True Blood True fans from Paleyfest and Fearnet

Hey, my friends are stars ;-)

Alexander Skarsgard fan vid from Paley !

Thanks to my friend Beadrbop for the great video!

Team Dallas True Blood Paleyfest Travelogue: Part three by ObjectDesire

Day 3 Agenda: Warner Brothers VIP Studio Tour, PaleyFest TrueBlood Event,
K24 Diner (TB Fan Meet-up #3)

We sleep in a bit, breakfast again in rooftop garden, and Dallas blogs/twitters.

Warner Brothers VIP Studio Tour: We have reservations for the 11am tour.
We have time to peruse the gift store and have a coffee while waiting for our tour. Our tour guide is a nice young man, Wes Smith. When questioned later in the day, he admits to being an actor and to having an IMdB credit.
The tour is interesting and we see sets for ER (in process of being torn
down) and Cafe Perk set that has been preserved from Friends. We also visit the set of Two and a Half Men which is on hiatus. Everyone from our tour leaves early for a "Fine Dining" experience, and we get tour guide to ourselves for last 20 minutes of tour. We are disappointed to learn that because HBO is currently filming, the tour vehicles are not allowed into the backlot where Merlotte's and "the swamp" are located. These locations are part of the tour when filming is not in progress.

We enjoy an excellent lunch at the Warner Brothers Cafe (BBQ Chicken-OD; Cheeseburger-Noct; Soup/salad-Dallas). Dallas receives a phone call from Sookie who tells folks are already lining up outside the ArcLight Theatre and suggesting we bump out arrival time by 1/2 hour.

We head back to hotel to rest and change for the evening. Dallas blogs/twitters. Because we have increased the amount of time we will be standing in line, last minute shoe choices are made.

ArcLight Theatre/TrueBlood PaleyFest Event: It is a short drive to the theatre from our hotel. We are happy to find that only about 40 folks are in line in front of us when we arrive at 4:30pm. We find @SookieBonTemps in line. The young ladies first in line are Eric fans, run an Eric blog, and arrived at 8am this morning! They are also Dallas blog fans and were at Alex's Bar the night before. Excitement is in the air. We are eventually joined by Robiart, Beadrbob group, Jeweltoo, FangsNRoses, and Dana. News camera crews film up and down the line and stop to interview VampNerd who is near front of line. Sookie spends time in line twittering, trying to find someone local to take the 2 spare tickets we have ended up with. The doors open at 6pm and we score seats on row 5 right side of theatre (excellent seats). Dallas and Beadrbob group have center row 2 seats and FangsNRoses is on front row!

We are treated to a clip from the 70s soap "Dark Shadows" to start the evening. After brief remarks from the moderator, we see a compilation of clips from TB Season 1 and then an exciting clip from Season 2, very exciting and suspenseful. The actors are introduced: Alexander Skarsgaard, Carrie Preston, Nelsan Ellis, Rutina Wesley, Sam Trammel, Ryan Kwanten, Stephen Moyer, and Anna Paquin. They are joined by series creator, Alan Ball. Dallas has several articles about the interviews and Q&A on her blog.Ei Ei from Beadrbob group asks an excellent question. SookieBonTemps tweets throughout the event. Dallas has collected her tweets on her blog.

K24 Diner: After the event is over, we walk a few blocks to this all night diner, found for us by Robiart, for Fan Meet-up #3. We end up with 5 tables of fans, including VampNerd, Sweetwater, Skarlett, FangsNRoses, Jeweltoo, Robiart, SookieBonTemps, Dallas, OD, Nocturnalinnc. We have essentially taken over the front half of the diner. We table hop, have excellent food, share stories from the weekend and the Paleys. We are standing in groups preparing to leave when a handsome man with a pretty girl squeeze through our group to leave. VampNerd suddenly squeals, "Dave Navarro" I follow you on Twitter. She follows him outside and he graciously poses for pics. The most interesting thing is that he was there the entire time we were but everyone was grouped around Dallas (fairy blood? you tell me) and we did not notice him! The wonderful Sweetwater sneakily has picked up the tab and will not accept money from us. Cheers and thanks, Sweetwater!

