There's lots of pretty faces on the new, tonight at 8, "Vampire Diaries", (it's the CW, after all) but it's the name behind the show that matters most.
That name is Kevin Williamson, the show's co-creator and one of its main writers, who is from Oriental (near New Bern), the son of a fisherman.
Williamson gained TV fame with "Dawson's Creek" (paired at first on Tuesday with the late great vampire show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), the addictive series that launched in 1998 and featured teens who talked like literate adults but acted like oversexed melodramatic teens.
The show gave the world Michelle Williams (Yeah!), James Van Der Beek (Meh), Joshua Jackson (Cool), and Tom Cruise's wife, Katie Holmes. (Honestly, can you believe it's the same Katie Holmes?)
Williamson created that show after transforming horror films with his 'Scream' movies. He did other film work too, like, "I Know What You Did Last Summer, and "Teaching Mrs. Tingle," which was based on a real-life teacher he had.
But since Dawson's Creek, the small screen hasn't been kind to Williamson. His other TV shows were "Wasteland," a drama about 20somethings in NY; "Glory Days," a spooky comic serial about a young novelist going back to his small town home after his father's death; and "Hidden Palms," (with Raleigh's Sharon Lawrence) about a rebellious teen moving to Palm Springs.
I didn't think any of those shows were bad, but TV is a cruel mistress.
Fingers crossed with "Vampire Diaries," which I think is also good. Although he's doing teens again, Williamson uses a less stylized voice than in 'Dawson's Creek." It's a good companion to "Supernatural"; creepy and moody (even downright scary at times), but compelling, and a mature exploration of small towns and teen life. And since I haven't seen "Twilight," I'm not having vampire fatigue.
Assistant Features Editor Adrienne Johnson Martin would like to have her life turned into an animated cartoon. 
