True Blood
Encyclopedia
True Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball
. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries
series of novels by Charlaine Harris
, detailing the co-existence of vampire
s and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana
. The series centers on the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse
(played by actress Anna Paquin
), a telepathic waitress.
The show is broadcast on the premium cable network HBO in the United States. It is produced by HBO in association with Ball's production company, Your Face Goes Here Entertainment. It premiered on September 7, 2008. The series has received critical acclaim and won several awards, including one Golden Globe and an Emmy. The show's second 12-episode season had its premiere on June 14, 2009 and the third season on June 13, 2010. On June 21, 2010, HBO renewed True Blood for a fourth season. On August 11, 2011, HBO announced that True Blood had been renewed for a fifth season of 12 episodes to air in summer 2012.
's Southern Vampire Mystery books. One day, while early for a dental appointment, Ball was browsing through a Barnes & Noble
bookshop and came across Dead Until Dark
, the first installment in Harris's series. He read the entries that followed and became interested in "bringing [Harris's] vision to television". However, Harris already had two other adaptation options for the books. She said she chose to work with him, though, because "[Ball] really 'got' me. That's how he convinced me to go with him. I just felt that he understood what I was doing with the books."
The project's hour-long pilot was ordered concurrently with the finalization of the aforementioned development deal and was written, directed and produced by Ball. Cast members Paquin, Kwanten and Trammell were announced in February 2007 and Moyer later on in April. The pilot was shot in the early summer of 2007 and was officially ordered to series in August, at which point Ball had already written several more episodes. Production on the series began later that fall, with Brook Kerr
, who portrayed Tara Thornton in the original pilot, being replaced by Rutina Wesley
. Two more episodes of the series had been filmed before the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike shut down production of the 12-episode first season until 2008. That September, after only the first two episodes of the series had aired, HBO placed an order for a second season of twelve episodes of the show, with production scheduled to commence in January 2009 for a summer premiere.
, the production studio also responsible for creating the title sequences of Six Feet Under and Showtime's Dexter
. The sequence is composed of portrayals of the show's Deep South
setting, and runs to "Bad Things
" by Jace Everett
, although the original featurette was created around the Jennifer Herrema
(RoyalTrux) song "RadTimesXpress".
Conceptually, Digital Kitchen elected to construct the sequence around the idea of "the whore in the house of prayer" by intermingling contradictory images of sex, violence and religion and displaying them from the point of view of "a supernatural
, predatory creature observing human beings from the shadows ..." Digital Kitchen also wished to explore ideas of redemption and forgiveness, and thus arranged for the sequence to progress from morning to night and to culminate in a baptism
.
The title sequence also features images and themes of death and re-birth; the circle of life. A Venus fly-trap can be seen engulfing a frog while a rotting fox’s head is sped up to reveal maggots feeding off of the corpse. Re-birth is also recognized through an image of a woman being “washed clean” from her sins in a lake as well as a Reverend blessing and possibly performing an exorcism on a member of his congregation.
Most of the footage used in the sequence was filmed on location by Digital Kitchen. Crew members took a four-day trip to Louisiana
to film and also shot at a Chicago
church and on a stage and in a bar in Seattle. Additionally, several Digital Kitchen crew members made cameo appearances in the sequence.
In editing the opening, Digital Kitchen wanted to express how "religious fanaticism" and "sexual energy" could corrupt humans and make them animalistic. Accordingly, several frames of some shots were cut to give movements a jittery feel, while other shots were simply played back very slowly. Individual frames were also splattered with drops of blood. The sequence's transitions were constructed differently, though; they were made with a Polaroid
transfer technique. The last frame of one shot and the first frame of another were taken as a single Polaroid photo, which was then divided between emulsion
and backing. The emulsion was then filmed being further separated by chemicals and those shots of this separation were placed back into the final edit.
Eight different typefaces, inspired by Southern road signage, were also created manually by Camm Rowland for cast and crew credits, as well as the show's title card.
In a 2010 issue of TV Guide
, the show's opening title sequence ranked #5 on a list of TV's top 10 credits sequences, as selected by readers.
, who supervises the series' music, said that his goal for the show's soundtrack is to create something "swampy, bluesy and spooky" and to feature local Louisiana musicians. True Blood soundtrack albums have twice earned Calamar Grammy Award
nominations.
Composer Nathan Barr
writes the original score for the series which features cello, guitar, prepared piano
and glass harmonica among other instruments, all of which he performs himself. The main theme song is "Bad Things" by country music
artist Jace Everett
, from his 2005 self-titled debut.
Elektra/Atlantic Records released a True Blood soundtrack on May 19, 2009, the same day as the release of the DVD and Blu-ray of the first season. Nathan Barr's original score for True Blood was released on CD on the Varèse Sarabande
label on September 8, 2009. The second True Blood soundtrack was released on May 25, 2010, to coincide with the third season's premiere in June. The third volume was released on September 6, 2011, a few days before the season four finale.
Both Nathan Barr
and Jace Everett
won 2009 awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated
in the BMI Cable Awards category for, respectively, True Blood's original score and theme song.
The show's individual episode titles are named after songs featured in the episodes, usually heard during the closing credits. The title usually indicates something about the events that will unfold throughout the given episode. For example, episode ten of season four is titled "Burning Down the House
" and the end credits feature a cover version of the classic Talking Heads
song performed by The Used
.
/alternate reality game
(ARG) campaign, based at BloodCopy.com. This included setting up multiple websites, encoding web address into unmarked envelopes mailed to high profile blog writers and others, and even performances by a "vampire" who attempted to reach out to others of their kind, to discuss the recent creation of "TrueBlood", a fictional beverage which is featured in the show.
A MySpace
account with the username "Blood" had, as of June 19, uploaded two videos; one entitled "Vampire Taste Test – True Blood vs Human", and one called "BloodCopy Exclusive INTERVIEW WITH SAMSON THE VAMPIRE".
A prequel
comic was handed out to attendees of the 2008 Comic-Con
. The comic centers around an old vampire named Lamar, who tells the reader about how TruBlood surfaced and was discussed between many vampires before going public. At one point, Lamar wonders if TruBlood is making the world safe for vampires or from them. Several commercials featured on HBO and Facebook
aired prior to the series premiere, placing vampires in ads similar to those of beer and wine. Some beverage vending machines across the US were also fitted with cards indicating that they were "sold out" of TruBlood.
HBO produced and broadcast two documentaries to promote True Blood, entitled "True Bloodlines". The first, Vampire Legends, explored the earliest portrayals of vampires in legend, literature and cinema. The second, A New Type, discusses vampire culture from Nosferatu to today's sensual, sexual creatures. To that end, the show also covered the modern vampire subculture and real-life vampire clubs. Actors and writers from True Blood appeared in the documentaries. The shows first aired on September 6, 2008, on HBO.
Thousands of DVDs of the first episode were handed out to attendees of Midnight Madness, a special film festival. Blockbuster Video provided free rental of the first episode of True Blood several days before it was broadcast on HBO. The video had a faint promotional watermark throughout the episode.
On April 16, 2009, HBO released the first teaser poster for Season 2. The image uses a perspective technique that shows observers one of two images. A minute-long promotional video advertising season two, which featured Bob Dylan
's "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
", was released via Entertainment Tonight
in early May.
On September 19, 2009, HBO.com began selling Tru:Blood, a beverage branded to resemble the fictional synthetic blood that appears in the show. The beverage is a carbonated blood orange-flavored drink, developed and manufactured by Omni Consumer Products
, a company that specializes in defictionalizing brands from television and movies, and FMCG Manufacturing Company, a specialist manufacturer of licensed entertainment products.
There is also a website for The Fellowship of the Sun, antagonists from the book series, featuring videos about hot-button issues such as becoming a vampire.
FX
, available in the UK, launched an extensive promotional website for the series.
On September 15, 2009, HBO filed a trademark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office
for a possible future electronic game based on True Blood.
On September 18, 2009, HBO launched a True Blood jewelry line in collaboration with New York-based designer Udi Behr. Inspired by the series, the jewelry has a Gothic look and features sterling silver, polished steel, and rubies.
On June 1, 2010, HBO held a special event at a number of movie theaters around the U.S., complete with red carpet, searchlights and swag bags. Contest winners were invited to watch a special live, the Season 2 finale, a preview of Season 3, and a live interview on the set of True Blood with the cast and Alan Ball.