We say our goodbyes at the diner and make our way back to our hotel--happy, sated, exhausted. We spend the remainder of the evening packing and preparing for a very early departure the next morning. Dallas blogs/twitters.

We have had fun adventures, met interesting TrueBlood fans, and have seen the TrueBlood actors up close and personal. Listen to Dallas' BlogTalkRadio show on Monday, April 20th. All the fans we met at PaleyFest will be calling in to discuss their experiences!

The two part show/ podcasts can be heard here:

http://lovingtruebloodindallas.blogspot.com/2009/04/true-blood-dallas-blogtalk-radio-live.html

Team Dallas True Blood Paleyfest Travelogue: Part two by ObjectDesire

Day 2 Agenda: Easter Sunday Brunch at hotel, Getty Villa/Malibu, Drive PCH1, Fish Tacos, Gran's House?, Parker Lighthouse Restaurant & Alex's Bar (TB Fan Meet-up #2), and Surprise Karaoke

Leisurely brunch eaten in the beautiful rooftop garden of our hotel:
brioche, Mediterranean frittata, fresh fruit, french press coffee...yum!
Return to room to make preparations for the day. Dallas blogs/twitters.

Getty Villa/Malibu: Once again, no traffic to speak of. See Pacific Ocean for first time this trip. Arrive 45 minutes ahead of our reservation time, but are admitted anyway. Participate in an interesting tour of the Villa grounds in which we learn to make jello and that our guide doesn't know how to email. Leave tour early and enjoy cappuccino/coffee/chai tea latte to gather strength for self-guided tour of museum and grounds. Many beautiful pieces of Roman and Egyptian art are viewed (jewelry, pottery, sculptures).
The grounds are beautiful and we have wonderful views of Malibu hills surrounding the Villa. Discover upon leaving that we have not paid excellent attention to where we parked. Visit several parking levels before stumbling upon car in another parking area.

Fish Taco Stand: ( it's actually Malibu seafood) Dallas takes us to her favorite fish taco stand, on PCH1 just north of Pepperdine University. The drive along the ocean is beautiful. At the taco stand, we all have the fish tacos which are made with a combination of grilled salmon, tilapia, and halibut, shredded cabbage, and special sauce. Very good! Once again, excellent people watching--we see couples, families, surfers, college students, and tourists; Dallas scores a coveted table for us.

Drive over mountains on Malibu Canyon Road. Once over the mountain, Dallas has some information about location of filming locations.We feel we get awfully close, but have to cut the search short because we are suddenly out of time.

Zip back to hotel using freeways (with NO traffic!) and change clothes for dinner and Alex's Bar. Deciding what to wear for a nice restaurant then a rocker bar is a bit tricky. Dallas and OD both end up with white shirt, jacket, and jeans. Nocturn wears cool T, black jeans and jacket. We are excited to finally meet @SookieBonTemps outside of Twitterville. She joins us at our hotel for the drive to Long Beach. She is beautiful, vivacious, intelligent, and funny--just what one who reads her tweets would expect!

Parker Lighthouse/Long Beach: We are worried about time because we get a late start, but once again NO traffic to slow us down. We take only one wrong turn, but Dallas enjoys fast u-turns, so this is a treat for her. We arrive at the restaurant only 20 minutes late. Here we are joined by IYOUWANT2, Robiart, FangsNRoses and her daughter, Dana, and Jeweltoo. The food is excellent (seafood, steaks, salads, gumbo) and a few of us indulge by sharing a warm apple tart...mmmmmm. We spend about 2-1/2 hours visiting and eating before some of us head out to meet more Dallas Blog fans at Alex's Bar.

