"Blood Ties: Season One" DVD Contest & "Warehouse 13"

Eagle Rock Entertainment, the distributor of "Blood Ties," the vamp crime show that got lost on Lifetime, gave me the dvds of Season One. After hearing all the fan raves about this series, I expected to like it and I did very much.

I expected to like: Christina Cox as the difficult, dogged Vicki Nelson, who will throw herself into danger to save others; Kyle Schmidt as hawt vampire Henry Fitzroy; the Toronto setting; the supernatural crime element; and the occasional humor.

But I was really suprised by a few things, including how damn likeable and engaging Dylan Neal is as the copy Mike Celluci, the third part of the crime fighting team. He has such a square-jawed, blown-dried look that I thought the character would be an uptight, by-the-books hardass. But Neal plays Celluci as a good guy whose able to adapt to the fact that his ex-girlfriend has partnered with a vampire. He's also got a nicely dry delivery of funny lines.

I loved many of the secondary characters and extras on the series. My favorite is Nimet Kanji as Dr. Rajani Mohadevan, who's surprised by absolutely nothing. Vampires, ghosts, monsters -- it's all in a day's work.

THE CONTEST:

To win my copy of "Blood Ties: Season One," just leave a comment telling me if there was a television series or book series that you thought got cancelled too soon. I'm pretty disappointed that "Blood Ties" didn't make it to year three, but other great shows, like "The X-Files," dragged on well-past their expiration date.

The contest runs through Wednesday night, July 15, and a winner will be pulled at random. You can comment if you're not in the U.S. or Canada, a winner must be in the U.S. or Canada.

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OTHER STUFF

Have you heard about "Warehouse 13," coming out on the SciFy channel? You can read an interview with its star. "Eddie McClintock was ready for his role on 'Warehouse 13.' In the new dramedy, premiering tonight at 9 on Syfy, the actor plays Pete Lattimer, a Secret Service agent assigned to protect a warehouse full of fantastical objects and investigate supernatural occurrences." (Boston Herald)

The reviews for tonight's premiere are good, including this one from the Los Angeles Times. "'The X-Files' meets 'Fringe' by way of 'The Librarian' with a little 'Indiana Jones' and maybe even 'Bones' thrown in for good measure, 'Warehouse 13' is unapologetically and delightfully derivative, happily plucking the best stuff from our favorite shows and leaving all the heaviness behind. In this loud and angry world of post-mythology and damaged heroes, how nice to see a television show satisfied with being simply entertaining."

Derek Tatum discusses a series that was not cut off too soon, the long-running, cult favorite, "Dark Shadows." "But my favorite Dark Shadows story by far involves one of my elderly relatives (who died before I was born) was going progressively blind. In order to 'save her eyesight up' so she could watch the show, she would shut her eyes until the program started. That, my friends, is dedication." (Mondo Vampire)

Beth Fantasky, the author of the teen novel, Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, is giving away two prize packages on her blog, including signed copies of her book. "Once again, I was going to have you actually DO something to win - and once again, I changed my mind, thinking, "Summer is supposed to be LAZY. We should all just be reading by the pool!"

Okay, my dogs are whining because they want to go out to the park. I'll try to add a Gratuitous Video of the Day later.