TV review: True Blood

It seems that vampire are the new "in" thing for entertainment. HBO debuted their new vampire series, True Blood, Sunday night. It stars Anna Paquin as Sookie, a waitress in a backwater Louisiana town. The plot revolves around vampire wanting to be accepted in mainstream society. A synthetic blood, called Tru Blood, that satisfies vampires' dietary needs has been formulated so there is no longer a reason for them to feed on humans. Now they just want to be like everyone else. However, not everybody is willing to blindly accept bloodsuckers.

Sookie spends her nights waitressing at Merlotte's, a local watering hole. Unfortunately, she has the ability to hear other people's thoughts. Of course, her secret makes everyone think she is strange. One night, Bill, a vampire played by Stephen Moyer, stops into the diner. Sookie is immediately taken by the stranger since she has never seen a vampire before. Her best friend Tara, played by Rutina Wesley, and her boss Sam, played by Sam Trammel, both warn her to stay away from Bill but Sookie can't. After all, Bill is the only one that Sookie can't hear in her mind. At the same time, Bill is intrigued by the mortal girl.

I fully expected a crappy vampire show. It's not often that someone pulls off a really good vampire story. HBO found some amazing actors and writers. We're only one episode in and I'm already smitten.