Friday, July 23, 2010

Producer hopes 'True Blood' will have long life - but not too long

Alan Ball sees a long life for HBO's True Blood, but maybe not enough seasons to match Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels, which stand at 10 and counting. Blood is based on the books, which chronicle the doings of vampires and other interesting folk in Bon Temps, La.
"I'd like to see it run as long as it possibly can, but I don't want to get to the point where I have to explain why the vampires are aging," executive producer Ball said. Vampires don't age.
Ball and his cast, including Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, had a grand time conversing with devoted fans of the third-season show.

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Comic-Con 2010: True Blood Panel LIVE

True Blood  is here at Comic-Con! The geeks have lined up all day in hopes of entering Ballroom 20 to get a glimpse of their favorite Bon Temps residence. Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to see the True Blood panel as Ballroom 20 has become this year’s “Twilight” at Comic-Con.
While it’s almost impossible to gain entrance to Ballroom 20 (the room has been completely filled for the past few hours), Screen Rant fought the geeks back and will be bringing you live coverage of the True Blood panel at Comic-Con 2010.
So, sit back, relax and get ready for Alan Ball and the entire cast to dish the dirt on HBO’s hit series, True Blood.

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'True Blood' Ausiello interview at Comic-Con 2010

True Blood Season 3: Comic-Con Second Half Preview


True Blood Vs. Mad Men


Discerning viewers divide into two camps when talk turns to True Blood and Mad Men. Which show can rightfully lay claim to being television’s best current drama? Let’s get ready to rumble.

The debate begins anew with this weekend’s return of Mad Men (Sunday, AMC at 10 p.m.). The sombre dramatic treatise set in the New York advertising world of the early sixties remains the darling of the TV industry, which is fairly impressive for a show going into its fourth season.
Running concurrently is the HBO drama True Blood (Sunday, The Movie Network at 9 p.m.), a moody supernatural drama about humans and vampires co-habitating in a steamy Louisiana backwater. Midway through its third season, True Blood is adored by critics and cherished by fans, even with the recent addition of werewolves into the dramatic mix.
True Blood and Mad Men have buzz, at least among Entertainment Weekly subscribers, and despite the fact neither is a ratings giant. True Blood averages around three million U.S. viewers, and a few hundred thousand viewers in Canada; Mad Men pulls in two million and change in the United States, and an untold number of followers here, since no Canadian network has picked up the latest season.
Both series emanate from a precious broadcast echelon - mostly that of viewers willing to spring for premium packages - and both are up for Best Drama honours at next month’s Emmy Awards (along with Breaking Bad, Dexter, Lost and The Good Wife). But on a strictly categorical basis, which is the better show? This is the tale of the tape.

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True Blood "Hold that elevator , please!"

Blood Work! "True Blood" vlog 3.05: SRSLYOMGWTF??

Talk Blood Team member's Andy and Brian " Bring it " for S3e05



Andy and Brian are back to tackle the "Trouble" in "True Blood" episode 3.05, but first Andy shows off his mad texting skills. With Lafayette's romance, Sam's cray-cray family, Tara's overbearing suitor, Eric's complicated Viking past and more to discuss, no wonder he's got so much to type! All this and more from CampBlood.org.

James Frain, True Blood’s Most Demented Vampire

Did you know, initially, what this character was all about?
No, they didn't actually tell me much at all. I went to an audition and we had a couple of scenes — the first meeting with Tara at the bar, and then one of the scenes in which I'm really distraught at her trying to get away, and really, there was nothing about it that seemed like it wasn't just a torturous romantic story. It wasn't until I started filming it, and started getting these scripts coming in, when I was like, Oookay! All right! I guess I'm a psycho.

Did that make you happy?
I thought it was fun. I’d have a line like, "Look how fast I can text!" And I mean, that was just hilarious. I hoped that the audience would be onboard for the ride. It seems to be working, and I'm happy that the humor came out.

How did they actually film that texting scene?

It’s weird, the vamp-speed stuff you have to do in super-slow motion, and then they speed it up. If you do it in regular speed, it doesn't work. So have to keep super still and do it very slow.

How did you and Rutina Wesley (Tara) do that without cracking up?

I did laugh. And they just kept filming until I stopped! That scene was so much fun, and that had to come through as part of it.

