Vampire Diaries Pilot

I have neither seen nor read twilight, so I cannot compare the two stories in any depth.

I can say that I find this mythology more interesting and suited to my personal opinions on Vampires than what I've heard of twilight.

These Vamps have the powers of mind control; they can control the elements (fog, a crow); they cannot walk in sunlight without the aid of a family ring; they drink blood, human or animal, though human makes them stronger; they can't enter a house without explicit permission; they either move without making a sound or can teleport in some way or another; they may be able to fly or levatate, but that is not yet clear.

Also, Stefan, our hero Vamp, is interested in Elena, our human leading lady, because she is the exact double of Catharine, his love from 1864.That's why someone so old is obsessed with a high school student. Hopefully that interest will get as sexual as is possible on cable, but that remains to be seen...and I'm not sure I'm going to be sticking around.

It's called the Vampire Diaries because both Elena and Stefan keep diaries. They've both discovered that memories are precious and should be recorded for review later. Elena, having recently lost her parents, had to grow up fast over the summer. She's quite mature and sophistocated for a high school student, which could be good for a no-longer-in-highschool viewer such as myself. Still, the narration is a little cheezy.

A lot of it is cheezy, and not in that "we're having fun and making fun of ourselves" kind of way. The impression is an attempt at seriousness that misses its mark. This is the case from the very beginning. We have a sexy and mysterious voice over that is cliche and predictable, and then two people get killed by a vamp. One is trying to help them vamp, whom he just hit with his car, but the other, the girl, when she sees her man's body fall across the car as she gets out, instead of getting back in the vehicle to drive to safety, decides to run for it in heels. Are we back in the horror flicks of the 70s and 80s?

The cheeziness was the worse factor. If it learned to laugh at itself, to abandon the silly hightened seriousness, it would be a better show.

The acting wasn't bad. Elena and Stefan I liked. The friends were alright. Damon, our evil vamp, was not on screen long enough for me to assess, though I did not find him nearly attractive enough...so he better be able to act.

I guess I'll decide next week whether or not to bother to watch it again.