Cable television has been on a wild ride with what has been deemed allowed by the FCC. Back in its early days, only premium movie channels like HBO were able to show anything close to R-rated content without scene cuts and blurred spots to hide extreme violence and nudity, and ridiculous audio over-dubs to mask the seven dirty words you can never say on television. The past decade has pushed the envelope on content, as basic cable shows like The Walking Dead, South Park, and even network level shows like Hannibal have let the violence and language fly with few reservations.

Now, we are at the precipice of another jump forward in mature content. Syfy is set to let loose the blood and language by bringing the Grindhouse genre to basic cable with the television series, Blood Drive. By the looks of the trailer, this won’t be a watered-down version of a genre that prides itself with throwing buckets of blood around a screen.

The series plot synopsis is as follows:

Los Angeles 1999 – The Future: where water is a scarce as oil, and climate change keeps the temperature at a cool 115 in the shade. It’s a place where crime is so rampant that only the worst violence is punished, and where Arthur Bailey — the city’s last good cop — runs afoul of the dirtiest and meanest underground car rally in the world, Blood Drive.

The main premise seems to be the unholy conception between Cannonball Run and Mad Max with an unhealthy splash of piss and vinegar (also known as the movie Blood Car from 2007), but it almost seems like it may be an anthology-based series like Tales from the Crypt, with a daring duo in a blood-fueled car being the narrative connection. Whether or not this is the case, Blood Drive looks like a series that I’ll take a joyride with.

Season 1 premieres June 14 on Syfy.

By Pat Emmel

Patrick began collecting a library of VHS tapes, DVDs, and CDs when he was young, and continues to build a library that could easily double as a video store and/or a revitalized Tower Records.

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