• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, 2 hours ago

A family of sitcom vampires coming to CBS this fall arrives only two years after the last vampire family left FX.

This new family is the centerpiece of “Eternally Yours” (photo above), the new vampire comedy premiering on Thursday, October 8, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS.

In the show, the vampire family consists of Dad Charles (Ed Weeks) and Mom Liz (Allegra Edwards) -- both in the above photo; adopted daughter Emma (Helen J. Shen); family friend and “coven” member Jesse (Parker Young); and Jesse’s two sons, Mort (Tristan Michael Brown) and Henry (Shylo Molina) both half-vampires.

The other character in the photo is Max (Jaren Lewison), a non-vampire who is dating Emma. In the above photo, he is seen finding out about Emma’s parents for the first time.

The family lives a suburban life in Seattle. Similarly, a vampire family lived in an old house in a normal residential neighborhood in Staten Island in the FX series “What We Do in the Shadows.”

That show was a one-camera, half-hour mockumentary in which the vampire characters actually looked like vampires. It premiered in 2019 and had six seasons before it ended in 2024.

In “What We Do in the Shadows,” the vampires went out in public to supermarkets and other local spots wearing conspicuous outfits of capes with various dark, “gothic” accessories. 

In “Eternally Yours,” the family members do not present as vampires at all. They blend into their surroundings wearing regular clothes. 

The show is a traditional three-camera sitcom. It comes from the producers of “Ghosts” on CBS.

By all appearances, the family members in “Eternally Yours” lead normal lives consisting of jobs and school. At the same time, it just so happens that they drink blood at family dinners.

The title of “Eternally Yours” refers to the marriage of Liz and Charles, which took place 500 years ago in a moment of passion when Liz begged Charles to suck her blood and make her a vampire.

What neither of them considered was the prospect of being married for eternity because, as we learn in the show, vampire couples are prohibited from divorcing.

As a result, Liz and Charles are now in a stale, passive-aggressive marriage from which there is no escape.

In both comedies, the vampires are seen dealing with modern-day challenges. This was the theme of another light-hearted vampire series that came and went a few years ago.

In the show, titled “Reginald the Vampire,” the title character was a chubby, socially awkward 20-something man who voluntarily became a vampire for various reasons. 

But he then realized that his life did not change much. He was still socially awkward, and even bullied, but now he realized that he would live for an eternity this way -- a frustration that is also part of the premise of “Eternally Yours.” “Reginald the Vampire” ran for two seasons on Syfy, 2022 to 2024.

In the 1960s, “The Munsters” and “The Addams Family” both featured families of extraordinary ghouls living among the ordinary citizens of their communities.

“The Munsters” even had two vampires, Grandpa (Al Lewis) and his daughter Lily (Yvonne De Carlo).

The lengthening history of comedic vampires on TV means that TV vampires are eternally ours.