Another hangar-like room, room 6CDEF (obviously four rooms put together) was what housed the rest of my evening's panels. First up: HBO's True Blood. What's so odd about this is how, immediately following, Showtime has Dexter. Go figure.
Many people arrived early, enjoying the new characters of Street Fighter IV in the panel before True Blood. The line getting in over an hour before was insane, looping around multiple long corridors and seemingly never stopping to gain length. How they're able to get everyone in without people standing is a mystery.
Here are some key highlights from the panel discussion. More details to come later.
In attendance: Alan Ball, Charlaine Harris, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Sam Trammell and Nelsan Ellis.
- We were shown a trailer for the show, which premieres September 7. I already saw the full leaked pilot (sshhh!) so only a little of this was new to me, as they showed what was clearly from later episodes.
- Harris is working on the 9th book in the series right now.
- We don't learn why Sookie is telepathic this season.
- Alan Ball said the show will be true to the book as much as possible without making Paquin work every single day on the set, as the book is entirely told in first person by Sookie.
- Stephen Moyer and Ryan Kwanten are a couple more possible nominees for the 'Outsourcing' award next year.
- Many of the questions that moderator Lynette Rice asked can be answered if you read some of the books in the series, even the first book.
- Lafayette runs a gay porn website in the show, unlike in the books, and to that Harris said: "I'm good with it." That got a laugh out of the crowd.
- The casting of Quinn. Harris said he's her "personal homage to Vin Diesel."
- Will we see Bubba on the show? Alan Ball said he didn't want to give that away, so read into that what you want.
- Nancy Oliver and Alan Ball are two writers from Six Feet Under who moved over to this show to write, though nobody else as of yet, at least.
- They've got three more days of shooting and then the season is wrapped.
- Asked about fan reaction, Alan Ball said he doesn't have time to read what people think online and see what they think. He simply went on to say he'll try very hard to be true to Harris's vision in this series and takes fans of the books seriously.
- The first season will basically be book one and not transgress into the second book, at least for the most part.
- Ball mentioned that Katrina is in the first episode, but since it appears in book #5 as a present-day happening, Alan Ball says they will deal with that if/when they get to that book in the series.
- Maenads (sorry I'm not sure of the spelling) will appear in the first season, though they don't appear until the second book. Other supernatural characters introduced in the books will appear or it's planned that they will appear throughout the series.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-24-2008 @ 9:39PM
Miranda said...
Maenads. :-)
It'll be interesting to see how they adapt the books. I'll definitely watch.
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7-25-2008 @ 12:52AM
0megapart!cle said...
I have to say, I wasn't too impressed by the leaked pilot. Maybe it gets better, or hopefully they will edit that first episode better before it gets to air, but so far, I am not too hopeful about the future of this show.
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7-25-2008 @ 8:36AM
laura said...
Maenads, or "raving ones" in greek. Female worshippers of dionysus. wild insane women,they indulged in copious amounts of violence, bloodletting, sexual activity, self-intoxication, and mutilation.
I am so excited for this series, although i was confused by the poster for it because sookie is the main character and she isnt a vampire.
If anyone hasnt read this series, i suggest you pick it up, its hilarious, sexy, and fascinating!
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7-25-2008 @ 2:48PM
Liz said...
I love these books so I am both excited and scared for this new series. It looks interesting, but I am worried they will ruin my beloved Charlaine Harris' series. But she seems happy with it, so that encourages me.
On the other hand, they have cast some pretty hot men. Just saw the new Eric. Rawr!
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