HBO began selling True Blood figural busts
featuring Bill, Sookie, and Eric in summer 2010. Busts of other characters will also be available later.
HBO and IDW Publishing announced at the 2010 WonderCon that they would be publishing a comic book based on the series. Alan Ball
developed and wrote the comic. The first booklet, with a print run of 53,000, was released in July 2010 and soon sold out. The second issue went on sale August 18, 2010, with a second printing of the first issue going on sale August 25.
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True Blood employs a broad ensemble cast composed of regular, central characters and a rotating group of impermanent supporting characters. Though the series is based in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, a noticeable number of the actors comprising the cast are originally from outside the United States. In an interview, Ball explained that he didn't intentionally seek out "non-American" actors, but was willing to go anywhere he needed to in order "to find the actor who makes the character breathe". Ball went on to explain that, in casting, there was more of a focus on who would portray the character in a compelling way rather than who would physically resemble the characters from the book. Noting that there's a definite difference between the characters and storylines portrayed in True Blood and the ones depicted in The Southern Vampire Mysteries, he described Harris as being very understanding in terms of how her work was being reinterpreted.
s, telepaths
, and shapeshifters
among others) exist. Two years prior to the events taking place during the series, vampires "come out of the coffin
" (a term coined as a play on "coming out of the closet
"), when scientists in Japan invent a synthetic form of blood called "Tru Blood". No longer having to rely on human blood to survive, vampires are able to integrate themselves (or "mainstream") into human society.
The major characters of the first season of True Blood
are introduced among various intertwining plot lines that surround the Bon Temps bar "Merlotte's". The show's main protagonist, Sookie Stackhouse
(Anna Paquin
), is a telepath and waitress at Merlotte's. In the opening episode she saves Merlotte's first vampire customer, Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer
), when a local couple attempts to drain him of his blood (vampire blood is known on the show as a human narcotic: "V" or "V Juice"). Through the relationship that develops between Sookie and Bill, the viewer progressively learns more about vampire culture and the limitations of vampire physiology.
The major plot of the first season revolves around the murder of several women connected to Sookie's older brother, Jason
(Ryan Kwanten
). The women murdered include sexual partner Maudette Pickens (Danielle Sapia), on-and-off romantic interest and Merlotte's waitress Dawn Green (Lynn Collins
), grandmother Adele (Lois Smith
) or simply "Gran", and girlfriend Amy Burley (Lizzy Caplan
). Though the viewer is always aware of his innocence in their deaths, Detective Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer
) targets him as the prime suspect in the investigation he conducts with Sheriff Bud Dearborne (William Sanderson
) to identify their killer. Jason's best friends and co-workers, Hoyt Fortenberry (Jim Parrack
) and Rene Lenier (Michael Raymond-James
) provide him with support despite the turmoil he encounters. Rene, who becomes engaged to Merlotte's waitress Arlene Fowler (Carrie Preston
), is eventually exposed as the Bon Temps murderer and is killed in a final confrontation with Sookie.
A secondary plot in the first season (that later develops as the primary storyline in the second) revolves around Sookie's best friend Tara Thornton
(Rutina Wesley
). In the first episode, Tara is hired as a bartender at Merlotte's by bar owner, shapeshifter, and admirer of Sookie, Sam Merlotte
(Sam Trammell
), with whom Tara later has a brief relationship. Tara's cousin Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis
) already works as a cook at Merlotte's (in addition to several other jobs that include road crew, prostitute, and drug dealer) with Andy's cousin and Iraq War veteran
, Terry (Todd Lowe
). Tara's story is characterized by her relationship with her alcoholic
and abusive mother Lettie Mae (Adina Porter
) and her own inner "demons". During the season, Lettie Mae achieves sobriety but Tara's life begins to spin out of control. Kicked out of her home and totaling her car in a drunk driving accident, she's taken in by "social worker" Maryann Forrester (Michelle Forbes
). While staying with Maryann, Tara is introduced to "Eggs" Benedict Talley (Mehcad Brooks
), to whom she is attracted.
The final plotline of the first season revolves around the elements of vampire society that Sookie and Bill's relationship introduce. While trying to prove her brother's innocence in Maudette and Dawn's murders, Bill takes her to the vampire bar "Fangtasia" to investigate. There, Sookie is introduced to Fangtasia's owner and the vampire sheriff of "Area 5" in Louisiana: Eric Northman
(Alexander Skarsgård
). Eric is immediately interested in Sookie and her strange abilities, but his progeny and assistant Pam (Kristin Bauer
) is less impressed. Eric employs Sookie to find a thief in his bar, but the perpetrator (a vampire) attempts to kill Sookie when she reveals his identity. Bill stakes and kills the thief to save her, but has committed a serious crime in killing another vampire. When Bill is tried for his crime, his punishment is to transform seventeen-year-old Jessica Hamby
(Deborah Ann Woll
) into a vampire to replace the one he destroyed.
Though humans attracted to vampires (referred to as "fang bangers") flock to Fangtasia, not all people are accepting of the idea that vampires be given rights equal to those afforded the mortals of the True Blood universe. During the first season, one of the ways in which anti-vampire sentiment is expressed is through regular televised appearances by the "Fellowship of the Sun", a Dallas-based church that is eventually run by the Reverend Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian
) after his father and family are killed in a strange "accident".
During the second season of True Blood
, the influence of Maryann Forrester and the conflict between vampires and humans is expanded. Most of the cast from the first season returns and several new main characters are introduced. The same style of interconnected story telling used in the first season is repeated, with the foremost plot focusing on Maryann Forrester being revealed as a maenad
with the power to influence humans. She begins by manipulating Tara and Eggs to achieve her strange goals, but eventually she is able to control almost the entire population of Bon Temps.
While Maryann begins establishing her hold on Bon Temps, Sookie is recruited by Eric to investigate the disappearance of his 2000-year-old maker and the sheriff of Area 9 in Texas: Godric (Allan Hyde
). While Sookie is absent from Bon Temps, Sam hires Daphne Landry (Ashley Jones
) to join Merlotte's staff. Daphne begins a romance with Sam, is revealed to be a shapeshifter, and then later exposed as working for Maryann. Jason also leaves Bon Temps for Dallas to join the Fellowship of the Sun, which Reverend Newlin has steered in a new militant direction despite the protestations of his wife Sarah (Anna Camp
). Godric is discovered in the custody of the Fellowship, and one of Godric's lieutenants, Isabel Beaumont (Valerie Cruz
), sends her human boyfriend Hugo (Christopher Gartin
) to assist Sookie in infiltrating the church. Though Eric's primary interest in Dallas is finding Godric, he also attempts to place himself between Sookie and Bill. To accomplish this, he enlists the aid of Bill's maker Lorena (Mariana Klaveno
); making a more prominent contribution to the cast after a brief introduction in the first season. In the penultimate episode of the second season, once the conflict in Texas is concluded, the vampire queen of Louisiana Sophie-Anne Leclerq (Evan Rachel Wood
) is introduced. Both Bill and Eric visit her in an attempt to find out how to defeat Maryann.
With season three came the addition of Sam's younger brother Tommy Mickens (Marshall Allman
), werewolf Alcide Herveaux
(Joe Manganiello
), Wiccan waitress Holly Cleary (Lauren Bowles
), nurse and brujo Jesús Velasquez (Kevin Alejandro
), and 3000-year-old vampire Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare
). All of these characters returned for the fourth season, with the exception of Edgington, who will return in season five.
Deadline reported that in season 4, Jessica Tuck
(Nan Flanagan) and Janina Gavankar
(Luna) will become season regulars. Alex Breckenridge
(Kate) and Vedette Lim (Naomi) will be recurring actresses.
) is a telepath
and waitress at Merlotte's in the small Louisiana
town of Bon Temps, owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell
), a shapeshifter
—though this secret is kept hidden. One night, Sookie meets Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer
), a handsome 173-year-old vampire who has returned to Bon Temps following the death of his last remaining relative. As she cannot hear his thoughts, she finds it easy to be in his company and, over the first season, the two become romantically involved.
). Maudette Pickens and Dawn Green are both strangled shortly after having been alone with Jason. Though Detective Bellefleur has little doubt that Jason is the killer, the town sheriff does not suspect him. Sookie's grandmother is murdered shortly afterward. At the end of the season it is revealed that Arlene Fowler's fiancé, Rene Lenier, is actually a man named Drew Marshall who has created a false identity, complete with Cajun accent. He has been killing women he considers "fang-bangers".
