and yet another really long essay...
...this time on True Blood and HBO drama. Didn't manage to squeeze in many references to Eric or Alexander Skarsgard, but one day... one day...
True Blood as Emblematic HBO Drama
Since the late 1970s and the early 1980s, pay-TV channel HBO has been active in developing original programming. In their article McCabe and Akass write that “the premier cable subscription channel has in fact come to define and make visible a new era of quality TV” (2008: 84), implying that HBO had become a channel that was recognised for and prided itself on making ‘quality’ programmes that stood out from that of other channels, especially free-to-air broadcast television. In 1997 they began a marketing campaign with the slogan “It’s not TV, it’s HBO”, further demonstrating their attempt to distinguish their programmes from other channels, appealing to a more sophisticated and highly educated demographic of viewers who would not otherwise be attracted to watching television.
In this essay, I will be studying contemporary HBO drama True Blood in relation to HBO’s history of producing ‘quality’ TV, proposing that the show is emblematic of HBO’s original dramas. I will discuss True Blood's conceptual novelty (especially in terms of controversial content), series-serial structure, cinematic quality, ‘must-see’ allure and authorship, relating this to past HBO’s past practices.
True Blood premiered on HBO on 7 September 2008, and has since had two successful seasons. It has been renewed for a third season, and has achieved an average of 12 million viewers per episode, making it the second-most-watched HBO series after The Sopranos. It is based on the Southern Vampires Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris, and adapted by Alan Ball who had previously worked with HBO on Six Feet Under. True Blood is set in a period where vampires have “come out of the coffin” and revealed themselves to humankind, and revolves around the reactions of humans, particularly those in Bon Temps, a fictional small town in Louisiana. Pivotal to the story is the character of telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, and her relationship with the vampire Bill Compton which inevitably leads her deeper into the world of the supernatural.
Like a number of other HBO dramas, True Blood pushes the boundaries with its conceptual novelty and controversial content. Although creator Alan Ball denies that the show contains any metaphors1, many viewers and critics have observed parallels and allusions to real-life conflicts such as gay rights and historic racial tensions in America. For instance, the title sequence contains a shot of a sign reading “God Hates Fangs”, which is similar to the slogan “God Hates Fags” which some right-wing religious activists have adopted with regards to the issue of gay rights. The expression of vampires coming “out of the coffin” and the subsequent debate of the Vampire Rights Amendment (where vampires demand equal rights to humans) can also be seen as a parallel to homosexuals “coming out of the closet” and demanding equal rights to heterosexuals. Another clear connection to gay rights can be seen in the second season finale “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” (air date: 13/9/2009), where Bill proposes to Sookie with an engagement ring and airplane tickets to Vermont, one of the six states in America that allows same-sex marriage. This implies that vampire-human marriages can be likened to same-sex marriages, and further encourages viewers to recognise parallels to gay rights.
Parallels to historic racial tensions can also be found in True Blood. The title sequence carries images of rioting and the Ku Klux Klan, reminding viewers of previous racial tensions in the South, where the show is set. Racial tensions were also rehashed in the first season of the show, as Bill Compton was revealed to have fought for the South during the American Civil War, as well as having kept slaves, a fact which greatly antagonises Sookie’s African-American best friend, Tara. In the episode “The First Taste” (air date: 14/9/2008), when Tara expresses her suspicions of vampires and warns Sookie not to get friendly with Bill, Sookie sarcastically replies, “And black people are lazy and Jews have horns”, likening Tara’s objections to racist beliefs. This clearly emphasises the parallels between humans’ acceptance of the vampires and the real-life issues of racism.
True Blood comments upon issues such as extremism and religious fervour. In his audio commentary for the pilot episode of the show, “Strange Love” (air date: 7/9/2008), Alan Ball stated that the concept for the title sequence was not only to set the scene for the show but also to demonstrate that religious fervour and drunkenness were “two sides of the same coin”, capable of impairing judgement and objectivity. Consequently, the portrayal of religious group The Fellowship of the Sun highlights the dangers of the extremism adopted by some right-wing religious cults. Outwardly the Fellowship seems to be a simple church advocating the love of God while opposing vampire rights. However, the second season of True Blood reveals that the group, led by hate-filled Reverend Steve Newlin, are heavily armed and preparing for outright war with the vampires in the name of God, demonstrating that religious fanaticism can be as irrational and dangerous as intoxication. Although the Fellowship is fictional, in its portrayal (and especially in that of its leaders Steve and Sarah Newlin) viewers can recognise the conservative and pious attitudes taken up by certain real-life right-wing evangelists, and are encouraged to think more seriously about their stances instead of following them blindly.
