At the CBS Upfronts this week, the network announced plans for a new show called "The Vampire Diaries", which is based on the young adult series written by L.J. Smith. The series is centered around a high school girl named Elena, who pursues a mysterious stranger named Stefan Salvatore.
Naturally, there's more to Stefan than meets the eye and Elena discovers his secret: he's a 200 year old vampire. As Elena and Stefan begin a relationship, Stefan's brother, Damon, comes to town and begins to pursue Elena. Damon and Stefan clash over their past and Elena.
Ian Somerhalder ("Lost") plays Damon Salvatore who, unlike his brother, has no problem killing humans. Stefan Salvatore is played by Paul Wesley ("Smallville" and "The OC"). Nina Dobrev ("Degrassi: The Next Generation") plays Elena Gilbert, the 17 year old ingenue who captures Stefan's heart and draws Damon's obsession. Katerina Graham ("Hannah Montana"), Candice Accola ("Supernatural") and other young actors round out the cast playing Elena's high school classmates.
Kevin Williamson ("Scream" and "I Know What You Did last Summer") and Julie Plec will be producing and writing for the series.
The formula for this show is as follows: young girl falls in love with brooding, attractive, older vampire. Chaos and heartbreak ensues. Has this been done before? Absolutely (see Buffy, Angel, True Blood and a little something called "Twilight" for reference). You know why it's being repeated? Because it WORKS. Show me a girl – myself included – who doesn't fall in love with a tormented creature of the night. We just can't help ourselves.
Also shown at the Upfronts were 3 sneak peaks for the show, which you can view below. The sneak peaks feature all three main characters and the final scene demonstrates the volatile relationship between the brothers. According to the books, "Katherine", who is mentioned in the final scene, is the woman who first pit the brothers against each other over 200 years ago and turned them into vampires.
The Vampire Diaries will begin airing in the fall of 2009 on Thursdays from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. EST. Supernatural will air at 9:00 p.m.
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Clarissa is a former lawyer who lives in Toronto. She joined TVOvermind in 2009 and also writes for MovieOvermind, as well as Heroes, Lost and FlashForward fansites. Clarisa is a huge fan of everything TV and movies and is looking forward to singing along with the cast of Glee. Follow her at twitter.com/clarissa373
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Ian looks so hot! I'll be watching! Anybody know if the books are any good?
I devoured the books in HS. Honestly, there's a lot of "rip-off" in Twilight if you'd read the Diaries first.
[...] For your interest, here's an interesting link titled First Look at “The Vampire Diaries” which gives more information about the upcoming series based on L.J. Smith's best-selling [...]
Shannon, I got my 21 yr old daughter all the books for her birthday and she LOVED them! This from a child who barely ever reads. I will now have to steal them from her to see what they are like:)
I am so glad to see so many Canadian Degrassi alums doing well (Nina Dobrev, and the girl who plays Annie on 90210 who's name has completely slipped me for some reason- bad Canadian that I am!)
I've actually just started reading The Vampire Diaries and I like it a lot better then Twilight. I just the trailer for the show and I'm really excited for it to come on in the Fall.
OMG WHAT DO THEY THINK THEY ARE DOING!!!!!!! what complete crap! since when is Elena a brunette. they could of at least died her hair! i dont even want to know what else they did to ruin my favorite book series! then again after "book 5″ how could i really be surprised.
Nothing is ever the same from book to media (movie/TV). They're not 'ruining your favorite book series', the books are still as amazing and wonderful as they always were. Have an open mind why don't you? I'm not thrilled about the changes myself, but seriously? Is this reaction truly necessary? It's my favorite series too and has been for about 13 years now, even in all the reading I do I come back to TVD as a favorite.
If you feel that strongly, don't watch it. The rest of us will tune in and let you know how it is.