The first season also focuses on Sookie's relationship with Bill and Sam's relationship with Sookie's friend Tara. Bill explains the rules of being a vampire to Sookie and, after killing a vampire to defend her, is forced to "turn" a young girl named Jessica into a vampire as punishment. In the last episode of the season, Jessica is left under Bill's care. After Maudette and Dawn's murders, Jason becomes addicted to vampire blood and has a short relationship with another addict, Amy Burley, which ends when she is murdered by Marshall. The season ends with the discovery of a body in Detective Andy Bellefleur's car in Merlotte's parking lot.
to enlist Sookie and Bill's aid in finding the ancient vampire in Dallas. Their paths cross Jason's as he seeks to discover meaning in his life with the Fellowship of the Sun, a church dedicated to anti-vampire activities.
The second plot line concerns a maenad
named Maryann who visits Bon Temps after Tara attracts her attention at the end of the first season. Maryann is a figure from Sam's past and knows his true identity as a shapeshifter. Her influence on the town and its residents results in mayhem that grows more destructive as the season progresses. At the end of the season, Bill proposes to Sookie, but is kidnapped by unknown assailants when Sookie retreats to the bathroom to consider his proposal.
The second season loosely follows the plot of the second novel of The Southern Vampire Mysteries
, Living Dead in Dallas
. In addition, the character of Sophie-Anne Leclerq, initially introduced in the sixth novel Definitely Dead
, was introduced as a major supporting character.
Season three loosely follows the plot of the third novel of The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Club Dead
, and introduces werewolves to the show's mythology. It also introduces the characters of Russell Edgington, the Vampire King of Mississippi, and his private investigator, Franklin Mott. In addition, some characters from the fourth novel Dead to the World are introduced: Crystal Norris as Jason's love interest, her family of werepanthers from Hotshot, and Sookie's fairy godmother, Claudine. Sookie's heritage as part faerie is also revealed later in the season, a major plot element from the eighth and ninth novels From Dead to Worse
and Dead and Gone
.
series, Dead to the World
.
A coven of witches, led by Marnie, poses a threat to vampires when they discover the witches are working on necromancy. Sookie returns to Bon Temps after a year (even though she was away for only a few minutes in Fairie Land) to find Bill as the new King of Louisiana and that her brother and friends had given up on her. As the series progresses, a powerful necromancer from the 16th century, Antonia, possesses the body of Marnie in order to exact revenge on all vampires. Antonia eventually realizes the wrongdoing she's caused to innocent people and decides to stop. Yet Marnie, addicted to Antonia's power, binds her against her will to acquire her powers. Subplots include Lafayette's introduction to the world of magic and his abilities as a medium, Sam's family troubles, Alcide and Debbie's troubled relationship, and Jason, Hoyt and Jessica's love triangle. The finale is a series of cliffhangers, including the unexpected arrival of an old military friend of Terry's, the possible return of Russell Edgington, and the reappearance of Steve Newlin. The series also follows the new relationship between Sookie and Eric. Eric has lost his memory and Sookie comes to his rescue, during which they start a relationship. The series ended with Sookie deciding she could not be with either Bill or Eric as too much has happened between them.
Alan Ball signed a multi-year contract with HBO in July 2011, but only agreed to produce the show for the fifth season, though he has stated he has no desire to leave the show.
critic wrote of the opening episodes: "If HBO's new vampire show is any indication, there would still be countless deaths – especially among vampire hunters and the viewers who love them – because everyone would be dying of boredom. And so it is with HBO's new series from death-obsessed Alan Ball, creator of the legendary Six Feet Under, whose new show True Blood, won't so much make your blood run cold as it will leave you cold."
Whereas USA Today
concluded: "Sexy, witty and unabashedly peculiar, True Blood is a blood-drenched Southern Gothic
romantic parable set in a world where vampires are out and about and campaigning for equal rights. Part mystery, part fantasy, part comedy, and all wildly imaginative exaggeration, [True] Blood proves that there's still vibrant life — or death — left in the 'star-crossed
cute lovers' paradigm. You just have to know where to stake your romantic claim."
By the end of the first season, True Blood had a score of 64, indicating generally favorable reviews, on Metacritic
, an aggregator of critical responses. The second season received a more favorable score of 74 on Metacritic. The third season's rating on Metacritic has risen to 79, while the fourth season has a rating of 74.
In August 2010, Anna Paquin (Sookie), Stephen Moyer (Bill), and Alexander Skarsgard (Eric) appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone covered in blood and completely naked. This cover became widely criticized and created much controversy due to the blatant display of sexuality and violence. About 30% of the people who took a poll in regards to this cover declared it “gross” and “unnecessary.” The show’s creator, Alan Ball, obviously disagrees as he stated in the magazine, “To me, vampires are sex…I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed."
. Charlaine Harris
, the author of the book series
on which the show is based, stated that her initial characterization for the vampires were as "...a minority that was trying to get equal rights". Several phrases in the series are borrowed and adapted from expressions used against and about LGBT
people, such as "God Hates Fangs" (God Hates Fags) and "Coming out of the coffin" (coming out of the closet
).
Entertainment Weekly
' s Ken Tucker wrote that the show is built "around a series of metaphors: Vampire rights stand in for gay rights, and now the clever laughs elicited from this bratty-vampire girl represent an extreme of adolescent rebelliousness". David Bianculli of NPR wrote "[True Blood is] big on allegory, and the tension about accepting vampires into society is an obvious play on civil rights
in general, and gay rights in particular". However, the television series' creator, producer and writer (or co-writer) of all episodes so far, gay rights activist Alan Ball
, rebukes critics, stating that such a comparison is "lazy".
which premiered at 4.56 million, and John from Cincinnati
which debuted at 3.4 million. However, by late November 2008, 6.8 million a week were watching: this figure included repeat and on-demand viewings. The season finale's viewership was 2.4 million.
The second season premiere of the series (June 14, 2009) was viewed by 3.7 million, making it the most watched program on HBO since the series finale of The Sopranos
. The total number of viewers for the season premiere, including the late night replay, was 5.1 million.
The tenth episode of the second season (August 23, 2009) was seen by 5.3 million viewers, a new record for the series. The second season's finale (September 13, 2009) was seen by 5.1 million viewers. An average of 12.4 million a week watched the second season.
The ninth episode of the fourth season (August 21, 2011) set a new record with 5.53 million viewers, making it the most viewed episode to date.
True Blood is HBO's most watched series since The Sopranos
.
By the end of 2009, the first season DVD had sold over 1.6 million units and taken in over $57 million. It was the only TV show in the 50 Top-Selling DVDs of 2009.
Alan Ball (screenwriter)
Alan E. Ball is an American writer, director, actor and producer for film, theatre and television.-Early life:Ball was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Frank and Mary Ball, an aircraft inspector and a homemaker...
. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries
The Southern Vampire Mysteries
The Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as The Sookie Stackhouse Novels, is a series of books written by bestselling author Charlaine Harris that were first published in 2001 and now serve as the source material for the HBO television series True Blood...
series of novels by Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing mysteries for over twenty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and three children...
, detailing the co-existence of vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. The series centers on the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse
Sookie Stackhouse
Sookie Stackhouse is the fictional protagonist and narrating voice of Charlaine Harris' The Southern Vampire Mysteries and the television adaptation, HBO's True Blood.-Biography:...
(played by actress Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin
Anna Helene Paquin is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history...
), a telepathic waitress.
The show is broadcast on the premium cable network HBO in the United States. It is produced by HBO in association with Ball's production company, Your Face Goes Here Entertainment. It premiered on September 7, 2008. The series has received critical acclaim and won several awards, including one Golden Globe and an Emmy. The show's second 12-episode season had its premiere on June 14, 2009 and the third season on June 13, 2010. On June 21, 2010, HBO renewed True Blood for a fourth season. On August 11, 2011, HBO announced that True Blood had been renewed for a fifth season of 12 episodes to air in summer 2012.
Development history
Series creator Alan Ball had previously worked with the cable channel HBO on Six Feet Under, which ran for five seasons. In October 2005 after Six Feet Unders series finished, Ball signed a two-year agreement with HBO to develop and produce original programming for the network. True Blood became the first project under the deal, after Ball became acquainted with Charlaine HarrisCharlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing mysteries for over twenty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and three children...
