HBO to Premiere True Blood

NEW YORK, August 14: True
Blood, the new vampire series from
Six Feet Under creator Alan
Ball, will debut its 12-episode first season on September 7 on HBO.

In the series, which
premieres at 9 p.m., vampires no longer need human blood because of the
invention of mass-produced synthetic blood. Sookie Stackhouse, who works as a
waitress at a bar and can read minds, is drawn to the 173-year-old vampire Bill
Compton after an encounter.

Starring Academy
Award-winner Anna Paquin (The Piano)
as Sookie and Stephen Moyer (The Starter Wife, 88 Minutes) as Bill, the series is created and executive produced by Ball, who
also wrote the first three episodes and directs two episodes. The show is based
on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris.

—By Jackie Stewart