Sunday the new series, Trueblood, started on HBO and I tuned in to watch it. The basic premise of the show is that vampires have "come out of the coffin" since they can now get their minimum daily requirement of synthetic blood from any store that happens to carry it. They no longer need to go romping through the hillsides to find young, hot women to bite in the neck. As a result little towns everywhere are beginning to struggle with the thought that their populations will soon suffer an onslaught of legions of vampires who now want to mesh with mainstream society.
The star of the show ( and shown to the left ) is Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, the local tavern waitress. She's not your average girl. She happens to be able to hear everyone's ( except vampires' ) thoughts. This ability comes in handy when costar and vampire ( Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton ) is being setup by a couple of rednecks who want to drain his blood and sell it on the black market. She saves him from his unexpected fate and the two seem to be made for each other.
But Sookie's life is not without turmoil. Her friends ( Rutina Wesley as sassy, Tara Thornton and Sam Trammell as Sookie's employer, Sam Merlotte ) aren't sure how they feel about vampires - but they do know that they believe she ( and their backwoods, Louisiana town ) may be better off without them. Furthermore, Sookie's brother ( Ryan Kwanten as Jason Stackhouse ) is the primary suspect in a murder investigation.
As with any HBO series, there's no shortage of sex, skin, language and violence. Given the sultry and seductive nature of vampire legends, I expect that episodes to come will probably get better and better. And the first episode left no doubt. Within 30 minutes of the first episode the viewer gets a glimpse into the perverted sex life of at least two characters. Thankfully the kids weren't in the room.
Vampires have never really been my thing, but I believe the story could just as easily be setup with INSERT SCORNED CLASS OF PEOPLE HERE. For example, "We dont want those GAYS|NON-WHITES|OTHER RELIGIONS people in our little, podunk Louisiana community." But, as with many new vampire stories, there is apt to be new spins on the vampire traditions and legends that will assist in creating compelling stories.
The bottom line: HBO has already had no problem hooking me as a regular viewer with such hits as The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Deadwood. I expect that Trueblood will be no exception to the rule.
How about you? Is Trueblood going to be a must-see?