Eternally Yours Bosses Compare Charles And Liz To 'Confrontational' Everybody Loves Raymond Couple — Plus, What's Ahead For Newly Vamped Max?

What happens when a coven of vampires sires an unwanted new family member? You get an unwieldy, twenty-something "baby vampire" named Max. 

In Thursday's "Eternally Yours," Charles (Ed Weeks), Liz (Allegra Edwards), and the rest of the vamps must deal with the madness left behind in last week's series premiere. Emma's new boyfriend Max is now a vampire, begrudgingly given this new life by Charles after a freak accident that would've otherwise led to the guy's death. Now, the coven is forced to show him the ropes of how to traverse this world as an undead, fanged, and always blood-thirsty vampire. 

But teaching the stubborn newb how to not die is more difficult than they ever could have imagined, especially when Max evades the family so he can show up to work the next day for a big presentation. That goes as well as it sounds. There's a whole lot of skin-burning and a near blood-sucking of a colleague — that is, until Charles swoops in to save the poor guy from himself. 

Luckily for Max, the series has already established why vampires have it so easy on this new series by "Ghosts" creators Joe Port and Joe Wiseman. Not only does living in dreary Seattle help protect them from the sun, but as seen in Episode 2, some 80+ SPF sunblock helps keep those UV rays away too — handy! The co-creators had plenty of time to work out the kinks of their vampire lore. "Eternally Yours" has been in the making for well over a decade, and was even written and pitched well before "Ghosts" hit screens.  

"Joe [Port] and I have been in a long-time writing partnership and we were wanting to write a show and dramatize people who have been contractually stuck together for a long time," co-creator Joe Wiseman tells TVLine. "We started taking that to the extreme and were like, 'What if there were people who have literally been together forever?' and began thinking, 'What if it was a couple of vampires?'"

In addition to daughter Emma (Helen J. Shen) and the aforementioned Max (Jaren Lewison), the ensemble also includes Jesse (Parker Young) and his human wife Phyllis (Rose Abdoo), and their two half-vampire sons, Mort and Henry. Phyllis isn't aware that everyone around her is a vampire, but luckily for everyone, Jesse can easily wipe her memory as needed. But even Jesse is seemingly "stuck" with his partner. The premiere joked that "people are living a little longer than they did back in the day." But it's exactly another type of relationship that the two Joes wanted to explore. 

"I always thought it was very funny in 'Twilight,' you never hear about what happens way down the line," says co-creator Joe Port. "These people are making this crazy commitment and they don't seem to be really recognizing the consequences long term, and that was a very funny kernel [we] wanted to pursue."

While Charles and Liz certainly have their differences, Wiseman assures us that the show's main couple do actually love each other. But as with many long-term couplings, it can and it will get complicated.  

"Long-term relationships take a lot of work and resentments build up, and we have 500 years of that," he says. "We kind of view them as like Frank and Marie from 'Everyone Loves Raymond,' who were always confrontational, but they loved each other. There were enough moments along the way where you saw that they care for each other. I think that's the same with Charles and Liz."

Charles longs for the past and rejects modernity, while Liz welcomes changes and wants to fit in. It's that dichotomy that will continue to keep things spicy during the sitcom's freshman run. 

As for Max, Port says the series' newest vamp will be a "change agent" for the families as the season progresses. 

"He's going to shine a light on some practices that they may be doing that aren't completely moral or ethical," he says, adding that "the ethical ramifications ofJesse's wiping of Phyllis is something we're going to explore early on in the series." 

Max's new undead lifestyle will continue to push him in ways he'll never see coming. As Port puts it, he has "a lot to learn," and the audience will be right there beside him.

"We're going to learn about what it's like to live in a coven, what it's like to develop powers, and what it's like in the larger vampire community," he teases.  

Are you enjoying "Eternally Yours" thus far? Let us know your thoughts by dropping some comments below.