Alex's Bar: We have an adventure finding Alex's Bar in a 3-car caravan.
Ms. Robiart has been to the bar before but confesses in advance that she is not skilled at finding even familiar locations. After a slightly wild u-turn, we lose Robiart (in car 1) but are talking to her by phone.
IYOUWANT2 (in car 2) has a GPS system and we follow her. We drive into an AutoZone parking lot and to the left we see an alley with a very familiar structure--the building we see in background as patrons enter Fangtasia in TrueBlood. Yay! Once again, Dallas finds that elusive parking spot (poor IYOUWANT2 does not have magic and parks on street). We are met in parking lot by a handsome young man who says, "Are you Dallas?" He turns out to be Patrick, Robiart BF. We discover that Robiart has had a flat tire. Patrick is on his way to rescue her and has been waiting to make sure we arrived safely. We stand briefly outside gazing in awe at the front of the building. The awning and the window are both there (no "Fangtasia" of course, but very exciting to stand in that spot!). We are greeted by a very large bouncer who could probably give Quinn a run for his money. Inside, we find the IMdB ladies, Beadrbob, Ei Ei, and Mermaid, along with several other TrueBlood/Dallas Blog fans. OD confesses that after 2 glasses of wine at dinner and a Heinekin at the bar, plus very loud music...she did not get all the names of these wonderful ladies. Perhaps Dallas can fill in a few blanks here? The live band is in full swing, music is loud but good, even if OD cannot understand a word that is sung, age of crowd is young (20s).
We all make sure to visit the infamous ladies room to take pics of kewpie vampire doll murals. Dallas and Sookie decide to take a pic together in the photo booth and find some interesting items inside the booth.
Most of the ladies have been at the bar for awhile and they depart shortly after we arrive. They will all be at PaleyFest tomorrow. Ms. Robiart makes it to bar but has had to abandon her car because the correct tools to change tire are not available. Her knight in shining armor, Patrick, heads out to find tools. We hang out at bar for awhile. As we are leaving, we find Alex, bar owner, sitting outside. He clears the outside area so we can take pics then comes over to chat. He has correctly surmised that we are True Blood fans.
Dallas' glamours him and he reveals some interesting info regarding filming at the bar for Season 2. The info is innocent, but gives us a big clue about how closely Season 2 will follow Book 2 .

Karaoke: On the way back from Long Beach, Sookie receives a call--some family and friends are at a karaoke bar on LaCienaga. Dallas and Noct are excited to join them; they are kind enough to drop a very tired OD at the hotel first though. Reports have it that Dallas and Noct do not participate in karaoke, but Miss Sookie gets a standing ovation! Sookies family and friends are fun and entertaining. It is very late when Dallas and Noct arrive back at hotel. ( very very late !)

Loving True Blood Dallas Blogtalk: Paleyfest revisited ( Episode 18b)

We visit with the two ladies that couldn't be with us Monday night and we have even more silliness.

It just didn't seem right to not have these two important attendees also talk about their experience.

We get first hand impressions and thoughts from the fans that were there ...these are folks that traveled thousands of miles to be there LIVE at the event!

They will regale us with stories, thoughts, memories and impressions!

Team Dallas True Blood Paleyfest Travelogue: Part one by ObjectDesire

Los Angeles Paleyfest Travelogue: Part one by ObjectDesire

A story in which we meet many friends from around the country and discover that Dallas has fairy blood.

Travelers in our party include LovingTrueBloodinDallas (Dallas), ObjectDesire (OD), and Nocturnalinnc (Noct)

Day 1 Agenda: Pink's, Griffith Observatory, Galanga Thai Restaurant, and NoHo Theatre for Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (TB Dallas Fan Meet-up #1)

We all arrive at separate times but arrange to meet at airport

Dallas surprises us by wheeling in to scoop us up in a bright, shiny blue convertible.

