When Being Human first premiered back in 2009 it took the UK by storm. The show quickly became one of the most popular shows on BBC iPlayer and has been comissioned for a fifth season. A British TV show that’s become a cult phenomenon naturally was going to be snatched by the Americans. However, unlike shows such as Life On Mars US, Being Human US works.
The show first launched in January, 2011 following the same premise as the UK version, a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost sharing a house. Being Human US is set in the city of Boston and begins with vampire Aidan (Sam Witwer), named after Aidan Turner the actor who plays the UK version’s vampire, looking for a house with werewolf Josh (Sam Huntington). The two work together Suffolk County Hospital, but later their backstory is revealed and we start to understand how a vampire and a werewolf, enemies in legend, became so close.
Being Human isn’t about a vampire and a werewolf who share a house for the hell of it though. The two want to feel normal for once; Aidan has been trying to leave behind his past and not drink live blood and Josh has run away from his family because he’s afraid of what he is, and so they decide that they will rent a house together and try to live a normal life. The house, however, turns out to be haunted and their hopes of living a normal life are shattered as they now have to share the place with Sally (Meaghan Rath) the ghost of a young woman murdered there.
The show’s first season gave audiences the chance to get to know each of the main three characters and pitted them against a number of different challenges. Aidan finds himself struggling to escape the clutches of his maker Bishop (Mark Pellegrino). Josh has to come to terms with the fact that he is now a werewolf while Sally discovers how she really died. One of the greatest parts of the show though, other than its immersive storylines, is the chemistry between the cast. Its easy to believe that Witwe
r, Huntington and Rath could live together. While the show is essentially about these three supernatural beings sharing a house they all have separate storylines that intertwine as the boundaries of their friendships are tested.
The second season premiered in January this year and so far has taken the now developed characters and thrown them into even more intense storylines but again always returns back to the importance of their friendship. With Bishop gone Boston’s vampire underworld is in the hands of Aidan, while Josh deals with the fact that he’s turned his girlfriend into a werewolf and Sally tries to accept that she passed her chance to cross over and they deal with all of this from their kitchen.
As of yet there appears to be no plan to broadcast the show in the UK but its one of those shows that’s worth going out of your way to watch, the show constantly delivers episode after episode. If you’re a UK Being Human fan then chances are you might enjoy the American take on the show and either way if you’re a fan of supernatural dramas it definitely worth a watch.
