"You really have to learn to be flexible and adapt to any given situation in this industry, and if you're lowest on the totem pole -- which is where everyone starts out here -- you've got to fight for your right to be here," he said.

The series followed Blade and newly-turned Krista Starr (Jill Wagner), an Army vet whose brother was a familiar for Marcus Van Sciver (a scene-stealing Neil Jackson), a powerful vampire in Detroit. Blade uses Krista against Van Sciver, after using his serum to control her bloodlust.

For Gates, it was just exciting to see these characters come to life.

"Sticky was so great as Blade," Gates said. "He really stepped into that character and made it his own and I think his 'street' Blade has something going for it that's different from Wesley's interpretation. And I know a lot of fans who prefer Sticky's version."

Call me one of them.

While rough around the edges in the two-hour premiere movie (recently released as a director's cut DVD movie), Sticky Fingaz really takes over the role and brings a lot more to the character than could realistically be brought in three two-hour films.

And the stunts and action are fantastic in the series. Every time Blade dusts a vamp, it looks just like the films. Oh, and don't forget the blood. There's tons of blood and guts.

It all added up to some great memories, and a great way to enter the "business" for Gates.

"Going on set was incredible," Gates said. "We were there while they were shooting the last episode, and I saw them shoot a lot of the final sword fight with Van Sciver and Blade."

The job even got him into the Hollywood premiere, seated next to future boss Geoff Johns and "Blade: Trinity" writer and director David S. Goyer, who also wrote the two-hour pilot.

"Every few minutes, Geoff would lean over and say, 'Isn't this great?' And it was," Gates said. "It was a really great experience and I really enjoyed working alongside some of the best writers in the business like Geoff Johns, Dan Truly, Barbara Nance, Adam Targum, Chris Ruppenthal and David Simkins. They really crafted a great season and it was so great to work with them every day."

Unfortunately, Spike has yet to approve a second season. Strange in that it was heavily hyped, had decent ratings and was the channel's first heavy foray into its own scripted programming.

But, we can always hope.

"I'd love for there to be a second season," Gates said. "We left season one on such a juicy cliffhanger. But I'm not sure Spike TV is really looking to do more. I have heard rumors that they'd like to someday do a TV movie, but I think there would have to be a huge amount of fan support and the right people behind the project for it to happen."

It's a shame the series had a premature ending, especially just when it was starting to get really fun and interesting every time out.