50 Fun Facts About True Blood

In which fictional Louisiana town is True Blood set?

The name means "good times" in French, which is not how most residents would describe seven seasons of murders and maenads.

What supernatural ability does waitress Sookie Stackhouse have?

The show later explains it through her part-faerie heritage, revealed in season three.

On which network did True Blood air from 2008 to 2014?

It ran seven seasons and 80 episodes, from September 7, 2008 to August 24, 2014.

The series is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries, a novel series by which author?

The 13 books ran from Dead Until Dark in 2001 to Dead Ever After in 2013 and were later rebranded as the True Blood novels.

Which writer created True Blood after finding the first novel in a bookshop?

The creator of Six Feet Under was killing time before a dentist appointment in a Barnes & Noble when he picked up Dead Until Dark.

The show's creator had earlier won an Oscar for writing which film?

Alan Ball took Best Original Screenplay for the 1999 film before creating Six Feet Under for HBO.

What is the brand name of the synthetic drink that let vampires "come out of the coffin"?

HBO really did sell a carbonated blood-orange soda in the bottle as a promotion.

What is vampire blood called when humans take it as a drug?

Jason's addiction to it in season one leads him to Amy Burley, who ends up murdered like the rest.

What is the name of the bar where Sookie waits tables?

Its owner, Sam Merlotte, is a shapeshifter who tends to keep an eye on Sookie in the form of a dog.

How old is vampire Bill Compton when he walks into Merlotte's in the pilot?

He was turned against his will during the Civil War by his maker, Lorena.

Eric Northman is the vampire sheriff of which numbered district?

The 1,000-year-old Viking runs Fangtasia in Shreveport with his progeny Pam, a former San Francisco brothel madam.

What is the name of the vampire bar Eric owns?

The neon-lit tourist trap is where Sookie first meets Eric while hunting a killer in season one.

Who plays Sookie Stackhouse?

She won a Golden Globe for the role in 2009, sixteen years after winning an Oscar at 11 for The Piano.

The actress who plays Sookie married which True Blood co-star in August 2010?

The Sookie and Bill actors wed in Malibu and had twins in 2012.

The actor who plays Eric Northman is the son of which Swedish screen veteran?

He served 18 months in the Swedish Navy before returning to acting, and later won an Emmy for Big Little Lies.

Which actor played the short-order cook and medium Lafayette Reynolds?

The Juilliard graduate won a Satellite Award for the role; Lafayette dies early in the books but fan demand kept him alive on screen.

Rutina Wesley replaced which actress as Tara after the original pilot?

The pilot was shot in summer 2007 and picked up that August, just before the writers' strike halted production.

Which song plays over True Blood's opening titles?

The sequence by Digital Kitchen was shot in Louisiana in four days and earned an Emmy nomination for main title design.

The season-one killer, Rene Lenier, turns out to really be a man named what?

He murdered women who slept with vampires, faked a Cajun accent and was engaged to Arlene the whole time.

For killing a vampire, Bill must turn which 17-year-old into a vampire in season one?

The vampire he killed was Longshadow, and Jessica went on to marry Hoyt in the series finale.

The season-two villain Maryann Forrester is what kind of creature?

Michelle Forbes played the follower of Dionysus who turned Bon Temps into one long black-eyed orgy.

Godric, the 2,000-year-old vampire whose disappearance drives season two, is sheriff of which district?

The Dallas storyline also introduces the anti-vampire Fellowship of the Sun church.

Which supernatural species does werewolf Alcide Herveaux introduce to the show in season three?

Joe Manganiello's character is hired by Eric to help Sookie find the kidnapped Bill.

Russell Edgington, played by Denis O'Hare, holds what title?

The 2,800-year-old made his point in season three by murdering a news anchor on live television.

What is revealed about Sookie's ancestry in season three?

Her grandfather Niall, played by Rutger Hauer, turns up in season six.

Which werepanther clan from Hotshot does Jason get tangled up with in season three?

Crystal Norris is his love interest; the Pelts are the werewolf family of Alcide's ex, Debbie.

When Sookie returns from Faerie in season four, how long has she been gone in Bon Temps?

For her it was a few minutes; in the meantime Bill has become King of Louisiana.

Who leads the coven of witches that torments the vampires in season four?

The spirit of a 16th-century witch, Antonia, possesses her, and one of her spells wipes Eric's memory.

Which character is shot in the season-four finale cliffhanger?

Season five opens with Pam turning her into a vampire to save her.

Bill and Eric are arrested by the Vampire Authority in season five for killing whom?

The American Vampire League spokeswoman had been the public face of vampire rights since season one.

What is Bill nicknamed after drinking the entire vial of Lilith's blood at the end of season five?

The transformation follows the collapse of the Authority and Alan Ball's departure as showrunner.

Who is Nora, introduced in season five?

She and Steve Newlin, now a vampire, join Russell's Lilith-worshipping faction.

Which vampire killed Sookie and Jason's parents, as they learn in season five?

Rob Kazinsky's character arrives in season six claiming Sookie was promised to him.

In season six, which Louisiana official runs a platform to wipe out vampires and locks them in a camp?

His camp is where Sarah Newlin's poisoned Tru Blood begins.

Which character created the virus that infects vampires through tainted Tru Blood?

Hepatitis V, or Hep-V, drives the whole of the final season and turns Sarah into a walking cure.

Which shapeshifter's job at the end of season six shows how much Bon Temps has changed?

The season ends with a six-month time jump in which Sookie is dating Alcide.

Which longtime character is killed by Hep-V vampires in the very first episode of season seven?

Alcide follows soon after, dying during a rescue attempt.

How does the series finale resolve Bill's storyline?

Infected with Hep-V, he refuses the cure and asks her to end it in his grave.

The final scene of the series shows a pregnant Sookie at what kind of gathering?

The man beside her is never identified, which annoyed viewers hoping for a name.

Which couple gets married in the series finale?

Meanwhile Eric and Pam get rich selling the antidote-laced New Blood.

How many viewers watched the True Blood pilot when it premiered in September 2008?

By the season-two premiere it was HBO's most watched programme since the Sopranos finale, and season four peaked at 5.53 million.

Which Primetime Emmy did True Blood win in 2009?

The AFI also named it one of the ten best TV programmes of that year.

Who took over as showrunner for the final two seasons after the creator left?

The show's Metacritic scores had held in the 70s for seasons two through five before dipping in the last two years.

HBO announced a True Blood reboot in December 2020. What happened to it?

HBO chief Casey Bloys said the scripts never produced anything that "felt like it got there".

The publisher of the True Blood comic books was which company?

HBO's launch campaign also included an alternate-reality game at BloodCopy.com and a MySpace account called "Blood".

How many episodes did True Blood run for across its seven seasons?

It premiered on September 7, 2008 and wrapped on August 24, 2014.

Which HBO series had Alan Ball made before True Blood, leading to his development deal with the network?

He signed a two-year deal with HBO in October 2005 after that show wrapped, and True Blood was the first result.

Which independent film company created True Blood's Emmy-nominated title sequence?

They shot in Louisiana, a Chicago church and a Seattle bar, and built the transitions with a Polaroid transfer technique.

Who composed True Blood's original score, performing the cello, glass harmonica and other instruments himself?

Music supervisor Gary Calamar aimed for something 'swampy, bluesy and spooky', and the soundtrack albums earned two Grammy nominations.

Which Golden Globe did Anna Paquin win for True Blood's first season?

The show also won an AFI Award as one of the ten best TV programmes of 2009 and Favourite TV Obsession at the People's Choice Awards.