The CW Premieres The Vampire Diaries

Expectations were low for the debut of "The Vampire Diaries." After all the CW is attempting to cash in on the popularity of "Twilight" while pursuing the coveted young target audience with another glossy teen series. Critical opinion ranged from fair to downright awful. "The Vampire Diaries" also faces comparison to "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." The series rose above those low expectations and bested the heavily promoted "Melrose Place" debut.

"The Vampire Diaries" premiered in strong fashion establishing a myriad of characters and plotlines. Based on L.J. Smith's book series which debuted 14 years prior to the "Twilight" series, The Vampire Diaries" is set in Mystic Falls and immediately begins with the slaughter of two motorists. The show's heroine Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) is returning to high school after a summer of recovering from the death of her parents. Now residing with Aunt Jenna Gilbert (Sara Canning), Elena worries about her younger drug taking teen angst plagued brother Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen, grandson of Steve) whose trouble in a nutshell.

Jeremy is upset over being spurned by Vicki Donovan(Kayla Ewell) after a summer sexual affair because she has returned to big man on campus Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino). Vicki's brother Matt (Zach Roerig) is Elena's ex-boyfriend and still has a thing for her. Best friend Bonnie Bennett (Katarina Graham) claims to have psychic powers. Then there is Caroline Truitt (Candice Accola), a pretty blonde desperate to be liked. This is another series in which high school students resemble college graduates.

Enter smoldering hot hunk Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) who immediately sets female hearts fluttering and naturally only has eyes for Elena. He possesses mind control abilities and can walk in daylight because of his family ring. Without it, Stefan is like any other vampire condemned to the night. Stefan is another of the new wave of "good" vampires whose sensitive and brooding and drinks squirrel blood instead of killing humans. He has returned to his hometown after along absence and the motivation is Elena who looks exactly like his Civil War love Katharne.

What will be a major strength of the series is the conflict between Stefan and brother Damon (Ian Somerholder) who is the classic murderous vampire. He is the evil presence bent on making Stefan's existence miserable. Writer-director Kevin Williamson of "Dawson's Creek" fame has set the stage for a combination of teen angst and violent bloodletting and it works in the early episodes. In fact, "The Vampire Diaries" is superior to "Twilight." Damon is a far more menacing a character than anyone in "Twilight" while Wesley and Dobrev are brighter than Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. The cast is attractive while being good actors as opposed to the high number of young bad actors populating other CW shows. With strong characters and story, "The Vampire Diaries" is poised to be a break out hit.