When a TV show is called "trashy," it can mean a lot of things, but there are many cases when a series doesn't deserve this moniker. A show being referred to as "trashy" tells the audience and critics that it's a project that shouldn't be taken seriously. They lean into pulpy aspects like sex, violence, and over-the-top drama. While there are some TV series that do just that, others are playing with the concept of being trashy and creating something new and exciting. Many teen drama shows like The Vampire Diaries are unfairly deemed low-brow without being given a chance. 6v3q3s

It's common knowledge that fantasy TV shows are often lengthy and complex series that take a long time to finish. While some shows begin to flag in the later seasons due to their many intersecting plots, others are fantastic until the final episodes. It's not easy to keep the momentum of a series going for multiple seasons, and these projects all continued well past the five-season mark. Most older shows also have a full order, meaning the seasons are over 20 episodes long. Though it can be daunting to start watching such long series, these are worth committing to.

Ten years after True Blood came to an end, I can finally celebrate HBO's announcement that the perfect vampire replacement is in the works: an adaptation of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. Created by Alan Ball, True Blood is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series of bestselling novels by Charlaine Harris. Set in Bon Temps, Louisiana, the fantasy drama centers on Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic human-fairy hybrid living in a world where synthetic blood has allowed vampires to live more openly than before. Trust me: True Blood is peak 2010s TV.

True Blood star Joe Manganiello reflects on the impressive cast of the popular series. Manganiello played the werewolf Alcide Herveaux in the HBO series adapted from Charlaine Harris' The Southern Vampire Mysteries novels, which contained social commentary intertwined with its supernatural story. During True Blood's numerous seasons, the star-studded cast also included Anna Paquin as telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, Stephen Moyer as the vampire Bill Compton, and Alexander Skarsgård as the vampire Eric Northman.

The campy, vampire dramedy True Blood made its debut on HBO in 2008 to considerable acclaim, quickly becoming one of the network’s hit shows. However, reflecting on the series 15 years later reveals certain aspects that may have gone unnoticed during the initial viewing, highlighting the evolution of perspectives and societal changes since its premiere. When it first aired, True Blood stood out as a groundbreaking twisted take on supernatural fiction, garnering praise for interweaving metaphorical social commentary with colorful fantasy. Set in the vividly rendered Louisiana setting of Bon Temps, the show centered around telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse and her dangerous entanglements with the newly-public vampire population.

True Blood star Joe Manganiello offers some blunt thoughts about his character’s fate in the hit fantasy horror series. Based on the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, HBO’s True Blood ran for seven seasons between 2008 and 2014. Officially ing the cast as the werewolf Alcide Herveaux in True Blood season 3, Manganiello’s character would later be promoted to a series regular until he was unceremoniously killed off early in season 7.

Michelle Forbes played one of Star Trek: The Next Generation's best-loved recurring characters, but Ensign Ro Laren is just one entry on an impressive list of film and TV credits. The character of Ensign Ro in TNG was so popular that Michelle Forbes was offered the chance to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as one of the leads. However, Forbes turned this down to pursue other acting roles, which in retrospect feels like the right choice for her as an actress and for DS9 in general.

True Blood was a hit at the time of its 2008 debut, featuring seven seasons worth of vampire lore that started out fresh, but slowly began to decline in quality. The HBO series brought an innovative take on the vampire genre when it premiered, led by Anna Paquin and a talented ensemble cast. While the first few seasons showed promise, creatively interweaving supernatural elements with thought-provoking social commentary, the show struggled to maintain momentum. As True Blood progressed, the storylines became increasingly far-fetched and overly complex, and the once-inspired metaphorical backbone was dwarfed by camp.

Through seven seasons, the heroes and antiheroes in True Blood had to fight evil, and the strongest vampire in True Blood was always up for debate.True Blood got its start in 2008, based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries by author Charlaine Harris. The series follows Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress who lives in Bon Temps, Louisiana, where vampires live in the open and survive on a synthetic blood product called Tru Blood. Throughout the series, Sookie falls in love with a 174-year-old vampire named Bill Compton and has to deal with the evil beings in the vampire community.

HBO's True Blood is known for some captivating characters, but some of those characters could have been explored much further. While the series provided interesting and entertaining elements and complex relationships, there were many moments that left audiences wanting more. Expanding the roles of part of the True Blood cast could have deepened the narrative, allowing opportunities to connect more deeply with them and their contributions to the world of True Blood.