 " No Such Thing as Vampires " finished first among total viewers and adults 18 – 49 for its night . It was seen by 8 @.@ 54 million American viewers , and received a 5 @.@ 7 household rating and a 10 % share of all televisions in use . The critical responses to the pilot were overall unfavorable . Several critics compared it detrimentally with the television series Angel , as well as other vampire related media , including Forever Knight , Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Blood Ties , The Night Stalker , Dark Shadows and the works of Anne Rice . Tim Goodman of The San Francisco Chronicle considered it as a " flat @-@ out awful " pilot of what " may well be the worst new fall show " . Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post @-@ Gazette described the pilot as " a weak , generic private @-@ eye drama with a vampire story overlay " , and Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe felt that it came close to a " full @-@ on nightmare " . 
