Watch True Blood

Set in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, Alan Ball's HBO series True Blood depicts a world where vampires have revealed themselves to humans and walk among the living as a persecuted minority group. The inspiration for their reveal is the invention of True Blood, synthetic blood developed by Japanese scientists which allows vampires to survive without killing people. The trademark bottles are a regular fixture of the show, although there remains a large faction of vampires who oppose integration with humans and rarely drink it. The show is based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries series of books by Charlaine Harris, though it frequently strays from the source material. Besides vampires, Bon Temps proves to be home to a variety of supernatural beings, werewolves, shape-shifters, witches, and fairies, to name a few.

The heroine of True Blood is a telepathic waitress named Sookie Stackhouse, played by Anna Paquin. The New Zealand actress is famous for being the second-youngest Academy Award winner in history, and she makes her first foray into a television series with the role. Sookie works at a local Bon Temps bar named Merlotte's, owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), and lives with her lovable but dim brother, Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten). Other main characters who feature in the human world of Bon Temps include Sookie's best friend, Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Tara's eccentric cousin, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), who also works at Merlotte's.

Sookie's world collides with the world of vampires when she meets Stephen Moyer's stoic vampire Bill, who comes into the bar one night and orders a bottle of True Blood. Sookie, who has never actually met a vampire before, discovers that the telepathic gifts she finds hard to turn off when she is around humans don't work on Bill at all. It's a much-needed relief, and it begins the classic human-vampire love story that dominates the early seasons of the show, as Sookie is drawn further and further into Bill's world and discovers just how dangerous some vampires can be.

In contrast to Merlotte's, the vampire world of True Blood is centered around its own bar, Fangtasia, which is owned by ancient vampire Viking Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard). Eric and his sidekick, Pam (Kristin Bauer), don't exactly play by the rules when it comes to drinking blood from humans, though they maintain the guise of operating a True Blood-only establishment. In the seedy vampire underworld, some humans enjoy being fed off of, and others are addicted to the healing, drug-like qualities of vampire blood and will do anything to get it.

Enemies come from every species and faction in True Blood, from fanatical vampires to fanatical humans, with all manner of creatures in between. Blending comedy, romance, and horror, it features an ensemble cast and an iconic title sequence, set to the song Bad Things by American songwriter Jace Everett. The soundtrack for the show has twice been nominated for Grammy awards and is a large part of the attempt to create a spooky feel for the story - a combination of the folk side of the American South and the dark side of the supernatural.

Alan Ball made True Blood the first project in his development deal with HBO after coming across the first novel in Harris' series by chance in a bookstore, and Harris chose his option for her novels over various others due to his understanding of her vision. The series has been successful not only in the ratings, but with many spin-off products as well. True Blood comic books, character busts, jewelry, and even a cook book have been marketed to the public, as well as an actual version of the True Blood beverage. Throughout its run, the show has utilized viral campaigns and vampire mockumentaries to generate a mass amount of fan excitement. Since it debuted in September of 2008, the show remains the most-watched series on HBO, averaging nearly 5 million viewers a season.