's Southern Vampire Mystery books. One day, while early for a dental appointment, Ball was browsing through a Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
bookshop and came across Dead Until Dark
Dead Until Dark
Dead Until Dark is the first book in Charlaine Harris's series The Southern Vampire Mysteries novels.-Setting:Dead Until Dark, like the rest of the series to which it belongs, is narrated by Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress from the small fictional Louisiana town of Bon Temps, which is...
, the first installment in Harris's series. He read the entries that followed and became interested in "bringing [Harris's] vision to television". However, Harris already had two other adaptation options for the books. She said she chose to work with him, though, because "[Ball] really 'got' me. That's how he convinced me to go with him. I just felt that he understood what I was doing with the books."
The project's hour-long pilot was ordered concurrently with the finalization of the aforementioned development deal and was written, directed and produced by Ball. Cast members Paquin, Kwanten and Trammell were announced in February 2007 and Moyer later on in April. The pilot was shot in the early summer of 2007 and was officially ordered to series in August, at which point Ball had already written several more episodes. Production on the series began later that fall, with Brook Kerr
Brook Kerr
Brook Kerr is an American actress who is best known for her portrayal of Whitney Russell Harris on the television soap opera, Passions.-Biography:...
, who portrayed Tara Thornton in the original pilot, being replaced by Rutina Wesley
Rutina Wesley
Rutina Wesley is an American film, stage, and television actress best known for her role as Tara Thornton on the HBO series True Blood.-Early life:...
. Two more episodes of the series had been filmed before the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike shut down production of the 12-episode first season until 2008. That September, after only the first two episodes of the series had aired, HBO placed an order for a second season of twelve episodes of the show, with production scheduled to commence in January 2009 for a summer premiere.
Title sequence
True Bloods Emmy-nominated title sequence was created by Digital KitchenDigital Kitchen
Digital Kitchen is a creative agency with offices in Seattle, Chicago and Los Angeles. Founded in 1995, the award-winning agency is a collective of artists and producers that focus on the creation of integrated connections between brands and consumers in converging media...
, the production studio also responsible for creating the title sequences of Six Feet Under and Showtime's Dexter
Dexter (TV series)
Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
. The sequence is composed of portrayals of the show's Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
setting, and runs to "Bad Things
Bad Things
"Bad Things" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Jace Everett. It is included on his only album for Epic Records Nashville, the self-titled Jace Everett. Although released as a single in 2005, it did not chart on the Hot Country Songs charts that year...
" by Jace Everett
Jace Everett
Jace Everett is an American recording artist. Signed to Epic Records in 2005, he released his debut single "That's the Kind of Love I'm In" in 2005, which peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and was the first single from his self-titled debut album. He also co-wrote Josh...
, although the original featurette was created around the Jennifer Herrema
Jennifer Herrema
Jennifer Herrema is an American rock music singer, song writer, record producer, artist, and model best known for her work as one half of the influential rock band Royal Trux.-Biography:...
(RoyalTrux) song "RadTimesXpress".
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
, predatory creature observing human beings from the shadows ..." Digital Kitchen also wished to explore ideas of redemption and forgiveness, and thus arranged for the sequence to progress from morning to night and to culminate in a baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
.
The title sequence also features images and themes of death and re-birth; the circle of life. A Venus fly-trap can be seen engulfing a frog while a rotting fox’s head is sped up to reveal maggots feeding off of the corpse. Re-birth is also recognized through an image of a woman being “washed clean” from her sins in a lake as well as a Reverend blessing and possibly performing an exorcism on a member of his congregation.
Most of the footage used in the sequence was filmed on location by Digital Kitchen. Crew members took a four-day trip to Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
to film and also shot at a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
church and on a stage and in a bar in Seattle. Additionally, several Digital Kitchen crew members made cameo appearances in the sequence.
In editing the opening, Digital Kitchen wanted to express how "religious fanaticism" and "sexual energy" could corrupt humans and make them animalistic. Accordingly, several frames of some shots were cut to give movements a jittery feel, while other shots were simply played back very slowly. Individual frames were also splattered with drops of blood. The sequence's transitions were constructed differently, though; they were made with a Polaroid
Instant film
Instant film is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera...
transfer technique. The last frame of one shot and the first frame of another were taken as a single Polaroid photo, which was then divided between emulsion
Emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible . Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although the terms colloid and emulsion are sometimes used interchangeably, emulsion is used when both the dispersed and the...
and backing. The emulsion was then filmed being further separated by chemicals and those shots of this separation were placed back into the final edit.
Eight different typefaces, inspired by Southern road signage, were also created manually by Camm Rowland for cast and crew credits, as well as the show's title card.
In a 2010 issue of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
, the show's opening title sequence ranked #5 on a list of TV's top 10 credits sequences, as selected by readers.
Music
Gary CalamarGary Calamar
Gary Calamar is an American DJ and Grammy Award-nominated film and television music supervisor whose credits include Six Feet Under, House, True Blood, Dexter and Varsity Blues...
, who supervises the series' music, said that his goal for the show's soundtrack is to create something "swampy, bluesy and spooky" and to feature local Louisiana musicians. True Blood soundtrack albums have twice earned Calamar Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations.
Composer Nathan Barr
Nathan Barr
Nathan Barr is a film and television composer known for playing the majority of the instruments heard in his compositions.-Biography:...
writes the original score for the series which features cello, guitar, prepared piano
Prepared piano
A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers....
and glass harmonica among other instruments, all of which he performs himself. The main theme song is "Bad Things" by country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist Jace Everett
Jace Everett
Jace Everett is an American recording artist. Signed to Epic Records in 2005, he released his debut single "That's the Kind of Love I'm In" in 2005, which peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and was the first single from his self-titled debut album. He also co-wrote Josh...
, from his 2005 self-titled debut.
Elektra/Atlantic Records released a True Blood soundtrack on May 19, 2009, the same day as the release of the DVD and Blu-ray of the first season. Nathan Barr's original score for True Blood was released on CD on the Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract...
label on September 8, 2009. The second True Blood soundtrack was released on May 25, 2010, to coincide with the third season's premiere in June. The third volume was released on September 6, 2011, a few days before the season four finale.
Both Nathan Barr
Nathan Barr
Nathan Barr is a film and television composer known for playing the majority of the instruments heard in his compositions.-Biography:...
and Jace Everett
Jace Everett
Jace Everett is an American recording artist. Signed to Epic Records in 2005, he released his debut single "That's the Kind of Love I'm In" in 2005, which peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and was the first single from his self-titled debut album. He also co-wrote Josh...
won 2009 awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
in the BMI Cable Awards category for, respectively, True Blood's original score and theme song.
The show's individual episode titles are named after songs featured in the episodes, usually heard during the closing credits. The title usually indicates something about the events that will unfold throughout the given episode. For example, episode ten of season four is titled "Burning Down the House
Burning Down the House
"Burning Down the House" is a song by New Wave band Talking Heads, released as the first single from their fifth studio album Speaking in Tongues.-Background:...
" and the end credits feature a cover version of the classic Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
song performed by The Used
The Used
The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. The band was founded in 2001 and signed to Reprise Records the same year. They rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their self-titled debut album. They followed up with their second album, In Love and Death, in September 2004 and their third...
.
Marketing
The premiere of True Blood was prefaced with a viral marketingViral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
/alternate reality game
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
(ARG) campaign, based at BloodCopy.com. This included setting up multiple websites, encoding web address into unmarked envelopes mailed to high profile blog writers and others, and even performances by a "vampire" who attempted to reach out to others of their kind, to discuss the recent creation of "TrueBlood", a fictional beverage which is featured in the show.
A MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
account with the username "Blood" had, as of June 19, uploaded two videos; one entitled "Vampire Taste Test – True Blood vs Human", and one called "BloodCopy Exclusive INTERVIEW WITH SAMSON THE VAMPIRE".
A prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
comic was handed out to attendees of the 2008 Comic-Con
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
. The comic centers around an old vampire named Lamar, who tells the reader about how TruBlood surfaced and was discussed between many vampires before going public. At one point, Lamar wonders if TruBlood is making the world safe for vampires or from them. Several commercials featured on HBO and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
aired prior to the series premiere, placing vampires in ads similar to those of beer and wine. Some beverage vending machines across the US were also fitted with cards indicating that they were "sold out" of TruBlood.
Thousands of DVDs of the first episode were handed out to attendees of Midnight Madness, a special film festival. Blockbuster Video provided free rental of the first episode of True Blood several days before it was broadcast on HBO. The video had a faint promotional watermark throughout the episode.
