Working in a book store in the late ‘80s, and being a general weirdo, it will not surprise anyone to know I was really into Anne Rice's growing series of Vampire Chronicles books, and I experienced The Vampire Lestat as a relatively new release. I was in the coterie of folks who had high hopes for the Tom Cruise/Brad Pitt movie adaptation, though I walked out of the theater feeling "well, I guess they got as close as a mainstream movie would allow you to."
When AMC announced their Interview With A Vampire series, I largely ignored it until the drum beat of enthusiasm for its first 2 seasons grew impossible for me to ignore. I hadn't been willing to get an AMC+ subscription, and rarely watched terrestrial cable (even though I pay for it), but once both seasons were on Netflix I decided to dive in.
I loved it. More than loved it. They got it! Yes, story points had been changed, and timing of events had been adjusted, but every tweak seemed to allow the spirit of those early, original books to shine through more brightly. And when they announced season 3 would tackle The Vampire Lestat I was very excited ... and very afraid. It would be very easy to ruin the vibe or throw off the balance if the music that Lestat's band plays to launch them into the stratosphere of megastardom didn't feel like music that could become widely popular, the whole thing could end up being super lame, despite the excellent track record for immersion the show had already set thus far. But I wasn't going to miss this I real time and finally signed up for a discounted year of AMC+.
Well, the premier episode of season 3 debuted Sunday, and I have zero reservations now. The structure they've set up to tell this season's story is flexible enough for multiple viewpoints yet durable enough to feel reassuringly consistent. The music takes more of its cues from glam and pop, and thus far the songs Lestat performs have been believable and good enough that I won't be avoiding the eventual soundtrack of collected music from this season. Heck, the signs of this season possibly surpassing prior seasons are so strong I even went and bought a piece of merch. For a TV show! I never do that! Yet here we are.
The vibes seem to be that Interview With A Vampire / The Vampire Lestat is falling into that category of TV shows that look like a million bucks, have incredibly passionate followings, and are largely (and confusingly) ignored or fall under the mainstream radar. Don't be one of those folks who discovered their favorite TV show after it's been canceled and get in on this goodness. Then spread the word. You'll be the coolest if you do.
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