Wednesday, June 22, 2011

10 Reasons Why True Blood Is Better Than the Books It's Based On

I’ve watched every episode of HBO’s True Blood, which is about to kick off its fourth season, and I’ve read every one of the Sookie Stackhouse novels on which it's based. An eternity is not enough time to express my gratitude to Ms. Charlaine Harris for the best premise in Southern Gothic mythology in these United States. But True Blood creator Alan Ball has refined her story into something with more insight and intensity than the complete works of Charles Dickens, and the HBO drama has the notable honor of being a TV adaptation that’s even better than its very addictive source material.
This is not just my opinion, it's a science fact, and here are ten reasons why.
10. Eric’s hair
In the books, Vampire Sheriff Eric Northman’s hair is frequently described as being bound up in intricate braids. Seriously? Who would even do the braiding? Pam?


9. Sookie is not the narrator
Sookie Stackhouse narrates each one of the books in the first person, with a mix of charming naivete and sass. Anna Paquin’s Sookie is definitely the center of True Blood, but we aren’t tied to her perspective. We don’t stay shut up with her in the FOTS basement in Season 2, we go aboveground, check out Jason getting it on with the Preacher’s wife, go to Bon Temps and watch the town have orgies under the influence of the maenad. Basically any time you see someone onscreen and they’re not directly across from Sookie, it didn’t happen in the books, or they told her about it over coffee several weeks later.

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Inside 'True Blood'’s Fourth Season HBO’s vampire drama returns for a fourth season Sunday.



In the heart of West Hollywood, a homey bungalow serves as the office for Alan Ball, the executive producer of HBO’s addictive vampire series True Blood, which returns for a fourth season on Sunday. But the show’s resident horrors are nowhere to be found here: a dog bed (belonging to Ball’s beloved French bulldog, Gigi) sits in the entryway, and the place—reputedly once the office of Hollywood mogul Samuel Goldwyn—feels miles away from the Louisiana-set blood-soaked drama.

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9 Things to know about Season 4  here

Erc is happy to serve humans at Fangtasia !

True Blood Season 3: Cliffhanger - Eric's deepest desire video

Alexander Skarsgard gets some added bite from 'True Blood'

Playing a sexy vampire on the HBO hit has vaulted his career. He has 'Straw Dogs' and 'Melancholia' set to be released by year's end, with 'Battleship' in the wings.
 Playing an aloof, sexy Viking vampire sheriff on HBO's "True Blood" requires many things of Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard, not least among them a willingness to endure long stretches of night shoots and a commitment to spend at least a certain amount of time in the gym. Anyone who's watched the show, which returns for its fourth season Sunday, knows that virtually every major character is afforded plenty of screen time wearing not much at all.

But every now and again, the hit series, masterminded by Alan Ball and adapted from mystery writer Charlaine Harris' bestselling novels, really takes a turn for the surreal — like in Season 3 when Skarsgard, who plays Eric Northman, and actor Allan Hyde, as Eric's vampire "maker" Godric, were hunting werewolves dressed like SS officers in a World War II era flashback scene.

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'True Blood' July Episodes Descriptions

Episode #38:  “You Smell Like Dinner”
Debut:  SUNDAY, JULY 3 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates:  July 3 (11:30 p.m.), 5 (11:30 p.m.), 6 (10:00 p.m.), 9 (12:15 a.m.) and 14 (9:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates:  July 4 (9:00 p.m.), 7 (10:00 p.m.), 8 (12:30 a.m.) and 10 (2:00 p.m.)
Sookie (Anna Paquin) adjusts to Bon Temps’ new realities; Bill (Stephen Moyer) reveals pieces of his past; Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) crashes a witches’ meeting; Jason (Ryan Kwanten) gets his wounds licked; Andy (Chris Bauer) struggles with his addiction; Sam (Sam Trammell) learns of Luna’s (Janina Gavankar) special talents; Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) satisfies her blood cravings; and Arlene (Carrie Preston) witnesses strange behavior from her family.
Written by Brian Buckner; directed by Scott Winant.

Episode #39:  “If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin’?”
Debut:  SUNDAY, JULY 10 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates:  July 10 (11:05 p.m.), 12 (11:00 p.m.), 13 (10:30 p.m.), 14 (10:00 p.m.) and 16 (10:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates:  July 11 (9:00 p.m.), 15 (10:00 p.m.) and 17 (4:00 p.m.)
Sookie makes a deal with Eric, and reconnects with Alcide (Joe Manganiello); Bill punishes an errant vampire and counsels a guilt-ridden Jessica; Jason is cast as a reluctant savior; Tommy (Marshall Allman) eyes a scam and alienates Sam; Marnie (Fiona Shaw) flexes her newfound powers; Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) delivers an ultimatum to Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Jesus (Kevin Alejandro); Eric spoils Sookie’s faerie reunion.
Written by Alan Ball; directed by David Petrarca.