On April 16, 2009, HBO released the first teaser poster for Season 2. The image uses a perspective technique that shows observers one of two images. A minute-long promotional video advertising season two, which featured Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
"Beyond Here Lies Nothin" is the opening track of Bob Dylan's 2009 studio album, Together Through Life. The title is a quote from the Ancient Roman poet Ovid...
", was released via Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
in early May.
On September 19, 2009, HBO.com began selling Tru:Blood, a beverage branded to resemble the fictional synthetic blood that appears in the show. The beverage is a carbonated blood orange-flavored drink, developed and manufactured by Omni Consumer Products
Omni Consumer Products (company)
Omni Consumer Products, founded in 2006 by graphic designer Pete Hottelet, is a company that creates "real-world" versions of certain products created in movies. The company takes its name from the fictional corporation of the same name featured in the RoboCop movie and television franchise...
, a company that specializes in defictionalizing brands from television and movies, and FMCG Manufacturing Company, a specialist manufacturer of licensed entertainment products.
There is also a website for The Fellowship of the Sun, antagonists from the book series, featuring videos about hot-button issues such as becoming a vampire.
FX
FX (UK)
FX is a television channel in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, owned by Fox, launched in 12 January 2004. It was originally branded as FX289 in reference to its Sky EPG number. It was rebranded to FX in May 2005 as the channel moved in the Sky EPG.FX targets a demographic between 25...
, available in the UK, launched an extensive promotional website for the series.
On September 15, 2009, HBO filed a trademark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
for a possible future electronic game based on True Blood.
On September 18, 2009, HBO launched a True Blood jewelry line in collaboration with New York-based designer Udi Behr. Inspired by the series, the jewelry has a Gothic look and features sterling silver, polished steel, and rubies.
On June 1, 2010, HBO held a special event at a number of movie theaters around the U.S., complete with red carpet, searchlights and swag bags. Contest winners were invited to watch a special live, the Season 2 finale, a preview of Season 3, and a live interview on the set of True Blood with the cast and Alan Ball.
HBO began selling True Blood figural busts
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
featuring Bill, Sookie, and Eric in summer 2010. Busts of other characters will also be available later.
HBO and IDW Publishing announced at the 2010 WonderCon that they would be publishing a comic book based on the series. Alan Ball
Alan Ball (screenwriter)
Alan E. Ball is an American writer, director, actor and producer for film, theatre and television.-Early life:Ball was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Frank and Mary Ball, an aircraft inspector and a homemaker...
developed and wrote the comic. The first booklet, with a print run of 53,000, was released in July 2010 and soon sold out. The second issue went on sale August 18, 2010, with a second printing of the first issue going on sale August 25.
Cast and characters
Principal cast
Within the fictional universe depicted in True Blood, the show acknowledges as reality that supernatural creatures (such as vampireVampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, telepaths
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
, and shapeshifters
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
among others) exist. Two years prior to the events taking place during the series, vampires "come out of the coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
" (a term coined as a play on "coming out of the closet
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
"), when scientists in Japan invent a synthetic form of blood called "Tru Blood". No longer having to rely on human blood to survive, vampires are able to integrate themselves (or "mainstream") into human society.
The major characters of the first season of True Blood
True Blood (season 1)
The first season of the American television drama series True Blood premiered on September 7, 2008 and concluded on November 23, 2008. It consisted of 12 episodes, each running approximately 55 minutes in length and was, for the most part, based on the novel Dead Until Dark, the first entry in The...
are introduced among various intertwining plot lines that surround the Bon Temps bar "Merlotte's". The show's main protagonist, Sookie Stackhouse
Sookie Stackhouse
Sookie Stackhouse is the fictional protagonist and narrating voice of Charlaine Harris' The Southern Vampire Mysteries and the television adaptation, HBO's True Blood.-Biography:...
(Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin
Anna Helene Paquin is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history...
), is a telepath and waitress at Merlotte's. In the opening episode she saves Merlotte's first vampire customer, Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer
Stephen Moyer
Stephen Moyer is an English actor who has starred as vampire Bill Compton in the HBO series True Blood since 2008.-Early life and career:Moyer was born in Brentwood, Essex...
), when a local couple attempts to drain him of his blood (vampire blood is known on the show as a human narcotic: "V" or "V Juice"). Through the relationship that develops between Sookie and Bill, the viewer progressively learns more about vampire culture and the limitations of vampire physiology.
The major plot of the first season revolves around the murder of several women connected to Sookie's older brother, Jason
Jason Stackhouse
Jason Stackhouse is a fictional character from The Southern Vampire Mysteries book series by author Charlaine Harris. Introduced in the first novel, Dead Until Dark, Jason is Sookie Stackhouse's older brother and road crew supervisor for Bon Temps....
(Ryan Kwanten
Ryan Kwanten
Ryan Christian Kwanten is an Australian actor. He played Vinnie Patterson from 1997 to 2002 on the Australian soap-opera Home and Away...
). The women murdered include sexual partner Maudette Pickens (Danielle Sapia), on-and-off romantic interest and Merlotte's waitress Dawn Green (Lynn Collins
Lynn Collins
Viola Lynn Collins , better known as Lynn Collins, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Kayla Silverfox in the live-action film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.-Life and career:...
), grandmother Adele (Lois Smith
Lois Smith
Lois Smith is an American actress whose career in theater, film, and television has spanned five decades.Smith was born Lois Arlene Humbert in Topeka, Kansas, the daughter of Carrie Davis and William Oren Humbert, who was a telephone company employee...
) or simply "Gran", and girlfriend Amy Burley (Lizzy Caplan
Lizzy Caplan
Elizabeth Anne "Lizzy" Caplan is an American actress. In film, she is best known for her roles as Janis Ian in Mean Girls, Marlena Diamond in Cloverfield, and April in Hot Tub Time Machine...
). Though the viewer is always aware of his innocence in their deaths, Detective Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer
Chris Bauer
Mark Christopher "Chris" Bauer is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Bauer was born in Los Angeles, California and attended high school at Miramonte High School in Orinda, California. He played on Miramonte Championship football team his senior year, 1984...
) targets him as the prime suspect in the investigation he conducts with Sheriff Bud Dearborne (William Sanderson
William Sanderson
William Sanderson is an American character actor.-Early life:Sanderson was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to an elementary school teacher mother and a landscape designer father...
) to identify their killer. Jason's best friends and co-workers, Hoyt Fortenberry (Jim Parrack
Jim Parrack
Jim Parrack is an American actor. He has a starring role as Hoyt Fortenberry in HBO series True Blood, and appeared in the film Battle: Los Angeles, which was released March 2011....
) and Rene Lenier (Michael Raymond-James
Michael Raymond-James
Michael Raymond-James , is an American actor. He is best known for playing Rene Lenier in the first season of HBO's series True Blood and Britt Pollack on FX's series Terriers....
) provide him with support despite the turmoil he encounters. Rene, who becomes engaged to Merlotte's waitress Arlene Fowler (Carrie Preston
Carrie Preston
Carrie Preston is an American film and television actress, producer and director. Her husband is actor Michael Emerson, and her brother is actor John G. Preston.-Early life:...
), is eventually exposed as the Bon Temps murderer and is killed in a final confrontation with Sookie.
A secondary plot in the first season (that later develops as the primary storyline in the second) revolves around Sookie's best friend Tara Thornton
Tara Thornton
Tara Mae Thornton is a fictional character in Charlaine Harris's The Southern Vampire Mysteries and their television adaptation, HBO's True Blood.-Biography:...
(Rutina Wesley
Rutina Wesley
Rutina Wesley is an American film, stage, and television actress best known for her role as Tara Thornton on the HBO series True Blood.-Early life:...
). In the first episode, Tara is hired as a bartender at Merlotte's by bar owner, shapeshifter, and admirer of Sookie, Sam Merlotte
Sam Merlotte
Sam Merlotte is a fictional character from the The Southern Vampire Mysteries/Sookie Stackhouse Series by author Charlaine Harris.Sam lives in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, and is the owner of a bar named Merlotte's. Sam has strawberry blond hair with blue eyes. He is both a close...
(Sam Trammell
Sam Trammell
Sam Trammell is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Sam Merlotte in the HBO vampire series, True Blood, which saw him nominated for a 2009 Scream Award for "Breakout Performance - Male."...