The setting of True Blood in the deep South is also significant to the concept and controversy. The strong sense of Southern milieu in the show allows for more conflict and tension to be generated with the introduction of the vampires. The community of Bon Temps is one that is very close-knit and highly resistant to change. Most of the residents have been born and bred in Bon Temps, with little opportunity for higher education and travel, leading simple lives of routine and familiarity. The introduction of vampires (and more) in Bon Temps then causes a lot of drama and conflict, as a large percentage of the population are opposed to having these outsiders in their community. This is a strong reflection upon the deep South, where the population is often seen to be religious and highly conservative, suspicious of outsiders, and issues such as racism and homophobia are still very relevant. This is demonstrated in True Blood with the presence of a character such as Lafayette, the short-order cook (among other things) at Merlotte’s. In the audio commentary of “Strange Love” (air date: 7/9/2008), Alan Ball states that Lafayette is depicted as a very strong character because he has had to be in order to survive living in a small town in Louisiana while being both African-American and gay, implying that both homophobia and racism are still very relevant to life in the South. This is shown in the episode “Sparks Fly Out” (air date: 5/10/2008), where Lafayette has a confrontation with a group of homophobic rednecks who refuse to eat his food because the burger “might have AIDS”. Therefore, by setting True Blood, with its perceived narrative and conceptual parallels, in Louisiana, the controversy of its subject matter is brought straight to the door of what is often seen as one of America’s most right-wing, religious and conservative areas.
The period in which True Blood was being developed should also be taken into consideration. Dead Until Dark, the first book of the Southern Vampire Mysteries (and on which the first season of True Blood is based), was published in 2001, and True Blood was in development during 2005. Thus, both the books and the show were being written and developed during the 2001 - 2009 Bush administration, a period where certain extreme right-wing evangelist groups, opposed to more liberal movements (such as gay rights) and deeply suspicious of foreigners, managed to gain a lot of attention and influence. The recent recession, as well as the election of America’s first African-American president, has also been reported to have possibly caused an increase in right-wing extremism within the United States2. Therefore, whether by coincidence or not, an extremist anti-vampire group such as The Fellowship of the Sun in True Blood can be seen as a reflection upon the current political climate in America, particularly areas such as Louisiana.
The fact that True Blood contains such controversial content greatly reflects upon HBO’s original programming, which constantly seeks to push the boundaries and limits of what is acceptable on the small screen, supporting their claim to be “not TV”. Since audiences were no longer looking for “least objectionable programming”, HBO had to produce “something different, challenging and more original” to justify the monthly subscription fee that viewers had to pay (Edgerton 2008: 11). McCabe and Akass also write that “viewers and TV journalists have long come to expect controversy, provocative content and thought-provoking television from HBO” (2008: 89), demonstrating that True Blood is by no means the first series that HBO has developed with controversial content, but follows a host of others such as The Sopranos, Deadwood and Six Feet Under. Developing such shows involves a large amount of risk-taking, but ultimately also helps HBO in terms of branding themselves as the forerunners of ‘quality’ drama unlike anything else available on television. Although the content of True Blood can potentially alienate a particular group of viewers (such as the religious and conservative people it claims to portray in the show), it also backs up HBO’s attempts to appeal to a demographic of higher-educated and sophisticated viewers who would consider themselves to be open-minded enough to not only accept the controversy, but to appreciate it. As McCabe and Akass state in their article, HBO constantly “talks about (and, in turn, flatters) its audience for original programming as professional, college-educated and discerning”, which might perhaps give certain viewers a sense of satisfaction (or even superiority) for being able to handle the provocative and controversial subject matters of HBO’s original drama. This demographic is particularly attractive to HBO as they are more likely to have more disposable income, allowing them to consistently afford the monthly subscription fee.