Pink's: We put the top down and head straight to Pink's hot dogs on LaBrea Blvd for a world famous hotdog. We are fortunate to find a parking spot just one block away. We discover we have only 4 quarters between us, but to our shock this gives us only 1 hour. Dallas searches her purse and finds a handful of dimes which gives us...1 hour 56 minutes. Off we march to stand on line for our hotdogs. The line snakes around the building but we enjoy the camaraderie of our fellow patrons and people watching. One man shows up to stand near the line with a large gray parrot. After about an hour we reach the front of the line. Dallas orders a spicy Chicago Dog, Noct orders a chili cheese dog, and OD orders a bacon chili cheese dog. We all have an Orange Crush with our meal. It is a beautiful day and we score a table on the patio. Beside us, in the parking lot, a man plays his trumpet as entertainment. Noct and OD begin to fret about the time and our belongings left in the car. Dallas says wait and leaves us guarding her food. She returns with the car and pulls into a space that magically appears in the parking lot (those of you who have visited Pink's know how miraculous this really is). First the empty patio table, then a parking spot! Noct and OD begin to get suspicious that Dallas knows magic spells.

Griffith Observatory: The drive up the mountain is spectacular. Beautiful views of Los Angeles are afforded at every curve. Unfortunately, the Observatory itself is closed for a special event (we never learn which event specifically).

By now, we are getting a bit short on time, and head to check into our hotel. Hotel Le Petit, (more here )turns out to be small, lovely European style boutique hotel. OD still wonders what candles were burning in the lobby--they smelled wonderfully exotic. Our suite has a sunken living room with a fireplace and a small "eat-in" kitchen, in addition to the bedroom area. We have 2 flat screen televisions (which we never turn on!). The towels are soft, thick bath sheets (I can just see Dallas rolling her eyes now--she doesn't care about the towels). But Dallas's hotel picking magic holds and this one is a winner.

We freshen up, change clothes, and are joined by the lovely Robiart, a local girl, who was so instrumental in helping Dallas find restaurants and meet-up spots for this trip.

Galanga Thai Restaurant: We learned of this delightful restaurant after TrueBlood actor, Patrick Gallagher ("Chow"), chooses this spot for an interview ( See his interview here). OD's daughter, Molly, and niece, Sara, meet us at the restaurant for dinner. Delicious food is consumed: Thai lettuce wraps, curry dishes, garlic shrimp (ordered by OD, of course). This restaurant should be added to everyone's "Must Visit" list.

NoHo Theatre: Traffic is surprisingly light (Dallas? Magic?). Our trip takes only 28 minutes and we have time to walk next door to Starbucks for coffee. At the theatre, we are joined by another local fan of Dallas' blog, the sweet and lovely IYOUWANT2. The play, Bram Stoker's Dracula, is excellent with creative staging (and we get to see Dracula's naked behind--a bit gratuitous, but gorgeous nonetheless :-)

Back at our hotel, we end the evening with Ms. Robiart, laughing and dissecting TrueBlood and Sookie Stackhouse books (Eric? Bill? Vampwich? What will happen in Book 9?). Make plans to meet Ms. Robiart on Saturday evening, then fall into bed and sleep soundly.( OD goes right to sleep Dallas and Noct stay up much later :))

Loving True Blood Dallas Blogtalk:: Paleyfest revisited ( Episode 18)

Get first hand impressions and thoughts from the fans that were there ...these are folks that traveled thousands of miles to be there LIVE at the event !

They will regale us with stories, thoughts, memories and impressions !

Should be a great show -I can't wait to talk to everyone again.




Chat room opens 8:45 pm HERE


Show starts 9:00 pm CST

If you were also there I will try to take some calls at the end of the show (646) 929- 0825

Great Paleyfest True Blood interviews from Fear.net

TV's sexiest, goriest, Cajun-flavored vampire show celebrated its upcoming second season at the annual Paley Festival in Hollywood. Spider went hunting for spoilers from Alan Ball, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and the rest of the True Blood cast.

True Blood Paley from the LAist

The LAist does an excellent over view of the TB Paley event.

At 5 p.m. last Tuesday, the line for the True Blood panel at PaleyFest snaked around the Cinerama Dome toward the Arclight entrance. Many of the predominantly female fans of the HBO series had been camped out since early afternoon, traveling from as far as Texas and New York.

