Variety reports that Alan Ball’s next TV series for HBO will be based on Charlaine Harris’ SOUTHERN VAMPIRE novels. I’ve met Charlaine and she’s a very nice woman — to be honest, I expected someone more, well, goth. She’s so sweet and polite…she struck me as the kind of person who’d write cozy mysteries in the world of baking or knitting instead of vampire novels.
Project is set in a world where vampires and humans co-exist after the
development of synthetic blood. First book, "Dead Until Dark," revolves around a
waitress in rural Louisiana who meets the man of her dreams only to find out
he’s a vampire with a bad reputation."It’s not a high-concept pitch," Ball said. "Charlaine has created such a
rich environment that’s very funny and at the same time very scary. I bought the
book on impulse and I just couldn’t put it down."
HBO entertainment prexy Carolyn
Strauss said she’d been sure Ball would leave the television
world for movies after he wrapped "Six Feet," and she was surprised and grateful
that he came back to the network with yet another passion project.
"Alan really fell in love with the books," HBO entertainment prexy Carolyn
Strauss said. "At its heart, the books are a metaphor for difference and
outsiders and fitting in. That’s Alan’s bailiwick and what he writes so well
about."
In other TV news, Lifetime has axed STRONG MEDICINE, saying the show has "run its course" after six seasons, three different stars, and 132 episodes.
Strong Medicine" is one of the "truly remarkable success
stories in cable TV history. We’re grateful for all the contributions of exec
producers Tammy Ader and Whoopi Goldberg and the cast," he said. But it’s time
"to offer our viewers another option.""Medicine" won’t necessarily be leaving the air anytime soon: Lifetime has
exclusive rerun rights to the medical drama through 2010.
This leaves MISSING as the only original drama left on the network…assuming it’s picked up for a fourth season.
Kelley Armstrong, author of one series featuring a female werewolf and another featuring a young witch,is similarly unassuming. The books are dark, violent and sexually charged and yet she is essentially a softspoken smalltown Southern Ontario mom. Terrific books, by the way, if you haven’t read them, especially the werewolf books, Bitten and Stolen.
Lee,
Thanks for the trade info breakdown.