True Blood has been noted for containing explicit sexuality and violence. While the first season includes many sex scenes between characters (especially Jason Stackhouse), the second season ups the ante by containing scenes of drunken orgies when the maenad Mary Ann possesses the people of Bon Temps. Violence is also crucial to the show as the vampires are occasionally depicted as monsters capable killing without a second thought. For example, in the second season premiere “Nothing But The Blood” (air date: 14/6/2009), Eric rips a man he has held prisoner to pieces, a scene depicted with mutilated body parts and large amounts of blood. These graphic scenes are explained by Alan Ball in his audio commentary as supporting his vision of True Blood being a show where everything is “out of control”. They also reflect the fact that HBO (like other pay-TV channels) is exempt from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, allowing their original drama to contain a level of language, sex and violence that cannot be broadcast on free-to-air television. Therefore, HBO is able to take advantage of this exemption to set itself apart from network television. McCabe and Akass go further by proposing that HBO weaves sex and violence into its discourse of ‘quality’, using graphic scenes not simply for the shock factor but also to give the shows “authenticity” and brand HBO as a channel that dares to be different and subversive, “voicing its determination to change television fiction and how it is made” (2007: 70).
The issue of high levels of sex and violence can also be closely linked to authorship and HBO’s history of working with well-known and established hyphenates such as David Chase, Darren Star and Alan Ball. Edgerton and Jones state that “HBO’s legacy is also characterised by an unusually supportive relationship between the network’s programming executives and the creative talent they nurture and work with time and again” (2008: 320), commenting upon HBO’s cultivation of talent and ideas of authorship. This can clearly be seen in True Blood, a show that was developed as part of a two-year contract Alan Ball had signed with HBO after Six Feet Under. In an article on Variety.com, Ball said that he has a “great relationship with HBO”, and that “they give me a great deal of autonomy”. This is a clear reflection upon HBO’s philosophy of giving creative personnel the ability to tell stories the way they want to with very little interference from the network. Thus, when explicit sex and violence are included in a show, HBO is able to justify it as being part of the authorial vision of the creator. McCabe and Akass state that “brutal violence on The Sopranos, for example, is enclosed within a discourse of quality and its existence justified by the ‘intensely personal vision’ of Chase” (2008: 87). Similarly, the sex and violence depicted in multiple episodes of True Blood can be explained as being part of Alan Ball’s vision for the mood and tone of the series, and therefore legitimised.
Working with hyphenates has also greatly contributed to HBO’s branding and declaration of being different (or even above) regular television. The emphasis on authorship that HBO places on its original programming likens the products to “traditional art forms carrying high cultural kudos: theatre, international art cinema, and literature” (McCabe and Akass 2008: 87), thus reinforcing their slogan of “It’s Not TV, It’s HBO”. The backgrounds of the creative personnel also help to appeal to more sophisticated audiences who might not be attracted to regular network television. For example, besides working on True Blood and Six Feet Under, Alan Ball has also worked in film (writing the Academy Award-winning feature film American Beauty) as well as theatre. In this way, fans of his film and theatre work might thus be drawn to subscribe to HBO so as to gain access to his television work, giving HBO a subscriber base made up of sophisticated viewers who would be attracted to the fact that they have original programming created by people who have experience in perceived “higher” art forms.
Both HBO’s support of authorship and willingness to push the limits of television fiction have also proven to be beneficial to the network in terms of attracting other creative talent such as directors and actors. In their audio commentary on True Blood episode “The First Taste” (air date: 14/9/2008), both actress Anna Paquin and director Scott Winant (both of whom have backgrounds and experience in feature films) said that they were attracted to working with HBO as its exemption from FCC regulations and the creative freedom allowed to personnel allowed for more provocative and interesting content in its programming. They went as far as saying that pay-TV has gone beyond feature films in terms of experimentation and risk-taking as films had to worry about Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) classifications restricting audiences and limiting their target markets. The presence of well-established creative talent with backgrounds in feature films can also be seen in other HBO dramas such as Big Love (starring film actor Bill Paxton), Band of Brothers (produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks) and Deadwood (starring film actor Timothy Olyphant). Therefore we can see how HBO uses its exemption from FCC regulations to its advantage by allowing creative personnel more freedom and control than other networks, which in turn attracts more creative talent from perceived “higher” cultural mediums such as film, contributing to the branding of HBO as being “not TV”.
