The True Blood panel was easily the most rewarding experience at Comic-Con, at least for me. The fans were rabid with excitement and they demonstrated it when the Fringe panel, the last panel before True Blood, came to a close and everybody swooped down to claim the recently vacated seats.
When the creators and the stars finally made their way out, the audience of over 4,000 erupted in a mad frenzy.
Alan Ball, the series creator, was witty and offered just enough information to keep the crowd interested, but not enough to spoil anything he’d been working on.
For the four or five people who don’t know the show, it centers around Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic girl living in Bon Temps. In this world, vampires have made themselves public due to the development of synthetic blood. Fake blood means no more need for real blood, i.e. killing, and so the vampire community now feels they can live in a world with humans. Sookie befriends and begins dating one such vampire, Bill Compton, played by Stephen Moyer.
We screened a lengthy trailer showing quick scenes of the second half of the show’s second season. One scene in particular, a scene that showed Sookie in bed with a man who did not look like Bill, made the crowd squeal.
Academy Award winner and Golden Globe winner Anna Paquin, who plays the lead role of Sookie, reflected on the development of her character. “She’s stronger, tougher,” She said. “She’s been through a lot.”
Recently on the show, Sookie has sparked the interest of Eric Northman, a 1000-year-old viking vampire and Bill’s superior, played by Alexander Skarsgard. When asked about the threat of Eric stealing Bill’s girl, Moyer stated, “I’m not sure Billy’s gonna role over and let it happen.”
Charlaine Harris, the very charming creator of the book series from which the show is based, was also present at the panel. She briefly discussed her methods of coming up with her storylines and conflicts. “Writing is work,” She said, “and what I do is work. I have deadlines I have to meet, and if I just sat around and waited for inspiration to come, my publisher would be very mad at me! So I just flex my fingers and turn on my word program and I say, ‘Who’s coming to Sookie’s house tonight?’”
When asked about the creative relationship between her book series and Ball’s t.v. series, Harris commented, “Alan and I have a special relationship worked out. I don’t tell him how to make the show, and he doesn’t tell me how to write the books.”
There were a lot of entertaining moments and the crowd was thoroughly entertained but all in all, it wasn’t a very informative panel. However, as it went on I realized it really wasn’t meant to be one. As the stars murmured witty comments, the crowd would laugh and clap. It was really for them. The purpose of the panel was to bring the stars to their brand new fans, the ones who made this fledgling show so popular so quickly, and in that regard it was phenomenal.
