BLOODY GOOD TIME

About nine years ago, there was a little TV show on cable about a Jersey mob boss who killed with brutality but who also had a wife and kids, anxiety attacks and bills to pay. THE SOPRANOS caught our attention because it attempted to balance the mythology of the mob with the reality of daily life and how real people could balance their everyday activities and emotions with an almost Grand Guignol mode of operation. How to survive in a life of almost operatic proportions and yet keep your footing as a human being on a day-to-day basis captivated us for almost ten years, up until the very---

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Of course, there really are such things as mobsters, and THE SOPRANOS was (we're told) the closest thing to real life as has ever been done on television. (Marty Scorsese, we hardly knew ye.)

Now that's mobsters, not monsters.

But what if monsters, particularly vampires, really existed among us? They have a lot of bad press and a nasty rep to overcome, not to mention zillions of books, movies, legends. They are "the undead" who feed on blood, usually human blood, sleep in coffins by day and roam by night, and basically suck parasitically off the human race. Of course, they have perks like speed, heightened senses, superhuman strength and, oh, yes, they never age. And in recent years, thanks to Anne Rice, they more resemble Calvin Klein models than Bela Lugosi.

And what if you did a similarly landmark series about the real vampires among us in modern L.A.? What you might come up with--possibly--is the strangely appealing MOONLIGHT (on CBS, Fridays at 9 pm).

Okay, it's not a David Chase production and it lacks the gravitas of James Gandolfini et la famiglia. But following the increasingly stupid GHOST WHISPERER (and preceding the ever- shrivelling NUMBERS), MOONLIGHT is a charming little divertisement/romance that explores a growing friendship between a handsome private eye, Mitch St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) and a plucky female Internet reporter, Beth Turner (Sophia Myles). Beth actually gets Mitch to share details of his life with her--how he was unexpectedly "turned" at age 30 by his new bride on their wedding night, and how new vampires must be mentored to peacefully co-exist with humans right away or else they can become feral terrorists who threaten the human population while embarrassing and endangering the secret existence of their fellow undead colleagues. (There's even a covert "clean up squad" of vampires, the fixers who make sure the messes made by renegade vampires is neatly covered up.) Not all vampires fall in line--just as there are humans who behave badly--and Mitch, a rather good private investigator in any event, is particularly sensitive to vampires behaving badly and has very particular aims in re-claiming them to the fold. You see, Mitch still really rather likes human beings, due to a surprising episode with a child some years ago, and now Beth has arrived in his life without judgment or disapproval (but already spoken-for by a rather nice human boyfriend) . . . His vampire friends, who also operate effectively undercover in the human social whirl, tease him for his prissy proclivities but seemingly side with him and pride themselves in their abilities "to pass" without detection. To expose their primal instinct and behavior to mortals would be gauche, an embarrassment. But for Mitch, to find trust in a human like Beth, is surest sign that his life's work is not in vein . . . so to speak.

O'Loughlin and Myles are appealing to watch and are capable actors with a palpable chemistry. (But speak of underground cults and vampires, what IS it with all these non-American actors playing Americans on American TV? O'Loughlin's Australian, Myles is British. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, but on BROTHERS & SISTERS, the remarkable Rachel Griffiths plays American Sarah Walker without being detected as an Aussie (as she did on SIX FEET UNDER) and Brit Matthew Rhys plays gay brother Kevin. THE BIONIC WOMAN, an all-American archetype is being played by young British actress Michelle Ryan. On Chuck, all-American CIA agent/love interest Sarah Walker (yes, another Sarah Walker) is played by another Australian, Yvonne Strahovski. Christ, Hugh Laurie is a limey-bastard as the pain-in-the-ass American curmudgeon, Dr. Gregory House! These actors are just wonderful, mind you, but this is becoming an epidemic!)

But back to MOONLIGHT. It has a great after-midnight look and feel, edgy editing, good underscoring and fast-paced direction. Ron Koslow, one of its creators, has mined this dual-mythology landscape before with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and knows how to give us a romance with just the right undercut to keep it fun and just short of sappy. It may not be the stuff of cutting-edge TV drama--I believe no one else will be comparing MOONLIGHT with THE SOPRANOS this season--but as escapist entertainment, one could do far worse.