TV Watch: SyFy's 'Being Human'

With the rigid 3-foot-high banks of snow outside going nowhere in the foreseeable future, I'm putting my money on indoor activities. This is one time I'm singing the praises of cable TV and the ability to Tivo new offerings and accept or reject without much investment.

I'm not one who typically bites into vampire fodder... the "Twilight" phenom is amusing but hardly consuming, and CW's "The Vampire Diaries" is steamy but a fast-forward indulgence at best, waiting for the dudes to take their shirts off.

However, two episodes in, SyFy's new other-worldly series "Being Human" looks like solid sustenance. The show is based on a hit Brit series of the same name, following three paranormal roommates in Boston, a vampire, ghost and werewolf.

Meaghan Rath, who plays ghost Sally, is an appealing character, exotic but sympathetic. The werewolf, Josh, played by Sam Worthington, has so far come off as fairly one-dimensional, flashing doe eyes and exuding inner turmoil—except, of course, when he morphs into a gruesome beast. Josh also has a lesbian sister, perhaps to show that not only non-humans deal with prejudice from the "normal" world.

The real appeal: vampire Josh, played by Sam Whitwer, is not only mighty handsome (it's all in the lips, cool cats), but the plot is dotted with homoerotic teases, via Josh's vampire mentor Bishop, who "turned" him during the Revolutionary War."Being Human" is off to a promising start, scoring SyFy's highest ratings for a scripted series since 2005. It also drew more females to the net than any other program. Hopefully that means we'll see all 13 episodes ordered for season 1—and a new cult hit is in the making.