When the program began at 7 p.m. there were only a few empty seats toward the back of the balcony. The lights dimmed and, courtesy of The Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio), a 1967 excerpt from Dark Shadows - the cheesy low-production-values vampire soap opera - ran on the screen. The audience shrieked, although not half as much as they did when the highlights reel from Season One of True Blood followed, winding up with a two-scene preview from Season Two featuring telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse in peril, her vampire boyfriend, Civil War vet Bill Compton being dunderheaded as usual, and, best of all, a scary new supernatural creature!

Read on

http://laist.com/2009/04/18/paleyfest_2009_true_blood_panel.php

True Blood Paleyfest coverage from Dallas and @SookieBonTemps: Part 4

I'm using @SookieBonTemps tweets as a narrative for my Paley event photos, videos etc.
I will also add my own comments but Sook did the tweeting and I did video and photographs (because I ended up on the second row) It was so great getting to know @SookieBonTemps in person as we have been online friends since with both started doing our True Blood/ Sookie fan stuff.

We both choose to stay incognito and we are the most unlikely of all teams but I think we did a good job of covering the event together.

*Part One I HERE / Part Two 2 HERE Part 3 HERE
* It will be a 4 part series.

(*Dallas comments in parenthesis)

Skarsgard's talking about the character of Eric. Just called him a sweetheart? Kwanten is talking about throwing out the actor's handbook.



Rutina is talking about the big heart behind the big mouth. Ball is saying Michelle Forbes' character has evolved

Whole cast on stage. http://twitpic.com/3ak28

Skarsgard's talking pink leggings...said he'd look forward to it. If Ball writes it. Ball's promising big surprises. Book and nonbook.

Cambodian disco dancing and Tuvan throat singing! Moyer is a riot!

Ball believes the show has many years. Season 3 not Confirmed



Ball just described the series of a big bowl of possibilities. Someone just asked a question about nudity on show. Kwanten's not bothered

The sack of destiny = the cock sock. Skarsgard just said he's disappointed to not be naked all the time. 'Cause he's Swedish

Tara love! Ball's saying Sookie needed a pal, not just a parade of hot guys

Anna just said that where the dirt went during the graveyard sex scene wasn't a concern. Moyer's talking about bursting through the ground.

In a big black condom. LOL



Bill's Babes just got props from Ball. Asking Moyer who he'd want to play if not Bill. Said he'd love to channel is inner Lafayette.

Ball's talking about casting. Characters first, actors later. Can the actors bring the material to life?

Question about Gran. Ball says he feels blessed having to work with him.
Michael Raymond James wept during the shooting of the flashback



Ball's asking for a shameless plug: buy the DVD

Whole cast is 'fessin up to who read the books. And it's Over



Folks rushin' the stage for autographs

Pray that the pics on my camera are good! Going to dinner with @trueblooddallas, @objectdesire, @robiart and some friends.

At Kitchen24 with everyone post-Paley. http://twitpic.com/3ambz

Not sure if this pic posted! And no, I sure as heck wasn't gonna fight the horde of women rushin' the stage. http://twitpic.com/3ao1e

Folks, it's been an eventful night. Thanks for tuning in.

True Blood PaleyFest’09: Exclusive 2nd Row Photos

True Blood PaleyFest’09: Exclusive 2nd Row Photos - Photos of the cast of Alan Ball's hit HBO TV series True Blood taken from the 2nd row at the PaleyFest09.



If you'd like a copy of any photo w/o watermark let me kow and I'll be happy to share !

Alexander Skarsgard red carpet arrival at True Blood Paley event

Gosh, this looks like an awful thing to do..

True Blood Paleyfest coverage from Dallas and @SookieBonTemps: Part 3

I'm using @SookieBonTemps tweets as a narrative for my Paley event photos, videos etc.
I will also add my own comments but Sook did the tweeting and I did video and photographs (because I ended up on the second row) It was so great getting to know @SookieBonTemps in person as we have been online friends since with both started doing our True Blood/ Sookie fan stuff.

