Two years ago a little known vampire television show called “Moonlight” appeared at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. However, cursed with debuting the same season as the infamous 2007-2008 writer’s strike, “Moonlight” fell victim to viewer attrition. It was not the only show which failed to retain the audience that initially tuned in when it debuted, but CBS was unwilling to invest further in the show and it was cancelled after just one season – ironically, this was the year that both “Twilight” and “True Blood” would be previewed at Comic-Con just 3 months later and which would launch a blood-lust and vampire-craze that continues to this day.
Wishing to recognize the significant achievement of daring to bring back vampires to primetime television, the Paley Center invited the series creators and cast in April 2008 to a night of celebration with the fans. Appearing were executive producer Joel Silver, writer/producers Harry Werksman and Gabrielle Stanton, along with cast members Alex O’Loughlin, Sophia Myles, Jason Dohring, Brian J. White, and Eric Winter. For fans this was a golden opportunity to hear about the show they had fallen in love with.
Revealed at this panel were how Sophia Myles thought it was the best job she ever had and it felt like she had won a “Wonka Bar”‘; Alex O’Loughlin shared that his and Sophia’s amazing chemistry came from their both coming from the Commonwealth and having the same sense of humor — and astoundingly they just “clicked” on screen; and Jason Dohring expressed his interest in exploring the storyline of his character’s one true love.
Alas, in hindsight, “Moonlight” never did get a chance to tell viewers that much more about Josef’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ true love. The one saving grace of the show was that it had some notice prior to its cancellation and was able to slightly wrap up the show for the fans – a key element if the show was ever to do well with DVD sales and perhaps syndication. Fortunately, the CW saw the benefit of re-airing all 16 original episodes during the summer of 2010 paired with the CW’s hot vampire show “The Vampire Diaries.” This summer pairing has proven fruitful and advantageous for both fans and the CW as it cruises the wave of vampire-love.
If you have not had the opportunity to see this mesmerizing cult show, be sure to tune in on Thursday nights at 9:00 p.m. on the CW.
I was at the Paley event for Moonlight in April 2008 and I still mourn the loss of a magical television show! I know, I know, it all happens for a reason (maybe it’s partially Alex’s role in the upcoming Hawaii Five-O), but I still wish that I could have enjoyed more of The Story. These vampires were more human at times than the humans in the show itself! I guess I can only dream that there might be a reunion movie….