), with whom Tara later has a brief relationship. Tara's cousin Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis
Nelsan Ellis
Nelsan Ellis is an award-winning American film and television actor and playwright. He is well known for his role as Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO series True Blood, which he has been playing since 2008.-Early and personal life:...
) already works as a cook at Merlotte's (in addition to several other jobs that include road crew, prostitute, and drug dealer) with Andy's cousin and Iraq War veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
, Terry (Todd Lowe
Todd Lowe
Todd Lowe is an American actor from Humble, Texas, about fifteen miles from Houston. He is best known for his role as Lane Kim's husband Zach Van Gerbig on Gilmore Girls...
). Tara's story is characterized by her relationship with her alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and abusive mother Lettie Mae (Adina Porter
Adina Porter
Adina Porter is an American actress, currently seen as Lettie Mae Thornton on HBO's True Blood.She played Letecia Barris on the show Prison Break and also appeared as Ricky in the film version of Ruben Santiago-Hudson's Lackawanna Blues for HBO...
) and her own inner "demons". During the season, Lettie Mae achieves sobriety but Tara's life begins to spin out of control. Kicked out of her home and totaling her car in a drunk driving accident, she's taken in by "social worker" Maryann Forrester (Michelle Forbes
Michelle Forbes
Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo , known professionally as Michelle Forbes, is an American actress who has built a career of work in television and independent film and has acted in productions in both the United States and in the United Kingdom...
). While staying with Maryann, Tara is introduced to "Eggs" Benedict Talley (Mehcad Brooks
Mehcad Brooks
Mehcad Jason McKinley Brooks is an American actor and former fashion model.-Early life:Brooks was born and raised in Austin, Texas, where he attended L.C. Anderson High School...
), to whom she is attracted.
The final plotline of the first season revolves around the elements of vampire society that Sookie and Bill's relationship introduce. While trying to prove her brother's innocence in Maudette and Dawn's murders, Bill takes her to the vampire bar "Fangtasia" to investigate. There, Sookie is introduced to Fangtasia's owner and the vampire sheriff of "Area 5" in Louisiana: Eric Northman
Eric Northman
Eric Northman is a fictional character in The Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series of eleven books written by New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. He is a vampire, slightly over one thousand years old, and is first introduced in the first novel, Dead Until Dark and appears in all...
(Alexander Skarsgård
Alexander Skarsgård
Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård is a Swedish actor. He is best known for his roles as vampire Eric Northman on the HBO series True Blood, Meekus in Zoolander and Brad Colbert in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill.-Early life:...
). Eric is immediately interested in Sookie and her strange abilities, but his progeny and assistant Pam (Kristin Bauer
Kristin Bauer
Kristin Bauer van Straten is an American film and television actress, perhaps best known for her role as vampire Pam in the HBO series True Blood.-Biography:...
) is less impressed. Eric employs Sookie to find a thief in his bar, but the perpetrator (a vampire) attempts to kill Sookie when she reveals his identity. Bill stakes and kills the thief to save her, but has committed a serious crime in killing another vampire. When Bill is tried for his crime, his punishment is to transform seventeen-year-old Jessica Hamby
Jessica Hamby
Jessica Hamby is a fictional character in the True Blood series. In the series, which chronicles the life of human waitress Sookie Stackhouse and her friends after vampires make themselves known to humans, Jessica is a newly turned vampire who must learn to deal with her vampiric abilities and...
(Deborah Ann Woll
Deborah Ann Woll
Deborah Ann Woll is an American actress best known for her role as Jessica Hamby on HBO's True Blood.- Early life :...
) into a vampire to replace the one he destroyed.
Though humans attracted to vampires (referred to as "fang bangers") flock to Fangtasia, not all people are accepting of the idea that vampires be given rights equal to those afforded the mortals of the True Blood universe. During the first season, one of the ways in which anti-vampire sentiment is expressed is through regular televised appearances by the "Fellowship of the Sun", a Dallas-based church that is eventually run by the Reverend Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian
Michael McMillian
Michael McMillian is an American actor and writer, known for his roles as Henry Gibson on What I Like About You and Steve Newlin on the HBO series True Blood...
) after his father and family are killed in a strange "accident".
During the second season of True Blood
True Blood (season 2)
The second season of the television series True Blood commenced airing in the United States on June 14, 2009, concluded on September 13, 2009, and contains 12 episodes....
, the influence of Maryann Forrester and the conflict between vampires and humans is expanded. Most of the cast from the first season returns and several new main characters are introduced. The same style of interconnected story telling used in the first season is repeated, with the foremost plot focusing on Maryann Forrester being revealed as a maenad
Maenad
In Greek mythology, maenads were the female followers of Dionysus , the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name literally translates as "raving ones"...
with the power to influence humans. She begins by manipulating Tara and Eggs to achieve her strange goals, but eventually she is able to control almost the entire population of Bon Temps.
While Maryann begins establishing her hold on Bon Temps, Sookie is recruited by Eric to investigate the disappearance of his 2000-year-old maker and the sheriff of Area 9 in Texas: Godric (Allan Hyde
Allan Hyde
Allan Hyde is a Danish television, theatre and film actor. He was born and raised in Denmark to a Danish mother and English father from London . He is a singer on one track of the international versions of the soundtrack Camp Rock...
). While Sookie is absent from Bon Temps, Sam hires Daphne Landry (Ashley Jones
Ashley Jones
Ashley Aubra Jones is an American actress. She is probably most recognized for her roles as Daphne on HBO's critically acclaimed drama True Blood, and as Dr...
) to join Merlotte's staff. Daphne begins a romance with Sam, is revealed to be a shapeshifter, and then later exposed as working for Maryann. Jason also leaves Bon Temps for Dallas to join the Fellowship of the Sun, which Reverend Newlin has steered in a new militant direction despite the protestations of his wife Sarah (Anna Camp
Anna Camp
Anna Ragsdale Camp is an American stage and television actress. She is known for her role as Jill Mason in the 2008 Broadway revival of Equus and for her role as Sarah Newlin in the HBO television drama series True Blood....
). Godric is discovered in the custody of the Fellowship, and one of Godric's lieutenants, Isabel Beaumont (Valerie Cruz
Valerie Cruz
Valerie Cruz is an American actress.Cruz was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey of Cuban ancestry. She attended Florida State University and received a BFA theatre degree....
), sends her human boyfriend Hugo (Christopher Gartin
Christopher Gartin
Christopher Russell Gartin is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role in the 1996 film Tremors 2: Aftershocks as cab driver Grady Hoover. He also had roles in the films As Virgins Fall, Johns and the comedy Friends & Family...
) to assist Sookie in infiltrating the church. Though Eric's primary interest in Dallas is finding Godric, he also attempts to place himself between Sookie and Bill. To accomplish this, he enlists the aid of Bill's maker Lorena (Mariana Klaveno
Mariana Klaveno
Mariana Klaveno is an American actress best known for her role as Lorena Ball in HBO's True Blood. She became a credited regular in season 2 and 3, playing the part of the "maker" of the main character Bill Compton. She also starred in the feature film While the Children Sleep in the role of Abby...
); making a more prominent contribution to the cast after a brief introduction in the first season. In the penultimate episode of the second season, once the conflict in Texas is concluded, the vampire queen of Louisiana Sophie-Anne Leclerq (Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
) is introduced. Both Bill and Eric visit her in an attempt to find out how to defeat Maryann.
With season three came the addition of Sam's younger brother Tommy Mickens (Marshall Allman
Marshall Allman
Marshall Scot Allman is an American actor. He is known to television audiences for his role as L. J. Burrows on Fox's successful television series, Prison Break...
), werewolf Alcide Herveaux
Alcide Herveaux
Alcide Herveaux is a fictional character from the The Southern Vampire Mysteries / Sookie Stackhouse Novels by author Charlaine Harris. He is a Were who owns a surveying company with his father in Shreveport, LA...
(Joe Manganiello
Joe Manganiello
Joseph Michael "Joe" Manganiello is a classically-trained American film and theatre actor. He holds a BFA in acting from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama...
), Wiccan waitress Holly Cleary (Lauren Bowles
Lauren Bowles
Lauren Hannah Bowles is an American actress and a half-sister of Julia Louis-Dreyfus.She has appeared in numerous TV shows including Seinfeld, Arrested Development, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Judging Amy, The New Adventures of Old Christine , Private Practice and many more...
