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Airdate: True Blood

Alan Ball's vampire series will air next February on Showcase.

Fans of gothic, you wanted to know?

True Blood, the newest series developed by Alan Ball, will air next February on Showcase. Ball also created the acclaimed Six Feet Under.

The series, starring former Home and Away graduate Ryan Kwanten, and New Zealand’s Anna Paquin looks at the co-existence of vampires and humans in a fictional Louisiana town. Paquin plays a waitress “cursed” with the ability to listen in on people’s thoughts.

Despite some mixed reviews, audience numbers for the HBO series have been picking up.

It will premiere on Showcase on February 10.

23 Responses

  1. True Blood needs to come onto Free to Air.
    Luckily my family has Foxtel but it’s only in one room and we can only afford the really basic starter package, we don’t even get movies let alone showcase or sc-fi or anything like that and of course all the best shows are aired on those channels which I think is complete Bullsh*te!!!
    I say if it’s good enough to be on “select cable channels” it’s more than good enough to be on free to air. There are way too many crap shows on already aswell as repeats and blocks of time that are just filled up by re-run movies from the 90’s. Seriously!!
    Get the hint!!!

  2. Don’t have pay tv and don’t want it. Agree with comments about free to air tv . Will be interesting to see ratings from next year when shows recorded on PVR’s etc (timeshifting) are included. Some shows in USA had ratings increased by 25% when timeshifting viewers included. Might make tv channels re-assess shows like Nurse Jackie, which ended up in 1AM slot on CH10. Thank God for ABC2 which airs The Wire at a regular time without ads and SBS for showing John Adams and Mad Men!

  3. Has anyone purchased DVD’s for True Blood from the US – I have another Reg 1 DVD Blood & Chocolate – will play on 1 of my DVD players. DOnt have foxtel – loved the bools – dont want to wait for free to air in ten years ….

  4. I think it stinks that trueblood will only be seen on pay t.v. in Australia when will the free to air channels wake up and start putting some good shows on. not everyone has money to spend on pay t.v.

  5. will do jack, if it was a show or movie that noone liked or heard of but it gained hugepopularity thru the internet then they declare it “a phenomenon!” and then the big studios (stupidos) jump onto it asap to milk it for what it’s worth with sequels and tv adaptations etc and not only that but considering i go out and buy my favourite tv shows on dvd for anywhere from $30-$100 and have plenty in my collection, who f*****g cares if i dl a piddly episode of something a percentage of americans let alone aussies don’t get to see??? Even then when 3/4 even 5 shows are up against each other (purely for ratings competition) how the heck do i get to see them? Maybe if hollywood uses its billions of dollars to develop a second head for us then there won’t be a need to download that episode i missed???

  6. Oh Bobby … brilliant … it is just so impossible for TV Industry people to think outside the “box” so to speak … and seemingly impossible to be rational when it comes to those rediculous, inaccurate “ratings” on which their ongoing pay hinges … it should NEVER be about advertisers and always be about what the viewers want … but to get that we will have to slip into some Alternate Universe that is not ruled by Money, Greed, and denial … dream on Dorothy!

    At least by having downloads we can get to see some of these shows and create a buzz among the general public which will do more for attracting viewers to these shows that any advertisers or TV execs are doing now … to name a few we have introduced or continue to promote here in Aus through our discussions … True Blood, Merlin, Sarah Jane Adventures, Dexter, Eli Stone … and heaps more we continue to fight for …

    Please send my regards to your “show runner” friend and tell him how much we appreciate what they are making even if the Networks don’t …

    Jack!

  7. he does it on a regular basis actually, and it’s not about working for free. what did they do 20 years ago before they networks started milking the audience for all thier worth? think of all the big budget shows that went on for years, without the help of other mediums sales (dvd and net)

  8. A novel approach…. Somehow I think if the network didn’t buy his show he wouldn’t be employed as a showrunner. His show wouldn’t be in production without a network. How does he feel about working without pay?