Episode #40:  “I’m Alive and on Fire”
Debut:  SUNDAY, JULY 17 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates:  July 17 (11:05 p.m.), 19 (11:00 p.m.), 20 (10:00 p.m.) and 23 (11:30 p.m. ET/10:30 p.m. PT), and Aug. 3 (8:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates:  July 18 (9:00 p.m.), 21 (10:00 p.m.), 22 (11:00 p.m.), and 24 (4:00 p.m.)
Alcide helps Sookie hunt for Eric; Marnie searches for guidance to break a spell; Bill discovers a common bond with the Bellefleurs; Jason begs for liberation from Hotshot; Sam penetrates Luna’s inner circle; Arlene sees the writing on the wall; Tommy returns to his roots.
Written by Nancy Oliver; directed by Michael Lehmann.

Episode #41:  “I Hate You, I Love You”
Debut:  SUNDAY, JULY 24 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
HBO playdates:  July 24 (11:05 p.m.), 26 (11:35 p.m.), 27 (10:00 p.m.) and 30 (10:15 p.m.), and Aug. 3 (9:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates:  July 25 (9:00 p.m.), 28 (10:00 p.m.), 29 (11:00 p.m.) and 31 (4:00 p.m.)
Sookie nurtures Eric; Bill gets involved personally in the necromancy crisis; Pam takes the veil; Sam becomes Tommy’s accomplice; Arlene and Terry look to religion to solve their problem; Jesus and Lafayette head to Mexico to harness a shaman’s power; Jason convalesces.
Written by Mark Hudis; directed by Daniel Minahan.

Episode #42:  “I Wish I Was the Moon”
Debut:  SUNDAY, JULY 31 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates:  July 31 (11:00 p.m.) and Aug. 2 (11:30 p.m.), 3 (10:00 p.m.) and 6 (12:15 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates:  Aug. 1 (9:00 p.m.), 4 (10:00 p.m.), 5 (12:05 a.m.) and 7 (6:00 p.m.)
Sookie searches for Jason under a full moon; Marnie connects with spirits of the past; Arlene and Terry cope with a suspicious inferno; Debbie (Brit Morgan) urges Alcide to join a new werewolf community; Tommy trades places with Sam; Lafayette feels the spirit in Mexico; Eric surrenders to his King’s will.
Written by Raelle Tucker; directed by Jeremy Podeswa.

'True Blood' Star Stephen Moyer Talks Anna Paquin, Fans In Men's Health

The larger arc of "True Blood" may see an epic love triangle and struggle for Sookie Stackhouse's love, but off the set, that battle was won long ago. And you just don't mess with Bill.
Stephen Moyer, in a cover story for the new issue of Men's Health, opens up about his relationship with co-star and now wife Anna Paquin, who plays the psychic object of bayou affection on the HBO show, now in its fourth season. The pair met during auditions, and at first, it was all professional. But as it so often happens, distance made the heart grow fonder.
"I did find love on set. We had met at the very first rehearsal before my screen test for HBO, for the network, for the pilot," Moyer remembered. "Our interest was piqued by each other but at that point it was like, we're about to work together for a long time, hopefully, you know, if the show gets picked up. So, there were no feelings at that point...they put us in a hotel, we were in the same hotel. We were having dinner every night. I got back to London and Anna got back to New York and I just missed speaking to her every day, which is what we had been doing up into that point. Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt, and... you have a marriage."
Well, it took some romancing, including Skype calls that lasted two to three hours per night. Presumably, they weren't just going over lines.
Whether Bob or Fanny were invited, the pair were married last August.
The thing about a marriage between two stars of a massive TV show is that they have to share each other with the world. Especially with a rabid fan base like the one that obsesses over "True Blood." Which means there has to be some understanding -- sometimes.

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Wow --Alan Ball says Season 5 might be the end of True Blood


With HBO’s vampire hit True Blood premiering its fourth season Sunday, creator Alan Ball is in talks to return for a fifth season of the Anna Paquin starrer.
“Right now I’m in the middle of negotiating for a fifth season,” Ball told The Hollywood Reporter at Tuesday’s Season 4 premiere in Hollywood. “I don’t know if I have any left in me after that. We’ll see.”
The showrunner, whose résumé also includes the cable network’s critical favorite Six Feet Under, added that he could see the show based on Charlaine Harris’ 13-book Sookie Stackhouse series “going a few more seasons.”

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"True Blood" Stars Turn Up for Season 4 Premiere



With their hit show set to kickoff all-new episodes next week, the stars of "True Blood" gathered together for the Season 4 premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday night (June 21).
With the event being held at ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome, Anna Paquin arrived on the arm of co-star husband Stephen Moyer as the pair joined up with fellow castmate Alexander Skarsgard at the red carpet fete.

see lots more photos here and  here