah, I know,  I’m a total TV slacker — but I survived only four episodes.

“True Blood” begins with an intriguing level of satire that quickly devolves into soap operatics and — even worse — boring stereotypes. Creator Alan Ball cleverly uses vampires to symbolize the coming out of the gay community, but his vampires are clichéd, smug and brooding. Rather than being high-minded immortals espousing centuries of amassed wisdom, they’re self-indulgent fetishists living solely for debauchery. Yawn. If vampires are supposed to represent the gay community, Ball is doing the latter a great disservice. Indeed, with the exception of the leading romantic interest, most of the vampires are hyper-violent dicks, so I actually found myself siding with the bigots: uh, yeah, it’s probably not the best idea to mingle with superpowered creatures hell bent on eating you.

Like Tears in Rain: How Sci-Fi Series Go All to Hell

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC

"A TV series based on 'Blade Runner.' Really, is that too much to ask? But no, you give us 'Real Housewives of Orange County' instead... Time to die!"

When “Battlestar Galactica” concluded, its fans lamented that the series had to end, but were thrilled that it departed on a good note. Compare that to the fans of “Lost,” who are saying “WTF?!” after its later episodes. Then there are the still-hurting fans of “Firefly,” who saw Joss Whedon’s brilliant series nipped in the bud by a network that seemed intent on destroying it. (The subsequent “Firefly”-based movie, “Serenity,” helped alleviate the pain. A little.) Whedon’s next experience with “Dollhouse” drove him from TV for good. And, of course, there’s “Star Trek,” that short-lived 60s series that’s been born again in movie theaters thanks to the man behind “Lost”…

“Show Me Your V”: It’s about sports. Really. I think.

Why? Why? Why?

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of Versus… Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Apparently, not too many people know about the small sports network, which I personally appreciate for bringing me football games from the PAC-10 and the Ivy League. Where else would I be able to catch the Harvard-Cornell game in L.A.?

Obviously, Versus wants more than us middle-aged marketing geeks. So in an effort to generate awareness, Versus is asking for more than a show of hands. They’re literally asking people to “Show Me Your V.”

Really.

It’s About Time: Fox TV Acknowledges That Less Is More

Fox TV has a long history of upsetting the status quo. At its launch, it gave the finger to the mainstream networks and introduced edgier shows such as “The Simpsons,” “In Living Color” and “Married With Children.” Sure, this meant smaller overall audiences than its rivals, but it scored with the ever desirable 18-49 demo, whom advertisers love. Now Fox TV is rocking the ad world again…

So Robotic: The Terminator In Review

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC

The first season of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” wrapped up last week. (If you missed any of it, Fox offers entire episodes on its rich multimedia promo site.) T-tv did fulfill its mission of entertaining young males and, ahem, some middle-aged ones during Monday Night Football’s cruel hiatus. But it left far too many questions — and I’m not talking about what will happen next season…