  9. i spoke to an american show runner 3 days ago, and he thanked me for taking notice of his show and downloading it since it aint shown here. It’s the networks who have a problem with it, not the artists themselves. the artists want to be seen and heard. the networks want the money. but this has only come about since dvds and downloading, since before hand TV was made to be shown for free and pay tv had no ads.

  10. Sorry gang, don’t agree …

    Neon Kitten … i generally agree with all you say but I don’t think that True Blood would have been sensored if it was on at 10.30 … there is far worse stuff on at that time … totally agree with your comments about “ball tossing” etc …. sums it it completely! 🙂

    Spaceghost … What??? We are not going to waste $100 per month on a pile of
    stuff we couldn’t care less about just to see 2 or 3 shows we really love … how stupid would that be … download it and watch what we want when we want … if we can’t get to watch it for free on free to air! … that is the reality, not spending a fortune every month to be held to ransom by Foxtel as well as the lame free-to-air Networks!

    Or just buy the DVD box set as i did with Dexter Season 2 … love that too!

    Jack!

  11. Not quite sure what your point is there, spaceghost.

    However, if Foxtel is going to ask upwards of $1200 a year plus extra charges for “Showcase”, then they need to get stuff on there faster. A five month delay for a season is unacceptable. The viewers are paying for the service, after all.

    I don’t “hate” Foxtel. I subscribed to Foxtel from the first day their service started, and cancelled after 2.5 years after way, way too many repeats and under a barrage of an increasing number of ads. It ceased to be value for money. It would appear that value has gotten worse since then, and the price has exponentially increased.

    The facts are these (sly Pushing Daisies reference there to remind Nine it owns the rights!): True Blood will be 5 months old by the time Foxtel shows it. To see it at all you’ll need to subscribe to a “premium” channel. And after all that you’ll still be watching it in far lower picture and sound quality than what you’d get if you downloaded it. It’s really a no-brainer.

  12. @Neon Kitten

    And what is Foxtel supposed to show, to attract new customers to it’s service(yes we know how much you hate Foxtel), even more repeats???
    Programs like Dexter, Deadwood, Love My Way, Mad Men,The Tudors,Rome season 2,Satisfaction,John Adams,Brotherhood etc etc , none of them could be shown on FTA(yes some have like Rome season 1). Yes we know you like to get your programming from “Other Means”.
    It sounds like a case of, “Oh, well, If Free To Air isn’t going to show it, then Foxtel shouldn’t either”, Get Over It!!
    Not everyone wants to get there programming from “Other Means”, maybe they would like to watch it on Foxtel, if they pay there $100 or whatever per month for the service- and at the same time get some good quality programming.

  13. I knew it wouldn’t make it to free to air, way tooo hot and erotic for that, but doesn’t bother me, thanks for torrents and other download sites I never have to wait for any show! It is a riveting series, love it! :^[

  14. Jack, if True Blood was on FTA, it would be censored to within an inch of its life to please the wowser minority.

    However yes, I do find it rather ironic that all manner of toss-the-ball contests are on a Government-legislated “anti syphoning list” to keep them on free to air TV, while quality dramas can be bought up by pay TV so that the vast majority of Australians do not have access to them.

    Fortunately there are other options for those who don’t fancy getting ripped off by an overpriced, underdone pay TV service.

  15. This series is an absolute ripper… and Ryan Kwantan is devastatingly hot in it!
    But … again … it is a total crime that it is not on free-to-air!
    What a disgrace … Most people do not have cable here …

    So we are forced to download …

    Jack!

  16. Damm – Im gonna have to give in and finally get Foxtel!! I have watched a couple of downloaded episodes (quick call the police!) and it is great.

    Thank god, Channel 9 didn’t pick this one up otherwise I would have to be getting up at 2am to watch it given Nine’s terrible track record with HBO shows.

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