31 Days of Halloween: Some More TV

Reginald the Vampire, 2022, Amazon

Vampires will always be Halloween to me, moreso ("conventionally spelled as two words, the one-word moreso gained ground in the late 20th century and continues to appear despite the disapproval of usage authorities and of spell check") from the popularity of plastic Halloween costumes of Bela Lugosi's Dracula. Even the most harmless stories fit the season, to me.

For example, the adaptation of Fat Vampire in this show, about a nice kid from a small but colourful (oh, so colourful) town working at a local slushy purveyor, who bumps into a decent vampire, only to end up as one himself. Given the source material, the idea of someone being made into an immortal being in the state of corpulence (fat), is unfortunate. They are forever locked in the state from when they were turned, so no matter of starvation or exercise will unmake him fat. And that offends other vampires, whose council has deigned "hotness" as a requirement. So, all the other vampires are Anne Rice / The Vampire Chronicles CW level sexy. Well, except for manservant Erich, but they don't explain him, as he is just a plot gimmick.

Oh, this show is all about the gimmicks but that doesn't detract from the charm. Its unfettered with much world building, sort of accepting we will know a wee bit about "vampire worlds" and just accept that which we are placed into. The focus is on affable Reginald (not sure why no one calls him Reggie; Jacob Batalon, Spider-Man: Homecoming), his crush on Slushy Shack coworker Sarah (Em Haine, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and his pains at navigating his new state. Their world is colourful, brightly lit, assumingly to offset that it will primarily be set at night, and gaudily decorated, whether the vampire world or the retail world. There is a subplot about the tension in the vampire world at Reginald's making, but I just hand-wave that away for the enjoyable focus on Reggie (there, I did it for them).