Blood Ties Thread, Tanya Huff's Creation as Seen on Lifetime Channel Options

[Raycheetah]

Many Dark Shadows fans have expanded their fandom to include some of the new blood vampires on TV. One of these is Henry Fitzroy, from the show "Blood Ties," which has aired on the Lifetime Channel. Surprisingly, many folks are either only dimly aware, or, worse, unaware of this program, which has been compared very favorably with CBS' Moonlight. Well, despite the similarities, there are also contrasts to be made, which make this program unique and enjoyable.

The significant difference between Moonlight and Blood Ties, which I post here without dropping a massive spoiler, is that, unlike Mick, who hasn't yet lived past a normal human lifespan, Henry is centuries old, and, having gone through all of that, has grown accustomed too, even comfortable with, his condition. So, while Mick could be said to be a "baby" vampire, in terms of his experience with it, Henry has already matured into it, providing a nice contrast between the two characters.

Aside from that, BT has more varied supernatural elements, like Dark Shadows did, than ML does, which is mainly vamps and humans.

To view streaming video of the entire series of 22 episodes (which comprise the first 2 seasons) for free, go to:

http://www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/shows/bloo...od-price-part-1

The "Select an episode" box allows you to do just that.

Also, you can order the DVD set of all 22 episodes online at Amazon.com UK; search by title. It's Region 2 (UK and Japan), but, if you have a region-free player, that's no problem. You can also order both Blood Ties and Moonlight on ITunes.

There are 5 Blood Ties novels out from Tanya Huff (Amazon.com, again, US is fine), plus another book on preorder (looks like short stories). She also does another series, the "Smoke" series with Tony Foster, another character from the Blood book series (you won't see Tony in the TV series, per Tanya Huff, as, she thought he had potential for his own series!), which include Henry, the Blood Ties vamp protagonist, as well.

The novels present the characters and their relationships rather differently, and, might not be to some viewers' tastes. However, they are the original source material for the series, so, adventurous completists might give the first novel or two a try.

Finally, the future of Blood Ties is still up in the air; although the series is unaffected by the WGA Writers' strike, being produced entirely in Canada, Lifetime has not yet committed to a third season. A growing coalition of BT fans have started a Yahoo group to share information and to coordinate efforts to encourage the renewal of this show:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/saveblood...yguid=322589985

So, I encourage anyone who is interested in another quality supernatural show to give this one a chance; if you like it (and, I think you will!), your help to support its renewal would be welcome.

The thread is now open to questions!

-Raycheetah =^[.]^=