True Blood Information

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 vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in northwestern Louisiana. The series centers on the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress with an otherworldly quality.

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 a Golden Globe and an Emmy. On July 2, 2012, HBO announced that True Blood had been renewed for a sixth season that will premiere on June 9, 2013.

Series overview

The fictional universe depicted in the series is premised on the notion that vampires (and other supernatural creatures) are living among us, unbeknownst to the majority of humans until two years ago, when the creation of synthetic blood (aka 'Tru Blood') by Japanese scientists allowed vampires to come out of the coffin (a term coined as a play on "coming out of the closet") and reveal their existence to the world on the basis that they no longer need to feed on humans to survive. This so-called 'Great Revelation' has split the vampires of the world into two camps: those who wish to integrate into human society (aka 'mainstream') by campaigning for citizenship and equal rights, and those who think that human-vampire co-existence is impossible because it is in conflict with the inherently violent nature of vampires. Throughout the series, other supernatural creatures are also introduced, among them shapeshifters, werewolves, fairies, witches and a maenad.

The series revolves around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic Human-Fairy hybrid known as a halfling (not to be confused with similarly named, but unrelated creatures found in other fantasy works.) Sookie is a waitress at Merlotte's Bar and Grill, owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps. Sam is a shapeshifter, though this secret is kept hidden from most of the town. Other characters include Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a handsome 173-year-old vampire who has returned to Bon Temps to take up residence in his former home following the death of his last remaining relative; Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley), Sookie's tough-talking but insecure best friend; Sookie's womanizing brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten); thousand-year-old vampire and Sheriff of Area 5, Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård); and Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis), a short order cook, drug dealer, road crew member and medium.

The show explores several contemporary issues, such as the struggle for equal rights, discrimination and violence against minorities and homosexuals, the problems of drug addiction, the power of faith and religion, the control/influence of the media, the quest for identity, and the importance of family.

Production

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 Under's 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 Harris'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.

Title sequence

True Blood's Emmy-nominated title 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 (Royal Trux) song "RadTimesXpress".

Conceptually, the sequence was constructed 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 ..." Ideas of redemption and forgiveness are also explored, and thus the sequence progresses from morning to night and culminates in a baptism.

The title sequence also features images and themes of death and rebirth; 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. Rebirth 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. 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.

In editing the opening, 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 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.

Music

Gary Calamar, 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 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.

Marketing

The premiere of True Blood was prefaced with a viral marketing/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.

There were a total of 6 comics issued in the series, which were published collectively as the Graphic Novel All Together Now on February 15, 2011. This was the first in a series of four graphic novels released by HBO under the True Blood franchise and sold in major bookstores. The following titles include Tainted Love, The French Quarter" and "Ongoing".

Cast and characters

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.

Core cast

Actor	Character	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5	6
Anna Paquin	Sookie Stackhouse	Main
Stephen Moyer	Bill Compton	Main
Alexander Skarsgård	Eric Northman	Main
Rutina Wesley	Tara Thornton	Main
Sam Trammell	Sam Merlotte	Main
Ryan Kwanten	Jason Stackhouse	Main
Nelsan Ellis	Lafayette Reynolds	Main
Carrie Preston	Arlene Fowler	Main
Chris Bauer	Andy Bellefleur	Main
Jim Parrack	Hoyt Fortenberry	Main
Adina Porter	Lettie Mae Thornton	Main	Special Guest
Michael Raymond-James	Rene Lenier	Main		Guest
William Sanderson	Bud Dearborne	Main				Special Guest
Lynn Collins	Dawn Green	Main
Lizzy Caplan	Amy Burley	Main
Lois Smith	Adele Stackhouse	Main			Special Guest
Stephen Root	Eddie Gauthier	Main	Guest
Todd Lowe	Terry Bellefleur	Guest	Main
Deborah Ann Woll	Jessica Hamby	Guest	Main
Michelle Forbes	Maryann Forrester	Guest	Main
Mehcad Brooks	"Eggs" Benedict Talley	Guest	Main
Michael McMillian	Reverend Steve Newlin	Guest	Main	Guest		Main
Anna Camp	"Sarah Newlin		Main
Mariana Klaveno	Lorena Krasiki	Guest	Main			Guest
Kristin Bauer van Straten	Pam Swynford De Beaufort	Guest		Main
Kevin Alejandro	Jesus Velasquez			Main		Special Guest
Marshall Allman	Tommy Mickens			Main
Denis O'Hare	Russell Edgington			Main		Main
Lindsay Pulsipher	Crystal Norris			Main	Guest
Joe Manganiello	Alcide Herveaux			Guest	Main
Lauren Bowles	Holly Cleary			Guest	Main
Janina Gavankar	Luna Garza				Main
Fiona Shaw	Marnie Stonebrook				Main
Jessica Tuck	Nan Flanagan	Guest			Main
Lucy Griffiths	Nora Gainesborough					Main
Christopher Meloni	Roman Zimojic					Main
Valentina Cervi	Salome Agrippa					Main
Scott Foley	Patrick Devins				Guest	Main
Rutger Hauer	Macklyn						Main
Robert Patrick	Jackson Herveaux					Guest	Main
Robert Kazinsky	Ben						Main