HBO has also managed to set itself apart from other networks by consistently producing shows with high cinematic quality. In her article Jane Feuer states that a show like Six Feet Under shares the “thematic materials of films that have been certified as serious art” (2007: 151), suggesting that both the writing, as well as the production, of an HBO drama shares qualities with cultural mediums such as art cinema. This is achieved by HBO’s production budgets: by reducing the number of episodes in a season from twenty-four to twelve, they are able to invest larger amounts for each episode, emphasising quality over volume. According to Edgerton, “at HBO, thirty minutes of originally scripted prime-time programming currently costs between $1 million and $2 million” (2008: 14), indicating that each episode of HBO’s original programming has particularly high production values that result in products that are incredibly cinematic in terms of film stock, shooting styles and special effects. The large budgets also allow HBO to secure established professionals, such as directors and cinematographers, to work on their programmes. This can be seen in True Blood, which makes use of well-established and experienced directors and cinematographers such as Michael Lehmann, Scott Winant and Checco Varese (who have all worked on feature films) to achieve a high standard of visuals. This has allowed HBO to move away from the aesthetics of standard television programmes towards a visual aesthetic closer to that of the films it airs alongside its original programming.
The series-serial structure that is utilised in True Blood also lends itself to HBO’s monthly subscription system. The show makes use of season-long story arcs, with cumulative narratives that build up from episode to episode, finally being resolved in the season finale. This structure could possibly have simply developed from the fact that each season of True Blood is based on a novel from Charlaine Harris’ the Southern Vampire Mysteries series, but is very suitable for HBO. The highly serialised narrative of the series rewards loyal viewers, keeping them subscribed to HBO from month to month. However, as each season mainly deals with a new story arc, True Blood is still kept accessible enough to get new subscribers interested in the programme. This structure has also been utilised to some extent in other HBO dramas such as The Sopranos, and is perfect for HBO’s subscription system.
The ‘must-see’ allure of True Blood is mostly generated by its heavy serialisation within each season, hooking viewers and keeping them watching week after week. True Blood takes full advantage of its serial nature by ending each episode on a cliff-hanger, almost as if in the middle of a scene, and then beginning the next episode exactly where the previous had left off, keeping the viewer firmly within the world of the narrative. Clues are constantly being dropped in episodes that get picked up later on in the season (or even in the next season) to keep viewers loyal to the show over a long span of time. For example, in the pilot of True Blood Sookie defends Bill against the Rattrays, a couple of vampire drainers, winning when the heavy chain she throws at Mack Rattray mysteriously wraps itself tightly around his neck. This strange occurrence is never again mentioned in the first season, but is rehashed towards the end of the second season as Sookie discovers that she is not completely human. However, it is still not revealed just what Sookie really is, and therefore continues to be a serial thread to be picked up in subsequent seasons, keeping viewers intrigued and more likely to tune in again when the third season returns in 2010.
This ‘must-see’ allure is highly characteristic of HBO dramas. In his chapter Edgerton writes that “HBO epitomized ‘appointment TV’ (programming that viewers build into their daily schedules) for its 28.2 million subscriber households in the first quarter of 2006”, suggesting that HBO has consistently developed programmes that have a ‘must-see’ allure to attract viewers week after week. This is reflected in HBO’s marketing campaign “It’s Not TV. It’s H2O”, a promo shot as a mockumentary about the survival and growth of the watercooler industry caused by the increased number of employees around America gathering around the watercooler to talk about HBO’s original programming. This promo reflects HBO’s aim to consistently develop original drama that hooks people into viewing the programme week after week so as to be able to keep up with the narrative and the discussions that are going on around the show.
Although True Blood is a highly successful programme that has been noticed for its conceptual novelty and controversial content (among other things), it has to be viewed and analysed within the context of HBO’s original programming. I believe that True Blood is emblematic of HBO’s original dramas in terms of its risk-taking, ideas of authorship, visual aesthetics and ‘must-see’ allure, and is a brilliant example of the sort of programming that supports HBO’s claim of being “not TV”.
List of Cited Works
“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”, True Blood, Exec Prod. Alan Ball and Greg Fienberg, Perf. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, et al., HBO, 13 September 2009.
Edgerton, Gary. “Introduction: A Brief History of HBO”, in The Essential HBO Reader, Gary Edgerton and Jeffrey Jones, eds., Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 2008, pp. 1-20.
