TVSquad

(S02E12) "You may be the strongest, oldest vampire in my queendom, but if I wanted, I could own your fangs as earrings." - The Vampire Queen to Eric

We've come to the end of season two of True Blood, and I'm glad to see the Maryann storyline end (this is no spoiler; Alan Ball talked about it in my interview with him; and yes, Michelle Forbes is a fantastic actress). On the other hand, I'm sad to see True Blood ending and will wait impatiently for season three to start.

But this finale brought an end to a few storylines and set things up nicely for new ones in season three. After the jump, the episode review and your comments. Don't click through if you haven't watched the episode yet!

One of the most talked about shows of the summer is True Blood, HBO's supernatural series about vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, and all those eerie things we find both fascinating and horrifying.

With the season two finale right around the corner -- "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" airs Sunday at 9 PM ET on HBO -- it's a great time to catch up with series creator Alan Ball (pictured, with Michelle Forbes, Rutina Wesley, and Deborah Ann Woll at the TCA awards in August). Read on for his thoughts on the future of Maryann, a Sookie/Bill pairing, and even a few spoilers on season three.

If you want to look at the full transcript of the wide-ranging interview, click here. The edited version starts after the jump. Oh, and read AOL TV's coverage of the show, as well.

(S02E11) "I am gonna kick that bitch's evil ass out of my gran's house, and then you are gonna shoot her." Sookie to Lafayette, about Maryann

Well, they didn't make us wait, and picked up with True Blood right where we left off last week, with Bill walking in on the vampire queen, played deliciously by Evan Rachel Wood. And ... is the vampire queen a lesbian? There were certainly some sexual overtones with her sucking blood out of the girl's leg, and then later saying, "I haven't enjoyed sex with men since the Eisenhower administration." Then again, she did ask Bill if he wanted to have sex, and he politely declined. He also declined her suggestion that he feed on the girl.

"What gives you the right to say no to the femoral blood of a good woman?" she asks. "You know what your problem is, William? You're a snob. Tiny, tiny souls. Or penises. Or both."

(S02E10) "Jesus and I agreed to see other people, but that doesn't mean we don't still talk from time to time." - Lafayette to Tara's mom, praying over a spellbound Tara

I'm as hooked on Eric as the next girl, but I must admit, I felt a little protective of Bill during that opening scene. Sookie comforting Eric and kissing his blood-tear-stained face over the loss of Godric was sweet, but emotional. If and when that day comes, I'm not sure who I'll be rooting for: Eric or Bill. It would definitely be a tough choice for Sookie.

I was going to say that HBO's True Blood is one of my favorite new shows this fall, but looking back on the season, I'd have to say it's my favorite, with Fringe as a close second.

HBO continues to churn out some great shows, and True Blood is no exception. Season one will be available on DVD May 12, 2009, with season two premiering that month, as well. I'm not sure how I'll hold out until then!

The vampire thriller earned a Golden Globe nod today for Outstanding Drama Series, and creator Alan Ball (who also helmed Six Feet Under), dropped a few hints about what fans might expect in season two.

His comments contain a few spoilers, so I'll put them after the jump, in case you haven't finished watching season one yet.

It's no big secret. People love their movies and TV shows based on vampire book series -- romantic vampire book series, to be exact. Proof of that will be crowding your local multiplex this weekend thanks to the release of Twilight, the teen vampire flick based on Stephenie Meyer's inescapable best-seller. (I'll guess I'll wait another week to catch Role Models. Navigating through a sea of rabid teenage "Twilighters" isn't worth it. Sorry, Paul Rudd.)

Want more proof of the popularity of blood suckers? HBO execs are saying their freshman vampire series True Blood, also based on a series of novels, is developing an audience faster than The Sopranos, aka one of the most financially successful cable series in the history of TV. Michael Lombardo, HBO's chief of West Coast operations, says that The Sopranos' viewership numbers grew slowly. The big ratings jump didn't come until season two. But True Blood has fared better, with a 66 percent jump in Sunday night viewership since its premiere in September.

(S01E01) True Blood is definitely a show after my own heart. I love any high concept drama that lays out the entire idea in the first five minutes.

In case you didn't get it, here's the short version. Synthetic blood is now available for vampires to buy, therefore they no longer need to kill to survive. So, as a society, they decide to live out in the open and are met with the kind of fear and skepticism that you'd expect.

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.

Ewww! This poster is so creepy, it makes me want to hurl! And watch this show! Of course, the fact that Alan Ball is behind it -- the man who helmed one of my favorite shows ever, Six Feet Under -- has nothing to do with it. Nope, it doesn't. Okay, I'm lying. It has everything to do with it.

HBO's True Blood, starring Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, is set to premiere on Sept. 7 at 9 p.m. Here's the newly released poster for it. Makes you want to dig into a jar of strawberry jam, doesn't it?

Based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire novel series, the show follows the world of vampires set in small-town Louisiana. They're able to co-exist with humans by drinking a Japanese-manufactured synthetic blood. (Well, what fun is that?!)

This post might get a little esoteric, but I'll just lay it out there and, as always, you can either take it or leave it. If you don't like talk about death and dying, stop reading here.

If I was asked to say just one thing about Six Feet Under, it's that they don't shirk from anything. The Fisher family is complex and messy, but the writers and actors put it all out there, whether it's gay sex, drugs, mental illness, or, of course, death.

That last one is a good thing for me, because I go to a lot of funerals. In the past few years, I've lost two aunts, a dad, a father-in-law, a grandma, a sister-in-law, two cousins, and at least two dozen friends. I've written scores of obituaries and played my violin for dozens of funerals. I'm on a first-name basis with most of the funeral directors in town. And you know what? It's OK! Six Feet Under has helped me to see that. Read on for five ways the show helps me cope with death.

One of my favorite parts of Six Feet Under is the opening titles. When I get ready to watch the show, I don't turn it on and do other things while the opening titles play. I sit down and watch the titles from the beginning. It prepares me for the show ahead.

As I learned from watching the behind-the-scenes featurette on the season one DVD set, when a show is created, the opening pictures are usually done first and the music added later. That wasn't the case with Six Feet Under, mainly because creator Alan Ball had no idea what he wanted to do with the pictures. So he had composer Thomas Newman -- whom he worked with on American Beauty -- score the music first.

The show, written by Josh Miller and Mark Fortin, will star Rodriguez's fiancee, Rose McGowan. She'll play one of five women central to the show. It's rumored to have a 70s exploitation feel, and there's talk of mud wrestling. Alan Ball's Bad Girls most likely takes HBO out of the equation, but I'd certainly prefer Showtime over any of the normal networks, just for the freedom it would provide. The linked article mentions NBC and FX as receiving the spec script. Should it end up at either of those, it will be interesting to see how what looks to be an envelope pushing show plays out under the tighter restrictions.

[Thanks to J for the tip.]

HBO and Alan Ball have teamed up once again to develop an American version of Bad Girls. The show is familiar territory for HBO which aired the critically acclaimed prison drama Oz for six seasons.

The British drama about the staff and inmates of a women's prison recently ended production after eight seasons on ITV.