Principal cast

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 (e.g. susceptibility to silver and the sun).

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 Jason's 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 becomes attracted.

The final major 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 relation to Maudette and Dawn's murders, Bill takes Sookie 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 named Longshadow) 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.

A secondary plotline introduced in the first season (which later becomes a main plotline in Season 2) is that although many humans are attracted to vampires (referred to as "fang bangers") and flock to establishments like Fangtasia, not all people are accepting of the idea that vampires should 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 in Season 2 becomes headed 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 goal of summoning her god to earth, and eventually takes control of 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 (who is revealed to also be a shapeshifter) begins a romance with Sam, but is 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);, who thus becomes 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.. Bill uses the information provided by Sophie-Anne to devise a plan involving Sam and Sookie, and the three manage to kill Maryann in the season two finale. Subsequently, Bill takes Sookie out to an exclusive French restaurant to propose to her; but before she can give her answer, Bill is kidnapped.

Season three picks up straight after the events of season two with Sookie on the hunt to track down Bill and his kidnappers. She turns to Eric for help, who is not interested (seeing this turn of events as a chance to get Sookie for himself), but he ends up sending werewolf Alcide Herveaux (Joe Manganiello) for assistance after it is revealed that Bill was taken by V-addicted werewolves in the employ of the 3000-year-old vampire king of Mississippi, Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare). Meanwhile, back in Bon Temps, Lafayette embarks on a relationship with his mother's care nurse and brujo Jesús Velasquez (Kevin Alejandro) and learns about his own special powers as a medium, while Sam hires a new waitress at Merlotte's, Wiccan Holly Cleary (Lauren Bowles).

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.

Joining the cast for season five will be Christopher Meloni, who previously starred on another of HBO's own original series Oz as well as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for 12 years. Details on his character have yet to be released. Also joining the cast is Scott Foley as Patrick, Terry's old war buddy, Louis Herthum as JD, Kelly Overton as Rikki, a new werewolf curious how Marcus died, Carolyn Hennesy is expected to be Rosalyn Harris, a Texas vampire with twang, and Jacob Hopkins will play child vampire Chancellor Alexander Drew.

For season six, it was announced that Robert Kazinsky would join the principal cast as Ben, a faerie and a potential love interest for Sookie. He will also help Sookie and Jason discover the truth about their parents' murders. Robert Patrick, who guest starred in season five as Jackson Herveaux, was promoted to series regular for season six. Rutger Hauer, who starred in popular films such as Blade Runner and Batman Begins, was announced as a series regular playing "Macklyn", a character with "strong ties to Sookie and Jason".

Season synopsis

Season one: 2008

The main mystery of the first season concerns the murders of women connected to Sookie's brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten). 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 who have had associations with vampires.

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 Eric 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: 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, 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. This season ends with Jason left to take care of Hotshot, Tara leaving Bon Temps, Bill fighting the queen, Sam shooting Tommy, and Hoyt and Jessica, moving in together. The final cliffhanger is Claudine taking Sookie to Faerie.

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; the season finale aired Sunday, September 11, 2011. It is loosely based on the fourth novel in The Southern Vampire Mysteries 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. Sookie starts a romance with Eric who has amnesia due to a spell cast by Antonia / Marnie. The witch 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 a warning from the ghost of Rene that Terry will cause Arlene trouble, the escape of Russell Edgington, the reappearance of Steve Newlin as a vampire, and the shooting of Tara.

