Television show review: Demons

What happens when you need a new idea for a television show but you have no idea or clue. Let's say that you have a deadline and need to make sure you have some new program that can compliment a top show that just underwent a massive revamp. What is the result?

Well if you are the BBC, you go to a tried and true theme. You copy something successful from the U.S. and put a British spin on it. Thus was born Demons. A television program that can be summed up as a combination of Twilight and Buffy the Vampire Killer. Sadly, the premiere seems to lack the spark either had.

The pacing is slow, I mean dead slow. It plods along at a pace that even the most dim can out-think. If a tribble could write, this might be the program it would make.

The characters are wooden, as are the lines they speak. We jump from scene to scene without much thought or logic. Viewers couldn't care about whether anyone lives of dies in the show.

From the top, the show is a male based version of Buffy. The last of the Van Helsing family has suddenly been found by inhuman creatures that would love to see him dead. The boy has incredible reflexes, but no training as a fighter. He is living a regular life like any other teen, with a friend that is secretly in love with him - of course he has no idea of this. Enter a mysterious man that turns out to be his godfather (and soon to be mentor in the art of killing the undead et al). Of course his mom has no clue about any of this.

Does this sound EXACTLY like the start of Buffy? Minus anything interesting? Well maybe the young actor playing the lead will be something the tween girls out there will enjoy.

The dialog is filled with "I'll smite you" and "Beware my wrath". That's as good as it gets in this. The visuals are dark tones and shaded, supposedly adding to the allure of the current trend in goth culture and vampire lore. Both are just boring.

I was hoping this might be a new idea in the trend on vampires. That it might be a unique mix of European lore and modern day. That it could be more than just a retread of old ideas, poorly done. But that's asking for entertainment, and quality. Something that costs far too much for most networks and studios.

Could Demons turn into something far more than this first episode? Could it build into more than a sophmoric caricature of concepts that are so overused today that evaluating it elevates the program beyond it's merit?

It is possible. Just as it is possible that Dr. Who could be enriching for viewers under the 12th Doctor. Then again it is possible, in fact mathematically probable, that pigs will fly. But I wouldn't make a bet anytime soon.

If you are 12 - 16 I recommend Demons (and Dr. Who under the new Doctor) as something to watch if your Xbox, Playstation, and cell phone are all broken while your television is stuck on the channel. For everyone else, avoid this unless the choice is watchinng American Idol (then just turn the television off). At least BBC America has this scheduled on Saturday nights and there are always better options.