'True Blood' Showrunner Alan Ball Planning HBO Show on Abortion Doctor

You may know Alan Ball as the executive producer and showrunner of "True Blood," but Ball has been branching out like crazy lately and deceloping a bunch of projects. Of course, with the success of "True Blood," that's not much of a surprise.

What is surprising, though, is the sharp change in tone from Ball's current HBO project.

Ball will be taking a break from the vampire stuff for the new show "Wichita," an hour-long drama based on the story of Dr. George Tiller, a surgeon from Kansas who had two assassination attempts on his life, the second one fatal, from anti-abortion activists.

Tiller, who provided late-term abortions, was shot and killed in 2009 by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion activist. The show will be based loosely on Tiller's earlier days, though it wouldn't be surprising to see the assassination attempts show up in an early season. Ball will produce the show.

On the lighter side, Ball will also executive produce "Banshee" for Cinemax, which oddly enough centers on an ex-con and martial arts expert who poses as a sheriff in an Amish town. Not only that, but Ball is also signed on to direct a dark comedy for Paramount.

Sounds like Alan Ball is a pretty busy guy. Let's hope nothing happens to "True Blood" as a result, eh?