The Strain – a comedy?

What network wouldn’t want to pick up a series from Guillermo del Toro? He is a notorious director, writer and producer of great horror films. In 2006, del Toro pitched the Strain, but Fox wanted to make it a comedy series. What? A vampire comedy, from del Toro? No thanks.

After that, an agent suggested he create a book instead. Partnering with Chuck Hogan, he created a three-part novel series. After the first book, networks began making offers to make it into a series or film. Only after finishing the written series did Hogan and del Toro meet with networks to discuss creating a television series. They wisely chose FX because they wanted to stick closely to the books storyline.

And here we are, one week away from the first season finale. The show has done exceptionally well, receiving an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. It has easily become one of my favorite series this year. If you haven’t watched it yet, do so ASAP.

I never read the books, but I’m so excited to see what is going to happen next week. Maybe after this season ends, I will start the novels. The thing I really love about this series is that they don’t glamorize vampirism. Instead, the vampires on the show are ugly, brain-dead (except for a few), almost zombie-like parasites controlled by the Master. I really hope we get to see more of the vampire-vampire hunters, who are led by Mr. Quinlan (whose name I only know from reading about the series online). I can’t wait to learn more about them; I bet their story is fascinating.

What do you hope to see next week? Or do you already know what is going to happen based on the books? Del Toro has said that the first two seasons will follow the first two books closely, and the final book will be split into 2 or 3 seasons. No spoilers, please!