Edgerton, Gary and Jeffrey Jones, “HBO’s Ongoing Legacy”, in The Essential HBO Reader, Gary Edgerton and Jeffrey Jones, eds., Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 2008, pp. 315-330.
Feuer, Jane, “HBO and the Concept of Quality TV”, in Quality TV: Contemporary American Television and Beyond, Janet McCabe and Kim Akass, eds., London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2007, pp. 145-157.
Martin, Denise, “Ball Back in HBO’s Court: Cabler Calls on Six Feet Under Creator for New Vamp Skein,” Variety, 27 October 2005, at http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117931816.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1.
Martin, Denise, “TCA: Alan Ball: ‘True Blood’ is not a metaphor for gay people,” Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2008, at http://latimesblog.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/07/tca-alan-ball-t.html?cid=131189542.
McCabe, Janet and Kim Akass, “It’s not TV, it’s HBO’s original programming: Producing quality TV”, in It’s Not TV: Watching HBO in the Post-television Era, Mark Leverette, Brian L. Ott and Cara Louise Buckley, eds., New York: Routledge, 2008, pp. 83-93.
McCabe, Janet and Kim Akass, “Sex, Swearing and Respectability: Courting Controversy, HBO’s Original Programming and Producing Quality TV”, in Quality TV: Contemporary American Television and Beyond, Janet McCabe and Kim Akass, eds., London: I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2007, pp. 62-76.
Meserve, Jeanne, “Right-wing extremism may be on the rise, report says,” CNN, 15 April 2009, at http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/14/extremism.report/.
“Nothing But The Blood”, True Blood, Exec Prod. Alan Ball and Greg Fienberg, Perf. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard et al., HBO, 14 June 2009.
“Sparks Fly Out”, True Blood, Exec Prod. Alan Ball, Perf. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Nelsan Ellis et al., HBO, 5 October 2008.
“Strange Love”, True Blood, Exec Prod. Alan Ball, Perf. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, et al., HBO, 7 September 2008.
“The First Taste”, True Blood, Exec Prod. Alan Ball and Greg Fienberg, Perf. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Rutina Wesley et al., HBO, 14 September 2008.
I hope it's not too noticeable that I kind of got into the holiday mood and lost enthusiasm in essay-writing about two-thirds of the way through! Right, now I just have to print it and take it to the Media Studies department and I'll be 100% home-free with university!
True Blood as Emblematic HBO Drama
Since the late 1970s and the early 1980s, pay-TV channel HBO has been active in developing original programming. In their article McCabe and Akass write that “the premier cable subscription channel has in fact come to define and make visible a new era of quality TV” (2008: 84), implying that HBO had become a channel that was recognised for and prided itself on making ‘quality’ programmes that stood out from that of other channels, especially free-to-air broadcast television. In 1997 they began a marketing campaign with the slogan “It’s not TV, it’s HBO”, further demonstrating their attempt to distinguish their programmes from other channels, appealing to a more sophisticated and highly educated demographic of viewers who would not otherwise be attracted to watching television.
In this essay, I will be studying contemporary HBO drama True Blood in relation to HBO’s history of producing ‘quality’ TV, proposing that the show is emblematic of HBO’s original dramas. I will discuss True Blood's conceptual novelty (especially in terms of controversial content), series-serial structure, cinematic quality, ‘must-see’ allure and authorship, relating this to past HBO’s past practices.
True Blood premiered on HBO on 7 September 2008, and has since had two successful seasons. It has been renewed for a third season, and has achieved an average of 12 million viewers per episode, making it the second-most-watched HBO series after The Sopranos. It is based on the Southern Vampires Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris, and adapted by Alan Ball who had previously worked with HBO on Six Feet Under. True Blood is set in a period where vampires have “come out of the coffin” and revealed themselves to humankind, and revolves around the reactions of humans, particularly those in Bon Temps, a fictional small town in Louisiana. Pivotal to the story is the character of telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, and her relationship with the vampire Bill Compton which inevitably leads her deeper into the world of the supernatural.
