Meanwhile, in the backwoods Louisiana town of Bon Temps, Sookie Stackhouse works as a waitress at the down-home bar Merlotte's. Though outwardly normal, she has unusual qualities of her own: Sookie can read minds, which complicates her world in endless ways. But Sookie's life becomes a lot more interesting when Merlotte's gets its first vampire patron – the 173-year-old Bill Compton – and the two outsiders are immediately drawn to each other.
Mixing romance, suspense, mystery and humor, the new HBO series TRUE BLOOD kicks off its 12-episode first season SUNDAY, SEPT. 7 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT). Starring Anna Paquin (the X-Men films; Academy Award®-winner for The Piano) as Sookie and Stephen Moyer (The Starter Wife, 88 Minutes) as Bill, the series is created and executive produced by Alan Ball (creator of the Emmy®-winning HBO series Six Feet Under), who also wrote the first three episodes and directs two episodes of the show, which is based on the popular Sookie Stackhouse novels of Charlaine Harris.