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 of 2012, with a confirmed date of June 10 at 9pm. Alan Ball signed a multi-year contract with HBO in July 2011, but only agreed to produce the show for the fifth season. After the season five finale, he'll leave his position as showrunner.

The season follows Bill and Eric being captured by the Vampire Authority after the disappearance of Nan Flanagan. The two are almost sentenced to death by the Guardian, Roman, before revealing that Russell Edgington is alive and free after being released by a mysterious vampire. With the help of Sookie and Alcide, the team discovers his hiding place and brings him in. Season 5 also focuses on Terry, who learns he is cursed after committing a terrible crime during the war in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Sookie learns that her powers are limited and contemplates having a normal life. Jason discovers his parents were murdered by a vampire and vows to find out who is responsible. Lafayette tries to deal with the powers given to him by Jesus. Russell, along with Eric's vampire sister Nora and Salome, redefine the values of the Authority and view humans as nothing more than food: just as Lilith of the Vampire bible wanted. The season ends with Bill drinking the blood of Lilith in front of Sookie and Eric. He begins to fall apart, ultimately meeting the "true death". Shortly after, a nude Bill "rises from the blood", as an even more powerful vampire reincarnation of Lilith ("Billith"). Surprised, Eric yells for Sookie to run prior to the end credits playing.

Season six: 2013

Reception

Critical reception of True Blood has generally been favorable, despite the fact that initial impressions were mixed. The New York Post 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. The fifth season has a rating of 73.

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 Skarsgård (Eric) appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone covered in blood and completely naked. This cover drew criticism due to the image's supposed promotion of sexuality and violence. The show's creator, Alan Ball, 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 of LGBT rights

The struggle for vampire equality in True Blood has been interpreted as an allegory for the LGBT rights movement. 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 series' creator, Alan Ball, who is gay, has stated that such a comparison is lazy and possibly homophobic; and Lauren Gutterman of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies has expressed concerns that the show might perpetuate negative stereotypes of homosexuals as deviants.

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 Love 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. The show was declared the eighth highest rated show for the first ten years of IMDb.com Pro (2002-2012).

U.S. Nielsen ratings

Season	Timeslot (ET/PT)	# Ep.	Premiere		Finale		Aired	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)
Season 1	Sundays 9:00pm	12	September 7, 2008	1.44	November 23, 2008	2.45	2008	2.00
Season 2		12	June 14, 2009	3.70	September 13, 2009	5.11	2009	4.28
Season 3		12	June 13, 2010	5.10	September 12, 2010	5.38	2010	4.97
Season 4		12	June 26, 2011	5.42	September 11, 2011	5.05	2011	4.97
Season 5		12	June 10, 2012	5.20	August 26, 2012	5.05	2012	4.67

Awards and nominations

See List of awards and nominations received by True Blood for more information The show won an Outstanding Casting for a Drama at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards; the two lead actors have both been recognized for their performances:

• Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, for Best Actress in a Drama at the 13th Satellite Awards
• Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton for Best Actor at the 37th Saturn Awards

The show received an American Film Institute Award in 2009 as "One of the 10 Best TV Programs" and was chosen as "Favorite TV Obsession" at the 36th People's Choice Awards. Its stunt performers have been recognized for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble at the 17th Screen Actors Guild Awards

DVD and Blu-ray releases

The True Blood DVDs have been consistent bestsellers in the US. 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. The second season DVD sold a total of 1,159,509 units in 2010, earning over $41 million. The third season DVD was the 61st bestselling DVD of 2011, selling almost 1 million copies and earning over $30 million. It was the best selling TV boxset of 2011. In its first week of release - the week ending June 2, 2012 - season four debuted at number one on the UKs "TV on Video" chart. However, it reached only number six in the combined DVD chart. In its first week of release in North America, it sold over 660,000 units, earning nearly $20 million. In its second week of release in North America, it sold a further 120,000 units (making a combined total of 784,000 units sold), earning another $4 million.

