Ok, so our friend Rebecca just informed me that the 4-Day passes for Comic-Con are sold out. That means you better hop to it to get the single day passes.

Good Luck!

~M.

P.S. I forgot… I will be there on Friday and Saturday. Hopefully, we can all meet up!

Enjoy Kelly

–Debbie

Michael Ausiello from ausiellofiles.ew.com had the opportunity to interview Nelsan Ellis, Sam Trammell and Rutina Wesley as well as Alan Ball at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego during Comic-con.  Here are the interviews.

Kelly

Video from EW’s Ausiello

~M.

This was originally posted on Starpulse.

–Debbie

When “True Blood” first premiered on HBO last year, it already had quite an eager and excited audience. Perhaps it was the viral ads that HBO kept running, or the vampire-mania that was beginning to get attention again, but at least some of it had to do with its strong, vocal presence at the San Diego Comic Con. Thousands of people saw huge posters all over the con advertising the show and got a few first looks, so this year at a comic con it was like the cast was coming home to an inbuilt fanbase. Almost every major actor on the show appeared at the panel, and Ballroom 20, one of the largest rooms at the convention center, was completely packed with screaming adoring fans wanting to see more of this wickedly entertaining vampire tale.

The panel wasn’t the only thing on the menu for fans either, since the marketing crew for the show has always been rather impressive. At comic con the fans were invited to two nightly parties where they could come meet other “True Blood” fanatics and party together. There was excellent complimentary food, drinks, free shot glasses and fake vampire teeth, and on Saturday the visitors were given a first taste of the official drink Tru Blood which was announced in the panel by Alan Ball. This tasty drink is actually more like an orange-y soda, but it looks like blood and comes in the nifty bottle looking identical to what we see weekly on the show itself. If comic con goers weren’t fans of the show before, they certainly started to consider giving it a try after being given the royal treatment!

The “True Blood” panel included the majority of the cast: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Rutina Wesley, Michelle Forbes, Alexander Skarsgard, Nelsan Ellis, Sam Trammell, and Deborah Ann Woll. On top of this, series creator and producer Alan Ball was there to answer questions, as was the writer of the original novels Charlaine Harris.

The first announcement was a presentation of the drink Tru Blood (go here for ordering information), and then they showed clips of the final few episodes of season two. As expected, it looks like a lot of insane stuff is going to happen to everyone’s favorite supernatural characters, especially between Sam and Maryann and the burgeoning love triangle of Sookie, Eric, and Bill.

A great many of the questions (and fan screams) were directed toward Alexander Skarsgard about his handsome, mysterious vampire character Eric. The rest of the cast did not seem to begrudge their Swedish cast mate his attention, and Alexander seemed very glad to see more character development for Eric this season. Charlaine Harris announced that she signed a contract for three more Sookie Stackhouse novels, which means that the show can continue pretty much as long as HBO allows it to. Ball also talked a little bit about season three and how werewolves will officially be introduced (yay!).

So what is ahead for “True Blood?” Possibly Sookie waking up in bed next to a certain blonde vampire, Sam getting even more abuse shoved onto him, Jessica making as much trouble as she can, and Lafayette being part of Eric’s future plans.

Clearly this is a cast that enjoys what they do and who they play. It was one of the warmest and most energetic panels of the day, and the respect that “True Blood” shows the comic con will only mean it gains the eternal loyalty of the attendees. The actors took part in autograph sessions and some showed up at the Entertainment Weekly/SyFy party later that night, ready to have a good time and enjoy the con for themselves!

by Jeff Jensen – popwatch.ew.com

True Blood will be back for a third season, exec producer Alan Ball told fans of the HBO vampire series at Comic-Con late Saturday afternoon, while author Charlaine Harris, whose novels form the basis for the series, told the crowd that she has signed a deal to write three more books. A rapt audience of thousands roared when stars Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgård said that their love triangle will heat up in the second half of the current season, with Moyer promising that his Bill will be “fighting harder” for Sookie’s increasingly Eric-attracted heart. When Ball was asked if the romance will follow the arc of Harris’ novels, the producer paused and then answered with just, “Yes.” It was hard to know if he was serious or kidding—but most interpreted it as serious.

The big theme for the second half of the season is war—and if you’re a fan of the show, you know the rivals. Ball—who delighted fans by vowing you’ll never see half-vamp/half-human hybrids on his show (“You’re either all human or all vampire”)—says that he’s looking forward to introducing werewolves and the Mississippi vampires from Harris’ books into the series next season, but said he had no vision to bring in Bubba, a fan fave from the books. Harris—who admitted to being initially shocked by Ball’s racy adaptation of her franchise–says she feels no obligation to mirror the TV series in her forthcoming books. “I don’t tell him how to run a show, and he doesn’t tell me how to write the books,” she quipped, in a way that didn’t sound nearly as testy as it may read.

Finally, Ball says that a real “True Blood” beverage will become available for purchase on September 10. The ingredients: “Cabernet, the blood of European hemophiliac royalty, vodka, Viagra, and ecstasy. Unfortunately, it’s highly illegal.” Actually, the drink is “a tasty orange soda drink.” More info about the beverage will be coming from hbo.com.

I posted three videos this morning from the Comic-Con panel. I now have found more. The first one has a little overlap with the Part 3 video from the earlier post.
Kelly

After going to Comic-con for the past several years, this was by far the best and most bizarre Comic-con I ever encountered with all the growing popularity of all movies and television.

True Blood was most definitely the best part out of all the tons of panels I have seen these past days.
It started with the panel of television fashion designers including the incredible Audrey Fisher. Her costume work stays true to the characters would wear in the book which is what I love about her work.

Meeting True Blood fans was so much fun, but a lot of those fans were disappointed when Anna Pauqin did not show for the Trick r’ Treat panel and screening. At least we fans to sing happy birthday to her on her voice mail but when director Michael Doughtery called her she didn’t pick up the her cell phone either! That’s okay though, her appearance on Saturday completely made up for it.

I kept debating whether I should see the autograph cast signing and then run like hell to the true blood panel right after.Instead I decided to skip the signing and just stay in Ballroom 20 all day. The panel was completely worth the hours of waiting. The cast was so entertaining and yes the Mr. January’s Alexander Skarsgard is more handsome in person. By the way, I did see someone with a T-shirt of that Mr. January photo everyone was talking about.

The fans asked the right questions and the clips they played for later episodes in season 2 that everyone wants to see. I’m pretty sure the crowd when craziest when they showed Eric whisper “Trust me” into Sookie’s ear. By far True Blood knows what they are doing thanks to Alan Ball. Season 2 is so much more thrilling and I’m keeping my fingers crossed they come back for Season 3 for Comic-Con 2010.

Here are some pics:

Here’s three videos of the Comic-Con panel.  Thanks to ctjanus’s for posting them on you tube so I could find them!

Kelly