March 31,1996<\/p>\n
‘Kindred: The Embraced,’ premiering Tuesday on Fox<\/b><\/p>\n
By Manuel Mendoza<\/i><\/p>\n
Back-stabbing gets a whole new meaning in “Kindred: The Embraced,” Aaron Spelling’s application of his sex-and-suds formula to the world of vampires.<\/p>\n
In contemporary San Francisco, five Mafialike clans of bloodsuckers make up a shadow society. They have penetrated every aspect of modern life, from the entertainment industry to the police department, and their leader, Julian Luna (Mark Frankel), controls many of the city’s business operations.<\/p>\n
But there’s conflict: Two of the clans are at war, one wants to overthrow Julian and a cop (C. Thomas Howell) wants to shut the clans down.<\/p>\n
What marks Fox’s Kindred as a Spelling series is that the people are pretty and spend equal effort plotting against, and sleeping with, each other. In other words, if you strip away the bloodletting, “Kindred” is like Spelling’s other recent additions to network TV, “Savannah” on the WB network and “Malibu Shores” on NBC. It’s “Melrose Place” in a different setting.<\/p>\n
That show is Spelling’s current prototype – one that takes the suspension of disbelief to ridiculous heights with overwrought melodrama that at best comes across campy or comic-bookish. “Melrose” has entered its baroque phrase, which means it’s now intentionally unintentionally funny.<\/p>\n
“Kindred” plays it mostly straight, with only occasional winks at the potential cult audience out there. Sometimes, the show has it both ways; a bloody tear from Julian is but one example.<\/p>\n
Stylish bloodletting has been in fashion for at least 20 years now, dating back to the Catherine Deneuve\/David Bowie\/Susan Sarandon film “The Hunger,” so Spelling’s embracing of the genre is a natural.<\/p>\n
The 90-minute premiere – airing Tuesday before the series moves to its regular 9 p.m. ET Wednesday slot the next night – takes a while to get going and then drags at the end. In between, it shows potential. The characters and clans are well-defined, though if the show goes the way of Melrose, their motivations could switch at a moment’s notice.<\/p>\n
Kindred also has a handsome noir look and a complex historical background, including a set of strict rules for the vampires, that could make for rich exploration.<\/p>\n
Of course, you have to overlook the overacting, the contrived plots and the obvious fact that characters this dumb and emotional couldn’t possibly be this powerful. Yet if it doesn’t devolve “Melrose”-style, it could put some bite into prime time.<\/p>\n
* This article also appeared in the Calgary Herald, and the Tampa Tribune on 04\/02\/1996.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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