From the dead to the undead Alan Ball the creator of the dearly missed mortuary drama Six Feet Under turns his darkly comic sights on the supernatural with True Blood Sundays at 9 pmET HBO the story of a telepathic Southern waitress who takes a stab at romance with a 173-year-old vampire Kate HahnTV Guide What was it about the Sookie Stackhouse novels that made you want to turn them into a seriesAlan Ball I bought [the book] because of the tagline Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend wasnt such a good idea which struck me as funny[Author] Charlaine Harris created such an imaginative and clever world thats frightening funny sexy and deeply romantic all at onceTV Guide Anna Paquin looks so different in the series blonde and tan Weird for a vampire showBall [Laughs] Ive tried to be as true to the books as possibleThere are legions of fans for Charlaines books and I want them to be fans of the show too And after she did it Anna actu
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HBO has just announced that, after only two episodes, the network has renewed its freshman vampire series True Blood for a second season.Michael Lombardo, president of West Coast Operations at HBO said, "We are absolutely thrilled that the critics and our viewers have embraced True Blood," noted Lombardo. "Alan Ball has done it again - made an addictive series that is unlike any other."After a disappointing showing in the ratings for its premiere episode, Blood rebounded after its second episode on Sept. 14 with an "unprecedented" 24 percent gain in viewers.Ball says he's "thrilled to be able to continue to work with such a talented group of writers, cast and crew to explore the characters and world created by Charlaine Harris in her novels."True Blood airs on Sundays at 9 pm/ET on HBO.Have you discovered a thirst for True Blood yet? — Erin FoxRelated• Mega Buzz on True Blood• Watch More on True Blood Using Our Online Video Guide
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Feels like old times, having a Sunday HBO lineup to get excited about again. But excited I am, having seen the first five episodes of the wildly entertaining new vampire mystery/romance/comedy/thriller hybrid True Blood, and the first four episodes of Entourage’s much-improved fifth season.I posted my initial thoughts on True Blood in a Dispatch filed shortly after HBO’s presentation during TCA press tour this summer, at which time I had screened the first two episodes. Since then, I’ve watched more and have also devoured the first two books in Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series, which are also great fun. (Season one of True Blood roughly tracks the plot of Harris’s first volume, Dead Until Dark.) All I can say is: I’m hooked.Alan Ball’s colorful adaptation goes way over the top as only pay cable can do, both in terms of sexuality (especially where Sookie’s horndog brother is concerned) and in terms of broadly played Southern caricatur...
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I dont usually look like this Anna Paquin says with a laugh ushering a visitor into her modest dressing room on the set of True Blood HBOs eagerly awaited vampire series Shes referring to the giant shiner an impressive black-and-blue masterpiece courtesy of the makeup department that covers her left eye But theres an even more striking change Paquin 26 a familiar big-screen face since her Oscar win at age 11 for The Piano is no longer her well-known wan brunette self but a spray-tanned bleached-blonde bombshellJust as the X-Men star doesnt look quite like herself True Blood which marks the return to TV for Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball doesnt resemble a typical blood-sucker saga On the show set in the near future vamps have come out of the coffin so to speak and are even campaigning for a Vampire Rights Amendment Theyve made their presence known to mankind Ball says Theyre struggling for equal rights and assimilation A new sy
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Vamp fans—and you know who you are (I hear from you often enough)—I know you’ve had a tough year, still mourning Moonlight and Blood Ties and all. Time to cheer up, and get ready for a wild ride this fall with HBO’s frightfully funky Southern Gothic ghoulash True Blood (premiering Sept. 7). With equal parts humor, horror and a sexuality that goes beyond the usual supernatural swooniness to graphic raunchiness, Alan Ball’s 12-episode adaptation of Charlaine Harris’s cheeky novels—the first season roughly follows her first book, “Dead Until Dark”—is one of the few buzzworthy shows to emerge in the new season.Still, you’d never accuse Ball of (pardon the pun) sucking up to the die-hard cultists. Asked if he’d taken any lessons from the cancellation of CBS’s Moonlight, for example, he quips: “I think it’s pretty lame when you let your vampire out in the day just because you don’t want to shoot at night.”...
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