Saturday, January 29, 2011

Being Sick has its Advantages: Being Human

So the trend in TV continues to be "find something that works in England and then rip it off American style." This was successful with shows like the Office, and even MTV has ventured into it with the latest version of Skins. However, given the horrible state of sick I am currently in, I decided to check out Syfy's latest endeavor, Being Human.


In a time plagued with Twilight rip offs and with television saturated with vampire, ghost and werewolf dramas, I was reluctant to dive into yet another. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this tale of young twenties angst. Being Human follows the saga (and yes saga) and three "monsters", a stunningly sexy vampire, a quirky werewolf and a mopey ghost. I was shocked by the depth to these characters. Each "near human" battles their inner angst and struggles with their "monster within."

The actors are actually really good. Sam Witwer, famous for nothing really upon my research except a brief stint on Smallville, was actually shockingly impressive. He plays the vampire torn between the desire to feed and the need to be accepted by humans. In a non-Robert Pattinson fashion, he doesn't make me want to punch him in the face. Sam Huntington (the perv from Not Another Teen Movie) is our quirky comedic element. This bumbling spaz makes the perfect ironic werewolf, add to that for some reason he rocks the Star of David. Finally, Meaghan Rath (who appears to be completely unknown) is our third and final monster, constantly fretting about her once fiance (and the motley crew's landlord) can't see her and they will never be together. Personally, I disliked this character completely.

The show really isn't trying anything we haven't seen in Vampire Diaries or Trueblood. Vampires gaining power, and the struggle to remain neutral. However, the acting was good enough that I will probably check on it again. Though to be honest, I would suggest checking this one out on hulu.com when you catch the miserable flu going around. I wouldn't set my tivo to record. Apparently it runs Monday's on SyFy. Though I am contemplating checking out the British version online too.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the British version better.
Each actor fits his/her role with ease. Nicer to look at vampire,doofier werewolf,(although he drops some of that as the series goes on)and a steadier ghost living in a better rent add up to a fine production.Maybe I feel this way because I saw this version first? I'll still follow the American version to see how it plays out. Why was this done? It was done to the "The Girl Who Played With Fire" trilogy. I saw two of the Swedish versions and felt like they pulled out the pictures I had in my head after reading the books and put them on the screen.
Perfect! Characters, setting and events just as I imagined. I'll
try to catch the American versions to just satisfy my curiosity.

Whitney Dubinsky said...

Well anonymous, due to your enthusiasm and my general fluish nature I am going to watch the british version. BUT I will already disagree american vampire is WAY hotter than british vamp.

In regards to the girl who played with Fire, I couldn't agree more. I have no idea why americans can't watch foreign movies or TV shows for that matter.

Maggie Cats said...

I loved the line about wanting to punch R. Pats. Heh.

I'll be watching this tonight and am now looking forward to it!

Rachel said...

I've watched both the BBCA and SyFy versions of this show and I like the BBCA version much better as well. It could partly be because I saw the BBCA version first. Also, I love their British accents.

Unknown said...

alright crazy kids. i watched three episodes of the BBC version...blah. The acting isn't all that great folks. I think you all might be favoring it because its what you are used to.