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'Teen Wolf' is No 'Buffy,' But It's Entertaining
June 5, 2011  | By Jane Boursaw
 
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ReelLifeWithJane.com

Hormonal teens, mysterious creatures, cops with flashlights -- no, it's not a show on The CW. It's Teen Wolf, MTV's new show based loosely on the 1985 movie starring Michael J. Fox. It premieres Sunday at 11 p.m. ET immediately following the MTV Movie Awards, then moves to its regular time slot this Monday at 10 p.m. ET.

I checked out the screener, and while I'm not as enamored with it as with The Vampire Diaries, it's still a fun show with cool special effects and handsome people. I don't think of myself as a Twilight mom, although I do love those movies. I think of myself as more of a sci-fi-supernatural mom, which I inherited from my mom, one of the first Star Trek fans back in the 1960s. At 87, she still loves all things sci-fi and is the reason why I know the Vorlons on Babylon 5 are susceptible to the poison Florazine found in the Damocles Sector.

Because of my mom, I love shows like Fringe, Supernatural, Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I'm super-geeked about TNT's Falling Skies, premiering June 19 at 9-11 p.m. ET. And even though I'm a self-proclaimed scaredy-cat, I even started watching all the ghost hunter shows until I realized they rarely ever see a ghost.

teen-wolf-mtv.jpg

So I guess it's no surprise that I'd like Teen Wolf right off the bat. If MTV had sent me the whole series, I probably would have watched one episode after the other, like I did with Buffy a few years ago (though make no mistake -- Teen Wolf is no Buffy).

The show stars Tyler Posey as Scott McCall, a teenager who ventures into the woods one night with his best friend Stiles (Dylan O'Brien) to join a police search for a dead body. Well, "join" is a misnomer. The reason they're there is because Stiles was eavesdropping on his dad's phone conversation.

You can see where this is headed. When Scott stumbles across the blood-spattered body of a girl in the woods (a scene that would probably be too gory for the female-centric Vampire Diaries), he's nearly killed by a herd of stampeding deer, then attacked and bitten by a mysterious beast. Okay, it's not a mystery. We're not dumb. The title of the show is Teen Wolf. Scott's bitten by a werewolf.

The next day, he discovers some pretty awesome things about himself. The formerly shy and nerdy Scott is now a skilled and powerful lacrosse player. He doesn't need his inhaler anymore and can smell his friend's mint mojito gum in his pocket. He communes with dogs, and all the cats go nuts when he's around. Sure, it's kind of cool, but now he has to deal with a whole boatload of stuff on top of the usual teenage angst. And of course, there's a girl.

I don't know if Teen Wolf will gain a following like The Vampire Diaries or Supernatural. There are lots of creature shows competing for our DVR space, and as David said last week, vampires rule.

This one boasts plenty of appealing characters and nighttime shenanigans, but who's to say if it'll last one season or ten? Neither my 16-year-old son nor 14-year-old daughter is the least bit interested, so maybe it'll just be us sci-fi-supernatural moms at the TV. Still, it'll make for fun summer viewing while the kids are out doing whatever they're doing.

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Here's a peek at Teen Wolf--

 

 

4 Comments

 

Kristen said:

In my mind Teenwolf will always be Michael J. Fox. My teenager watched that a few weeks ago and just kept saying how fake it looked, ah well. Wasn't there even a teenwolf cartoon?

Comment posted on June 6, 2011 11:08 PM


Roxanne said:

I'm not sure this is my cup of tea, even though I like sci-fi quite a bit. Thanks for the insights.

Comment posted on June 7, 2011 11:05 AM


Casey said:

Well, nothing could EVER be as good as Buffy, could it? But I'll take a chance on cute supernatural boys if you say so!

Comment posted on June 9, 2011 10:40 AM


Jane Boursaw said:

Well, I watched the second episode this week, and it's still pretty entertaining. I'll stick with it for now.

Kris - Yes on Michael J. Fox. This new version has very little in common with the original, but they're both good in their own way. I think you're right about the Teen Wolf cartoon. Can't say I've ever seen it, though.

Comment posted on June 10, 2011 12:01 AM
 
 
 
 
 
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