We both choose to stay incognito and we are the most unlikely of all teams but I think we did a good job of covering the event together.

*Part One I HERE / Part Two 2 HERE
* It will be a 4 part series.

(*Dallas comments in parenthesis)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trammell just admitted to screamin' like a girl when he got the part.

Kwanten just said he read for Bill!

LOL! Moyer just joked about auditioning for Sookie!



Anna's talkin' about stalking Alan Ball to get the role

She's talkin' about transforming into a southern blond!

Props to Rutina Wesley for her performance as Tara. Talkin' about being "balls to the wall.". And she went school with Nelsan!

Currently shootin episode 7. Ball is finishing writing episode 11. Now he's talking music on True Blood

Hold onto your hats. They're drilling Skarsgard about the Eric love. Just referred to himself as a glorified extra




Ellis is talkin' AIDS burgers and the Bush mask! Everyone is talking favorite scenes. Kwanten's talking about all the angles they shot



Trammell just said he enjoyed workin' it out with Tara...and Anna. Least favorite scene was running naked in beige jazz shoes. No shit!

Moyer is actually really funny!

Moyer's talking about the burning scene and the makeup for "grilled Bill." No one wanted to look at him. Anna liked Sam waking up naked

Anna Paquin is a masochist! Just said she loves gettin' the crap outta here!

Ball is talking script. Said he normally hates improv, but Ellis changed it for him

Moyer is talking about the demographic of folks watching the show -- everyone. Ellis is talkin' about folks that see him as the character.



OMG! Ellis just talked about being boring and playing SCRABBLE!

Paleyfest coverage from Dallas and @SookieBonTemps: Part 2

I'm using @SookieBonTemps tweets as a narrative for my Paley event photos, videos etc.
I will also add my own comments but Sook did the tweeting and I did video and photographs (because I ended up on the second row) It was so great getting to know @SookieBonTemps in person as we have been online friends since with both started doing our True Blood/ Sookie fan stuff.

We both choose to stay incognito and we are the most unlikely of all teams but I think we did a good job of covering the event together.

*Part One I posted yesterday HERE
* It will be a 4 part series.

(*Dallas comments in parenthesis)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The anticipation is killin' me

Butterflies. The True Blood soundtrack isn't helping
(Did you even wonder what it would sound like if 800 people sang this song all together as loud as they could ?- well, I know and it sounds pretty fantastic!)



Startin!

Showin' vampire TV show clips. Dark Shadows!

(I think the Paley always plays old television clips before their panel discussions and of course Dark Shadows was the right oneto play before True Blood. The Paley Center's permanent media collection contains more than 140,000 television and radio programs and advertisements, available both in New York and Los Angeles. Find out more here ))



Clips!

Scenes from Season 1...and a treat comin' up... http://twitpic.com/3ahbx

OMG! Jessica!

Tease!

At this point they played the sneak preview clip from Season two



They're comin' on stage! http://twitpic.com/3ai3j



Alan Ball is talkin'.



This is ad good as the pics are gonna get for now. But don't you worry none... http://twitpic.com/3ai8c

Skarsgards' talkin'. Just said he auditioned for Bill!



Carrie Preston's up.



Nelsan Ellis is talkin' about gettin' the role of Lafayette. Followed by Rutina Wesley

Sam Trammell is up. Can I take a moment to ask just what is up with Moyer's hair?

http://twitter.com/SookieBonTemps

Alexander Skarsgard, Nelsan Ellis , Ruttina Wesley and Sam Trammel

Nice photos of : Sam Trammell, "Sam Merlotte"/ Rutina Wesley, "Tara Thornton" / Nelsan Ellis, "Lafayette Reynolds" / Alexander Skarsgård, "Eric Northman"

Studly bloodsucker Bill Compton signs autographs

haha studly bloodsucker-pretty good!