True Blood: The Complete First Season
Set Details		Special Features			Exclusive Items
12 Episodes 5 Disc Set 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Subtitles:English English		In Focus: Vampires in Americas Tru Blood Beverage Ads Vampire PSAs. Episode Trailers. Audio Commentaries on: Strange Love by writer/director Alan Ball The First Taste by director Scott Winant and star Anna Paquin Escape from Dragon House by director Michael Lehmann and writer Brian Buckner Sparks Fly Out by director Daniel Minahan and star Stephen Moyer Burning House of Love by director Marcos Siega To Love Is to Bury by writer/director Nancy Oliver			No known exclusives

True Blood: The Complete Second Season
Set Details		Special Features			Exclusive Items
12 Episodes 5 Disc Set 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Subtitles:English English		The Vampire Report: Special Edition Fellowship of the Sun: Reflections of Light Episode Trailers. Audio Commentaries on: Keep This Party Going by Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette) and Michael Lehmann (Director) Release Me by Raelle Tucker (Writer) and Michael Ruscio (Director) Timebomb by Stephen Moyer (Bill), Alexander Skarsgård (Eric) and John Dahl (Director) New World In My View by Ryan Kwanten (Jason) and Sam Trammell (Sam) Frenzy by Rutina Wesley (Tara), Alan Ball (Writer) and Daniel Minahan (Director) Beyond Here Lies Nothin' by Anna Paquin (Sookie) and Michelle Forbes (Maryann) Beyond Here Lies Nothin' by Alexander Woo (Writer) and Michael Cuesta (Director)			USA Target Stores Cast and Crew Panel DVD

True Blood: The Complete Third Season
Set Details		Special Features			Exclusive Items
12 Episodes 5 Disc Set 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Subtitles:English English		Anatomy of a Scene True Blood Minisodes True Blood Postmortems Snoop Dogg "Oh Sookie" Video Episode Trailers Audio Commentaries on: Beautifully Broken by Alexander Skarsgård (Eric) and Scott Winant (Director) It Hurts Me Too by Alexander Woo (Writer) and Michael Lehmann (Director) 9 Crimes by Kristin Bauer Van Straten (Pam) and David Petrarca (Director) I Got a Right to Sing the Blues by Denis O'Hare (Russell) and Alan Ball (Executive Producer and Creator) Hitting the Ground by Anna Paquin (Sookie), Joe Manganiello (Alcide) and Brian Buckner (Writer) Evil Is Going On by Stephen Moyer (Bill) and Anthony Hemingway (Director)			USA Target Stores One of 3 cardboard overlays of the 3 main cast members

True Blood: The Complete Fourth Season
Set Details		Special Features			Exclusive Items
12 Episodes 5 Disc Set 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Subtitles:English, French, Portuguese, Spanish English		Inside the Episodes (12 Clips) Backstories on each of the episodes - interviews with the show writers True Blood:The Final Touches " Behind the scenes tour of the post production process of True Blood. 6 Audio Commentaries with the cast and crew including Alan Ball, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgård, Deborah Ann Woll, Sam Trammell and Fiona Shaw.			USA Target Stores Bonus DVD - 80 minute Paley Center Panel with Alan Bell and cast

International broadcasts

The following table lists the countries in which True Blood airs outside the USA.

Country	Network(s)	Series premiere	Timeslot
	FX (UK)	N/A	22.00 GMT (Mondays)
	HBO Canada	2009	N/A
	13th Street Universal	2009-05-11
	Syfy Universal (Germany)	N/A
	RTL II	N/A
	Orange Cinemax	2008-12-23
	NT1	2010-03-31
	yes Oh	2009-01-06	22:00 IDT (Thursdays)
	Hot VOD	2010-04-01	N/A
	HBO	N/A	21:00 AST (Sundays)
	HBO Nordic	2009-10-01	22:20 CET (Thurdays)
	M-net	2010	N/A
	HBO, AXN	N/A
	HBO	N/A
	MOV, AXN Black
	Prime	2008	21:35 NZT (Thurdays)
	HBO	N/A	20:00 CDT (Sundays)
	HBO SBT	2009-01-18 2013-01-13	22:00 (Sundays) 01:00 (Mondays)
	SVT	2009-08-26	22:00 CET (Wednesdays)
	FOXlife	2009-10-04	23:00 CET (Sundays)
	BTV
	HBO, FOXlife
	Canvas
	Ant1 TV
	HBO		22:00 CET (Saturadays)

See also

• Vampire film
• Vampire literature