), nurse and brujo Jesús Velasquez (Kevin Alejandro
Kevin Alejandro
Kevin Michael Alejandro is an American actor. Alejandro may be best known for his roles as Nate Moretta in the series Southland and as Jesus Velasquez in the series True Blood.-Early life:...
), and 3000-year-old vampire Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare
Denis O'Hare
Denis O'Hare is an American actor noted for his award winning performances in Take Me Out and Sweet Charity as well as the HBO television show True Blood. He is also known for his supporting roles in the films Charlie Wilson's War and Milk...
). All of these characters returned for the fourth season, with the exception of Edgington, who will return in season five.
Deadline reported that in season 4, Jessica Tuck
Jessica Tuck
Jessica Ines Tuck is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Megan Gordon Harrison on One Life to Live, Gillian Gray on Judging Amy, and Nan Flanagan on True Blood. She also appeared as Madeline Peterson Woods on Days of our Lives.-Personal life:Tuck was born in New York City and is a...
(Nan Flanagan) and Janina Gavankar
Janina Gavankar
Janina Zione Gavankar is an Indian-American actress and musician of mixed Indian and Dutch descent. Gavankar is also trained as a pianist, vocalist, and orchestral percussionist...
(Luna) will become season regulars. Alex Breckenridge
Alex Breckenridge
Alexandra "Alex" Breckenridge is an American film and television actress, photographer and voice artist. Noted for her role as Willa McPherson on the television series Dirt, she also had a supporting role on the short lived series The Ex List...
(Kate) and Vedette Lim (Naomi) will be recurring actresses.
Series overview
Following the creation of synthetic blood, vampires have progressed from legendary monsters to fellow citizens overnight. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna PaquinAnna Paquin
Anna Helene Paquin is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history...
) is a telepath
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
and waitress at Merlotte's in the small Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
town of Bon Temps, owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell
Sam Trammell
Sam Trammell is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Sam Merlotte in the HBO vampire series, True Blood, which saw him nominated for a 2009 Scream Award for "Breakout Performance - Male."...
), a shapeshifter
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
—though this secret is kept hidden. One night, Sookie meets Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer
Stephen Moyer
Stephen Moyer is an English actor who has starred as vampire Bill Compton in the HBO series True Blood since 2008.-Early life and career:Moyer was born in Brentwood, Essex...
), a handsome 173-year-old vampire who has returned to Bon Temps following the death of his last remaining relative. As she cannot hear his thoughts, she finds it easy to be in his company and, over the first season, the two become romantically involved.
Season One: 2008
The main mystery of the first season concerns the murders of women connected to Sookie's brother, Jason (Ryan KwantenRyan Kwanten
Ryan Christian Kwanten is an Australian actor. He played Vinnie Patterson from 1997 to 2002 on the Australian soap-opera Home and Away...
). Maudette Pickens and Dawn Green are both strangled shortly after having been alone with Jason. Though Detective Bellefleur has little doubt that Jason is the killer, the town sheriff does not suspect him. Sookie's grandmother is murdered shortly afterward. At the end of the season it is revealed that Arlene Fowler's fiancé, Rene Lenier, is actually a man named Drew Marshall who has created a false identity, complete with Cajun accent. He has been killing women he considers "fang-bangers".
The first season also focuses on Sookie's relationship with Bill and Sam's relationship with Sookie's friend Tara. Bill explains the rules of being a vampire to Sookie and, after killing a vampire to defend her, is forced to "turn" a young girl named Jessica into a vampire as punishment. In the last episode of the season, Jessica is left under Bill's care. After Maudette and Dawn's murders, Jason becomes addicted to vampire blood and has a short relationship with another addict, Amy Burley, which ends when she is murdered by Marshall. The season ends with the discovery of a body in Detective Andy Bellefleur's car in Merlotte's parking lot.
Season Two: 2009
Season two focuses on two main plots – in the first, the disappearance of the 2,000-year old vampire Sheriff of Area 9, Godric, causes EricEric Northman
Eric Northman is a fictional character in The Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series of eleven books written by New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. He is a vampire, slightly over one thousand years old, and is first introduced in the first novel, Dead Until Dark and appears in all...
to enlist Sookie and Bill's aid in finding the ancient vampire in Dallas. Their paths cross Jason's as he seeks to discover meaning in his life with the Fellowship of the Sun, a church dedicated to anti-vampire activities.
The second plot line concerns a maenad
Maenad
In Greek mythology, maenads were the female followers of Dionysus , the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name literally translates as "raving ones"...
named Maryann who visits Bon Temps after Tara attracts her attention at the end of the first season. Maryann is a figure from Sam's past and knows his true identity as a shapeshifter. Her influence on the town and its residents results in mayhem that grows more destructive as the season progresses. At the end of the season, Bill proposes to Sookie, but is kidnapped by unknown assailants when Sookie retreats to the bathroom to consider his proposal.
The second season loosely follows the plot of the second novel of The Southern Vampire Mysteries
The Southern Vampire Mysteries
The Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as The Sookie Stackhouse Novels, is a series of books written by bestselling author Charlaine Harris that were first published in 2001 and now serve as the source material for the HBO television series True Blood...
, Living Dead in Dallas
Living Dead in Dallas
Living Dead in Dallas is the second book in Charlaine Harris's series The Southern Vampire Mysteries. This second novel follows the adventures of telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse of Bon Temps, Louisiana, as she is employed by Dallas vampires to use her telepathy to help find their lost companion...
. In addition, the character of Sophie-Anne Leclerq, initially introduced in the sixth novel Definitely Dead
Definitely Dead
Definitely Dead is the sixth book in Charlaine Harris's series The Southern Vampire Mysteries.-Plot summary:After surviving a Were attack while attending a play in Shreveport with her new boyfriend John Quinn, Sookie Stackhouse goes to New Orleans to sort out the affairs of her cousin Hadley, a...
, was introduced as a major supporting character.
Season Three: 2010
On July 30, 2009, HBO confirmed that True Blood would be renewed for a third season, which began shooting on December 3, 2009. It premiered on June 13, 2010, simultaneously on HBO and HBO Canada, and contained 12 episodes.Season three loosely follows the plot of the third novel of The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Club Dead
Club Dead
Club Dead is the third book in Charlaine Harris's series The Southern Vampire Mysteries, released in 2003. In Club Dead, Sookie's boyfriend Bill disappears while working on a secret project, and Sookie heads out to Jackson, Mississippi in hopes of retrieving him alive...
, and introduces werewolves to the show's mythology. It also introduces the characters of Russell Edgington, the Vampire King of Mississippi, and his private investigator, Franklin Mott. In addition, some characters from the fourth novel Dead to the World are introduced: Crystal Norris as Jason's love interest, her family of werepanthers from Hotshot, and Sookie's fairy godmother, Claudine. Sookie's heritage as part faerie is also revealed later in the season, a major plot element from the eighth and ninth novels From Dead to Worse
From Dead to Worse
From Dead to Worse is the eighth book in Charlaine Harris's series The Southern Vampire Mysteries.-Plot summary:After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the man-made horror of the explosion at the vampire Summit, Sookie Stackhouse is safe but dazed, yearning for things to get back to...
and Dead and Gone
Dead and Gone
-Remixes:*"Things Gotta Change" - Avery Storm*"When We Rock" - Bone Thugs-n-Harmony*"I Don't Like White People" - Rucka Rucka Ali-Cover versions:...
.
Season Four: 2011
The fourth season of True Blood contains 12 episodes. The first, titled "She's Not There," aired Sunday, June 26, 2011 in the US on HBO; it ended on Sunday, September 11, 2011. It is loosely based on the fourth novel in The Southern Vampire MysteriesThe Southern Vampire Mysteries
The Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as The Sookie Stackhouse Novels, is a series of books written by bestselling author Charlaine Harris that were first published in 2001 and now serve as the source material for the HBO television series True Blood...
series, Dead to the World
Dead to the World (novel)
Dead to the World is the fourth book in Charlaine Harris's series The Southern Vampire Mysteries, released in 2004. In Dead to the World, Sookie aids vampires Eric and Pam in their struggle against a coven of witches seeking to take over control of their area, and takes care of Eric after the...
.
