TVSquad

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.

(S01E02) "Angelina Adopts a Vampire baby." - Cover of a tabloid

After all the comments I got about last week's review, I feel that I have to address some issues.

The first one is the books that this show is based on. I understand that they are popular and without the series there would be no show but I haven't read them nor do I have any intention of doing so. My job is to review the television show True Blood and unless they introduce a character named Charlaine Harris, this is the last time you will see that name in my review.

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?!)

Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, is coming back to HBO with the new series True Blood, based on the Southern Vampire books by Charlaine Harris.

It's been a couple years since we've mentioned the series, but Variety recently reported that the series was officially picked up by HBO. Both the books and the TV adaptation take place in a time when human beings and vampires live together, thanks to the creation of synthetic blood. A pilot starring Anna Paquin, Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell, Stephen Moyer and Brook Kerr was shot earlier this summer. Paquin plays the Louisiana waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who becomes romantically involved with Moyer's Bill Compton, a vampire.

Almost Famous and The Piano actress Anna Paquin has signed on to the lead role in a new series for HBO from Alan Ball. That name should ring a bell for all fans of Six Feet Under (Ball also wrote American Beauty).

This time around, Ball is diving into the world of vampires. His new series, appropriately called True Blood, is based on the "Southern Vampire" series of novels by Charlaine Harris. In the story, vampires don't have to kill humans for their blood because the Japanese were kind enough to invent a synthetic blood that does the trick. Paquin will play a non-vampire waitress who hooks up with a vampire.

Paquin is also appearing in an HBO mini-series about the displacement of Native Americans, called Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.