from TMZ

Studly bloodsucker Bill Compton on "True Blood," a.k.a. Stephen Moyer, never left the dark of his limo as he signed autographs in Hollywood

-- you know, so the deadly UV rays outside wouldn't burn his undead skin.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/04/15/true-blood-actor-truly-a-vamp/

At end of the True Blood Paley event Anna was whisked away for screening of "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler"

Tonight she will be attending the premier in Kansas

Actress Anna Paquin thanks Megan Felt (right) and Jaime Walker (left) after receiving a gift from them Monday evening at Fox Studios in Los Angeles at the screening of "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler." Paquin plays the role of Sendler in the Hallmark Hall of Fame Production, which will have its world premiere at 7 p.m. tonight at the Liberty Theater, 113 S. Main. There will also be a preview matinee this afternoon at 2 p.m. Walker and Felt are members of Life in a Jar, a group of people who brought Sendler's story of rescuing 2,500 children during the Holocaust to light.

True Blood and Paleyfest from the Reporter

Fans of HBO's "True Blood" showed their undying love for the vampire drama at Monday's PaleyFest panel, and the Paley Center for Media rewarded genre fans by opening the evening with a short clip from '60s fanger "Dark Shadows."

Bypassing the full-episode treatment for the night, attendees were treated to a 15-minute Season 1 highlight reel, followed by a short teaser for Season 2, which bows June 14.

The clip, which featured Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Bill (Stephen Moyer) bickering over the newbie vampire he sired at the end of Season 1, offered a glimpse at a new creature from author Charlaine Harris' "Southern Vampire Mysteries" book series on which the drama is based.

Created by Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under"), the writer/director/executive producer said he first picked up Harris' "Dead Until Dark" (Book 1 in the "SVM" series) while waiting for a dental appointment and "went through them like crack. I became a crack addict."

Read 0n
http://reporter.blogs.com/paley/2009/04/true-blood.html

True Blood : Eric cries in Season two ??

Will Sookie dump Bill for Eric?

Despite the fact that True Blood stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are a rock-solid twosome in real life, the show's Bill-Sookie-Eric triangle was the question of the hour as the cast and producers of HBO's vampire drama hit the Paley Center for Media's 25th Annual TV Festival Monday night.

Happily, Blood boss Alan Ball and his stars, including Paquin and Alexander Skarsgård, dished to us exclusively on the red carpet about the Viking vampire getting a hot spotlight, who's getting a serious beatdown and who's playing with the new supernatural creatures.

Moyer even told us his real feelings about the other man leering at his lady...Get our exclusive interview goodies and a sneaky peek of season two of HBO's True Blood.

Read great interviews here :

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b118528_true_blood_lust_whos_fanging_who_in.html

Great True Blood Paleyfest recap

Thanks to KorbiTV

"True Blood" is the sort of show the Paley Festival is really about. People flew in from other states, camped out in lawn chairs on the pavement by the Arclight theater and went fully insane when they finally made it inside and the cast was trotted onstage for their viewing pleasure. There was an entire row of women wearing "Bill's Babe" t-shirts. It was fun.

Show runner Alan Ball was introduced last, but was first to speak, telling the audience how he stumbled upon Charlaine Harris' "True Blood" book series completely by accident. He was 20 minutes early for a dentist appointment and decided to kill some time at the book store. He spied "Dead After Dark" and the tagline -- "Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend wasn't such a bright idea" -- caught his attention. He bought it on impulse and shortly thereafter became obsessed, ordering book after book from Amazon. "It was like crack," he said. "I became a crack addict."

He didn't go to HBO with the idea right away because he wasn't sure if it was going to be a TV show or a movie at first. Instead, he went to Charlaine, got the rights and later brought HBO into the picture.

Yes, when you're Alan Ball, you have the luxury of bringing HBO in.

And then HBO and Alan started bringing the actors in.

Read on

http://blog.zap2it.com/korbitv/2009/04/true-blood-paley.html