A coven of witches, led by Marnie, poses a threat to vampires when they discover the witches are working on necromancy. Sookie returns to Bon Temps after a year (even though she was away for only a few minutes in Fairie Land) to find Bill as the new King of Louisiana and that her brother and friends had given up on her. As the series progresses, a powerful necromancer from the 16th century, Antonia, possesses the body of Marnie in order to exact revenge on all vampires. Antonia eventually realizes the wrongdoing she's caused to innocent people and decides to stop. Yet Marnie, addicted to Antonia's power, binds her against her will to acquire her powers. Subplots include Lafayette's introduction to the world of magic and his abilities as a medium, Sam's family troubles, Alcide and Debbie's troubled relationship, and Jason, Hoyt and Jessica's love triangle. The finale is a series of cliffhangers, including the unexpected arrival of an old military friend of Terry's, the possible return of Russell Edgington, and the reappearance of Steve Newlin. The series also follows the new relationship between Sookie and Eric. Eric has lost his memory and Sookie comes to his rescue, during which they start a relationship. The series ended with Sookie deciding she could not be with either Bill or Eric as too much has happened between them.
Season Five: 2012
On August 11, 2011, HBO announced that True Blood would be renewed for a fifth season of 12 episodes, to premiere in summer 2012.Alan Ball signed a multi-year contract with HBO in July 2011, but only agreed to produce the show for the fifth season, though he has stated he has no desire to leave the show.
Reception
Critical reception of True Blood has generally been favorable, despite the fact that initial impressions were mixed. The New York PostNew York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
critic wrote of the opening episodes: "If HBO's new vampire show is any indication, there would still be countless deaths – especially among vampire hunters and the viewers who love them – because everyone would be dying of boredom. And so it is with HBO's new series from death-obsessed Alan Ball, creator of the legendary Six Feet Under, whose new show True Blood, won't so much make your blood run cold as it will leave you cold."
Whereas USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
concluded: "Sexy, witty and unabashedly peculiar, True Blood is a blood-drenched Southern Gothic
Southern Gothic
Southern Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic fiction unique to American literature that takes place exclusively in the American South. It resembles its parent genre in that it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot...
romantic parable set in a world where vampires are out and about and campaigning for equal rights. Part mystery, part fantasy, part comedy, and all wildly imaginative exaggeration, [True] Blood proves that there's still vibrant life — or death — left in the 'star-crossed
Star-crossed
"Star-crossed" or "star-crossed lovers" is a phrase describing a pair of lovers whose relationship is often thwarted by outside forces. The term encompasses other meanings, but originally means the pairing is being "thwarted by a malign star" or that the stars are working against the relationship...
cute lovers' paradigm. You just have to know where to stake your romantic claim."
By the end of the first season, True Blood had a score of 64, indicating generally favorable reviews, on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, an aggregator of critical responses. The second season received a more favorable score of 74 on Metacritic. The third season's rating on Metacritic has risen to 79, while the fourth season has a rating of 74.
Cultural influence
True Blood was the subject of a 2010 Sesame Street sketch entitled "True Mud". The parody features puppet versions of Sookie, Bill, Lafayette, Sam, Tara and Sheriff Dearborn. In the skit, Muppet Sookie struggles to fulfill Muppet Bill's pleas for a pint of "True Mud", as the other characters speculate if he is a "grouch".In August 2010, Anna Paquin (Sookie), Stephen Moyer (Bill), and Alexander Skarsgard (Eric) appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone covered in blood and completely naked. This cover became widely criticized and created much controversy due to the blatant display of sexuality and violence. About 30% of the people who took a poll in regards to this cover declared it “gross” and “unnecessary.” The show’s creator, Alan Ball, obviously disagrees as he stated in the magazine, “To me, vampires are sex…I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed."
Allegory for LGBT rights
The struggle for vampire equality in True Blood has been interpreted as an allegory for the LGBT rights movementLGBT social movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
. Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing mysteries for over twenty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and three children...
, the author of the book series
The Southern Vampire Mysteries
The Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as The Sookie Stackhouse Novels, is a series of books written by bestselling author Charlaine Harris that were first published in 2001 and now serve as the source material for the HBO television series True Blood...
on which the show is based, stated that her initial characterization for the vampires were as "...a minority that was trying to get equal rights". Several phrases in the series are borrowed and adapted from expressions used against and about LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
people, such as "God Hates Fangs" (God Hates Fags) and "Coming out of the coffin" (coming out of the closet
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
).
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
in general, and gay rights in particular". However, the television series' creator, producer and writer (or co-writer) of all episodes so far, gay rights activist Alan Ball
Alan Ball (screenwriter)
Alan E. Ball is an American writer, director, actor and producer for film, theatre and television.-Early life:Ball was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Frank and Mary Ball, an aircraft inspector and a homemaker...
, rebukes critics, stating that such a comparison is "lazy".
Ratings
The first episode of True Blood debuted at a very modest 1.44 million viewers compared to the network's past drama premiers such as Big LoveBig Love
Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
which premiered at 4.56 million, and John from Cincinnati
John from Cincinnati
John from Cincinnati is an American television drama, set against the surfing community of Imperial Beach, California, that aired on HBO from June 10, 2007 to August 12, 2007. It is the result of a collaborative effort between writer/producer David Milch and author Kem Nunn, whose novels have been...
which debuted at 3.4 million. However, by late November 2008, 6.8 million a week were watching: this figure included repeat and on-demand viewings. The season finale's viewership was 2.4 million.
The second season premiere of the series (June 14, 2009) was viewed by 3.7 million, making it the most watched program on HBO since the series finale of The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
. The total number of viewers for the season premiere, including the late night replay, was 5.1 million.
The tenth episode of the second season (August 23, 2009) was seen by 5.3 million viewers, a new record for the series. The second season's finale (September 13, 2009) was seen by 5.1 million viewers. An average of 12.4 million a week watched the second season.
The ninth episode of the fourth season (August 21, 2011) set a new record with 5.53 million viewers, making it the most viewed episode to date.
True Blood is HBO's most watched series since The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
.
U.S. Nielsen ratings
| Season | Timeslot (ET/PT Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States... ) |
# Ep. | Premiere | Finale | Aired | Viewers (in millions) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Premiere Viewers (in millions) |
Date | Finale Viewers (in millions) |
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| Season 1 True Blood (season 1) The first season of the American television drama series True Blood premiered on September 7, 2008 and concluded on November 23, 2008. It consisted of 12 episodes, each running approximately 55 minutes in length and was, for the most part, based on the novel Dead Until Dark, the first entry in The... |
|
12 | 1.44 | 2.45 | 2008 | 2.00 | ||
| Season 2 True Blood (season 2) The second season of the television series True Blood commenced airing in the United States on June 14, 2009, concluded on September 13, 2009, and contains 12 episodes.... |
12 | 3.70 | 5.11 | 2009 | 4.28 | |||
| Season 3 True Blood (season 3) The third season of the television series True Blood premiered on June 13, 2010 simultaneously on HBO and HBO Canada. It concluded its run on September 12, 2010 and contained 12 episodes, bringing the series total to 36... |
12 | 5.10 | 5.38 | 2010 | 4.97 | |||
| Season 4 True Blood (season 4) - Episodes :- Production :Filming for season four commenced in Los Angeles, California, on December 1, 2010.As a special promotional broadcast, the season's second episode "You Smell Like Dinner" was made available on HBO Go a week earlier than usual... |
12 | 5.42 | 5.05 | 2011 | 4.97 | |||
DVD and Blu-ray releases
| DVD Name | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| True Blood – The Complete First Season | May 19, 2009 | October 26, 2009 | July 1, 2009 |
| True Blood – The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] | |||
| True Blood – The Complete Second Season | May 25, 2010 | May 17, 2010 | May 19, 2010 |
| True Blood – The Complete Second Season [Blu-ray] | |||
| True Blood – The Complete Third Season | May 31, 2011 | May 23, 2011 | May 18, 2011 |
| True Blood – The Complete Third Season [Blu-ray] |
By the end of 2009, the first season DVD had sold over 1.6 million units and taken in over $57 million. It was the only TV show in the 50 Top-Selling DVDs of 2009.
| True Blood: The Complete First Season | |||||
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| True Blood: The Complete Second Season | |||||
| Set Details | Special Features | ||||
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| True Blood: The Complete Third Season | |||||
| Set Details | Special Features | ||||
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Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school... "Oh Sookie" Video
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External links
- True Blood site at WikiaWikiaWikia is a free web hosting service for wikis . It is normally free of charge for readers and editors, deriving most of its income from advertising, and publishes all user-provided text under copyleft licenses. Wikia hosts several hundred thousand wikis using the open-source wiki software MediaWiki...