TRUE BLOOD - COMPLETE PREMIERE EDITION BASE SET (98 cards) - Rittenhouse 2012
True Blood is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It was based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series of novels by Charlaine Harris.
The series revolves around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress living in the fictional rural town of Bon Temps, Louisiana and is set two years after the invention of a synthetic blood product branded “Tru Blood” that has allowed vampires to "come out of the coffin" and let their presence to be known to mankind, chronicling the vampires' struggle for equal rights and assimilation, while anti-vampire organizations begin to gain power. Sookie's world is turned upside down when she falls in love with 173-year-old vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), and for the first time, she must navigate the trials and terrors of intimacy and relationships.
The show was broadcast on the premium cable network HBO, in the United States, and was produced by HBO in association with Ball's production company, Your Face Goes Here Entertainment. The series premiered on September 7, 2008 and concluded on August 24, 2014, comprising seven seasons and 80 episodes. The first five seasons received highly positive reviews, and both nominations and wins for several awards, including a Golden Globe and an Emmy.
The fictional universe depicted in the series is premised on the notion that vampires exist, unbeknownst to the majority of humans until two years before the series premiere, when the creation of synthetic blood ("Tru Blood") by Japanese scientists, which eliminated vampires' need for human blood to survive, allowed vampires to "come out of the coffin" and reveal their existence to the world.E-1 This so-called "Great Revelation" has split vampires into two camps: those who wish to integrate into human society (i.e., "mainstream") by campaigning for citizenship and equal rights,E-1 and those who think human-vampire co-existence is impossible, because it conflicts with the inherently predatory and violent nature of vampires. It has also caused similar divisions amongst non-vampires; some believe that vampires should be accepted and granted rights, while others view them as monsters to be destroyed. Throughout the series, other supernatural creatures are introduced, among them shapeshifters, werewolves, faeries, witches, and a maenad.
The series revolves around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic human-faerie hybrid known as a halfling (not to be confused with similarly named, but unrelated creatures found in other fantasy works). Sookie is a waitress at Merlotte's Bar and Grill, owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps. Sam is a shapeshifter, though this secret is kept hidden from most of the town. Other characters include Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a 173-year-old vampire who has returned to Bon Temps to take up residence in his former home following the death of his last remaining relative; Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley), Sookie's tough-talking but insecure best friend; Jason (Ryan Kwanten), Sookie's womanizing brother; Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård), a 1000-year-old vampire and Sheriff of Area 5; and Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis), a short order cook, drug dealer, road crew member, and medium.
The show explores several contemporary issues such as the struggle for equal rights, discrimination, and violence against minorities and homosexuals, the problems of drug addiction, the power of faith and religion, the control/influence of the media, the quest for identity, and the importance of family.
Series creator Alan Ball had previously worked with the cable channel HBO on Six Feet Under, which ran for five seasons. In October 2005, after Six Feet Under wrapped, Ball signed a two-year agreement with HBO to develop and produce original programming for the network. True Blood became the first project under the deal after Ball became acquainted with Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mystery books. One day, while early for a dental appointment, Ball was browsing through a Barnes & Noble bookshop and came across Dead Until Dark (2001), the first installment in Harris' series. He read the entries that followed and became interested in "bringing [Harris'] vision to television". Having already had two other adaptation options for the books, Harris said she chose to work with him, though, because "[Ball] really 'got' me. That's how he convinced me to go with him. I just felt that he understood what I was doing with the books."[citation needed]
The project's hour-long pilot was ordered concurrently with the completion of the development deal. It was written, directed, and produced by Ball. Cast members Paquin, Kwanten, and Trammell were announced in February 2007, and Moyer later in April. The pilot was shot in the early summer of 2007 and was officially ordered to series in August, at which point Ball had already written more episodes. Production on the series began later that fall, with Brook Kerr, who portrayed Tara Thornton in the original pilot, replaced by Rutina Wesley. Two more episodes of the series had been filmed before the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike shut down production of the 12-episode first season until February 2008. That September, after only the first two episodes of the series had aired, HBO placed an order for a second season of 12 episodes, with production scheduled to commence in January 2009 for a summer premiere.