Not all vampire-werewolf relationships created equal

Where did it all go wrong?

Vampires and werewolves seemed to get along just fine when they were chasing Abbot and Costello. Or maybe it was the Scooby-Doo gang. But this summer, there's plenty of bad blood, and things between them are getting hairy.

The vampires and werewolves in "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"? Fighting. The vampires and werewolves on "True Blood"? Fighting fang and claw. The vampires and werewolves on ABC's "The Gates"? Well, I stopped watching that after the pilot, but for argument's sake, let's just say they're not the best of friends.

And that just makes "Being Human" (10 p.m. Saturday, BBC America) all the more refreshing. Vampire Mitchell (Aidan Turner) and werewolf George (Russell Tovey) not only are able to coexist, they're flatmates. And, proving that Bristol, England, is some sort of supernatural melting pot, they also share their house with a ghost called Annie (Lenora Crichlow).

OK, so not all of the show's vampires and werewolves get along. The nebbishy George has a bit of a target on his frequently hairy forehead after killing the vampires' leader at the end of last season -- if you missed it and want to catch up, in the great tradition of British television, season one had only six episodes -- but that was only because said vampire was trying to rid the world of humans.

While it features the occasional apocalyptic bit like that, "Being Human's" main appeal is the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously.

This season, Annie has taken a job she's "always fancied" as bar staff in a pub down the street, even though she's, you know, a ghost. Sometimes she's visible, sometimes she's not. But even at her most lifelike, when she can make physical contact with people, she's never quite solid. It's a state Mitchell describes as "squishy." As if to brush off those types of logistical concerns, Annie says at one point, "If there's one thing that I've learned about this world, it doesn't follow logic."

And, in a winking nod to the genre, "Being Human" acknowledges it's not the only supernatural series in town. While waiting to see if George's girlfriend, Nina (Sinead Keenan), whom he accidentally scratched during one of his transformations, will undergo a similar change, Annie tries to make small talk. Annie: "There's a werewolf called Nina in 'Buffy.' " Nina: "Never seen it." Annie: "Well, I stopped watching it once, you know, I started living it."

"True Blood" (9 p.m. Sundays), meanwhile, usually one of the most dependably campy series of the year, is growing tedious.

There still are some lighter moments -- almost always involving either flamboyant cook/drug dealer Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) or Pam (Kristin Bauer), the vampire sidekick who often comes off as a cynical, undead version of Elle Woods from "Legally Blonde" -- but four episodes into its third season, "True Blood" seems to have lost its way.

The drama's already unwieldy cast has practically doubled in size, and most of the regulars have veered off down confusing or so-far unsatisfying side roads.

You could say the whole thing's been thrown to the wolves.

Vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer) has been kidnapped and tortured by a werewolf pack, the leader of which is hilariously named Cooter. But now Bill's bogged down in some sort of vague vampire political turf war between the King of Mississippi (Denis O'Hare) and the Queen of Louisiana (Evan Rachel Wood) that's taking its sweet time getting anywhere.

With Bill gone, his telepathic waitress girlfriend Sookie (Anna Paquin) is off infiltrating the Mississippi werewolf scene with her were-bodyguard, Alcide (Joe Manganiello), who, like every other male to ever set foot in Bon Temps, La., is surely no more than an episode or two away from falling for her.

But at least the Sookie subplot has paid off in trips to a were-bar, cleverly named Lou Pine's. And, really, who doesn't appreciate some good Latin-based biological classification wordplay?

Elsewhere, bar owner Sam (Sam Trammell) is stuck dealing with the family of shape-shifters who abandoned him as a child. Sookie's brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), has been given little to do besides yearn to join the local police force. And Sookie's best friend, Tara (Las Vegas native Rutina Wesley), is mixed up in some type of violent sex-and-kidnapping action with a mysterious new vampire (James Frain).

And all the while, the fact that this troublesome pack of werewolves was part of a Nazi commando force during World War II -- which sounds like the greatest movie Roger Corman never made -- is only dealt with in passing.

It's a shame, really, because if "True Blood" is going to be derailed by a whole new breed of beasties, viewers should at least be able to have some fun along the way.

I just hope someone, vampire or werewolf, soon follows "Being Human's" lead and rises up and cries, "Can't we monsters all just get along?"

Christopher Lawrence's Life on the Couch column appears on Sundays. E-mail him at clawrence@reviewjournal.com.