Your fangs are scragglier than other vampires'.
Mine were crazy long. I don't know why — that's the design choice they made, but I don't know where it came from. I went and got them fitted, and they handed them to me, and I didn't know until I got to set that everyone else had smaller fangs than I did. I was like, Does this mean I get to go to the front of the lunch queue? And you sound really silly indeed when you talk with them. I think they were trying to make some comment about the character.

It almost feels like Franklin and Tara are a good match.
If there's any feeling of that, then that's fantastic! He’s just trying to get her to wake up and see that this is the relationship she's been dreaming of! [Laughs.]

You seem to specialize in playing bad guys.
Yeah, creepy characters. I've definitely been there before. But this guy's pretty special. I didn't really think of him as a vampire, but more of as this abusive boyfriend guy who happens to have gotten bit and has strange sleeping habits.

Your next big project is The Cape, a new superhero show on NBC.
Yes. If you can believe it, I play the bad guy.

Did you know that you were going to use your own accent in True Blood?
Normally, I like the idea of doing the American thing, and I was assuming that they'd want to go with the Louisiana accent. But I got this note saying, "Do it in my own accent," and I thought, That's kind of fun. But no one ever mentions it in the show, no one ever says, “Are you English or what? What the fuck's going on with you? You sound weird!” But I like that no one mentions it; in this world of vampires, and werewolves, and heinous, incredible things, one of the strangest things to me is that there's this British guy, and no one talks about how he’s a Brit! By virtue of its own simplicity, it becomes the weirdest thing about the show.

'True Blood' Ups Joe Manganiello To Regular

EXCLUSIVE: Joe Manganiello, dubbed the hottest new addition to HBO's True Blood this season, has been promoted to regular for Season 4. He plays hot sexy alpha male werewolf Alcide Herveaux, an iconic character in the The Southern Vampire Mysteries novels that True Blood is based on. There was a lot of buzz surrounding the casting of the role late last year before it went to One Tree Hill alum Manganiello. He was originally supposed to appear only in a handful of episodes, but I hear he impressed the show's producers and was embraced by True Blood fans, leading to his promotion to regular for next season. True Blood, which was just nominated for a best drama series Emmy, was renewed for a fourth season 2 episodes into the current third season. As for Season 3 of the vampire drama, there is a lot of chatter that some original cast members will be killed off by season's end. Creator Alan Ball and the cast might shed some light on the show's upcoming death toll at the True Blood panel at Comic-Con this afternoon.
http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/true-blood-ups-joe-manganiello-to-regular-2/

Exclusive: True Blood Star Carrie Preston Talks Arlene Fowler, The Emmys, One-Liners, and Previews the Rest of Season Three

In the slow days of Summer, TV brings us few gems to watch. But one of the most anticipated show every Summer is of course the HBO mega-hit True Blood.
Now in its third season, it keeps its audience sucked-in with its formula of humor, chaos, blood, gore, and sex.
Carrie Preston has been on the hit series since the beginning. She plays Arlene Fowler, mother and waitress at Merlotte’s. She recently talked to TVDoneWright.com about the hit series, the recent Emmy nominations, and what’s in store for Arlene in the second-half of the season.
***
Adam: First off, congratulations to you and the cast for the multiple Emmy nominations for True Blood this year. How does it feel to be nominated for the first time in the prestigious “Outstanding Drama Series” category?
Carrie: The Golden Globes honored us from the beginning, but it took a while for the Emmys to acknowledge us in this way. I think historically, the Emmys have been reluctant to embrace fantasy, horror or sci-fi shows, except on the technical side of things or for casting or something like that (think Battlestar, X-Files, Buffy) . So for it to be in the best Drama category is a real testament to how well the show is respected in the industry.

***
Adam: Did you watch the nominations that morning with your husband Michael Emerson, who also received some big nominations? How did you two celebrate?
Carrie: We didn’t watch the nominations. We got a phone call from Michael’s agent, and then I went to the web to look at the whole list. We were pleased to both be in nominated shows for Best Drama, which is a first for us. I’m always proud of Michael for his much deserved acting nominations. He just got his fifth nomination, which is such an honor. We celebrated with champagne over a nice dinner with friends.

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Charlaine Harris at Comic Con

Great blog feed of questions/ answers by ZAP2it here


True Blood Music Video of the Day: Death



TRUE BLOOD: Death
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