Like a number of other HBO dramas, True Blood pushes the boundaries with its conceptual novelty and controversial content. Although creator Alan Ball denies that the show contains any metaphors1, many viewers and critics have observed parallels and allusions to real-life conflicts such as gay rights and historic racial tensions in America. For instance, the title sequence contains a shot of a sign reading “God Hates Fangs”, which is similar to the slogan “God Hates Fags” which some right-wing religious activists have adopted with regards to the issue of gay rights. The expression of vampires coming “out of the coffin” and the subsequent debate of the Vampire Rights Amendment (where vampires demand equal rights to humans) can also be seen as a parallel to homosexuals “coming out of the closet” and demanding equal rights to heterosexuals. Another clear connection to gay rights can be seen in the second season finale “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” (air date: 13/9/2009), where Bill proposes to Sookie with an engagement ring and airplane tickets to Vermont, one of the six states in America that allows same-sex marriage. This implies that vampire-human marriages can be likened to same-sex marriages, and further encourages viewers to recognise parallels to gay rights.
Parallels to historic racial tensions can also be found in True Blood. The title sequence carries images of rioting and the Ku Klux Klan, reminding viewers of previous racial tensions in the South, where the show is set. Racial tensions were also rehashed in the first season of the show, as Bill Compton was revealed to have fought for the South during the American Civil War, as well as having kept slaves, a fact which greatly antagonises Sookie’s African-American best friend, Tara. In the episode “The First Taste” (air date: 14/9/2008), when Tara expresses her suspicions of vampires and warns Sookie not to get friendly with Bill, Sookie sarcastically replies, “And black people are lazy and Jews have horns”, likening Tara’s objections to racist beliefs. This clearly emphasises the parallels between humans’ acceptance of the vampires and the real-life issues of racism.
True Blood comments upon issues such as extremism and religious fervour. In his audio commentary for the pilot episode of the show, “Strange Love” (air date: 7/9/2008), Alan Ball stated that the concept for the title sequence was not only to set the scene for the show but also to demonstrate that religious fervour and drunkenness were “two sides of the same coin”, capable of impairing judgement and objectivity. Consequently, the portrayal of religious group The Fellowship of the Sun highlights the dangers of the extremism adopted by some right-wing religious cults. Outwardly the Fellowship seems to be a simple church advocating the love of God while opposing vampire rights. However, the second season of True Blood reveals that the group, led by hate-filled Reverend Steve Newlin, are heavily armed and preparing for outright war with the vampires in the name of God, demonstrating that religious fanaticism can be as irrational and dangerous as intoxication. Although the Fellowship is fictional, in its portrayal (and especially in that of its leaders Steve and Sarah Newlin) viewers can recognise the conservative and pious attitudes taken up by certain real-life right-wing evangelists, and are encouraged to think more seriously about their stances instead of following them blindly.
The setting of True Blood in the deep South is also significant to the concept and controversy. The strong sense of Southern milieu in the show allows for more conflict and tension to be generated with the introduction of the vampires. The community of Bon Temps is one that is very close-knit and highly resistant to change. Most of the residents have been born and bred in Bon Temps, with little opportunity for higher education and travel, leading simple lives of routine and familiarity. The introduction of vampires (and more) in Bon Temps then causes a lot of drama and conflict, as a large percentage of the population are opposed to having these outsiders in their community. This is a strong reflection upon the deep South, where the population is often seen to be religious and highly conservative, suspicious of outsiders, and issues such as racism and homophobia are still very relevant. This is demonstrated in True Blood with the presence of a character such as Lafayette, the short-order cook (among other things) at Merlotte’s. In the audio commentary of “Strange Love” (air date: 7/9/2008), Alan Ball states that Lafayette is depicted as a very strong character because he has had to be in order to survive living in a small town in Louisiana while being both African-American and gay, implying that both homophobia and racism are still very relevant to life in the South. This is shown in the episode “Sparks Fly Out” (air date: 5/10/2008), where Lafayette has a confrontation with a group of homophobic rednecks who refuse to eat his food because the burger “might have AIDS”. Therefore, by setting True Blood, with its perceived narrative and conceptual parallels, in Louisiana, the controversy of its subject matter is brought straight to the door of what is often seen as one of America’s most right-wing, religious and conservative areas.
The period in which True Blood was being developed should also be taken into consideration. Dead Until Dark, the first book of the Southern Vampire Mysteries (and on which the first season of True Blood is based), was published in 2001, and True Blood was in development during 2005. Thus, both the books and the show were being written and developed during the 2001 - 2009 Bush administration, a period where certain extreme right-wing evangelist groups, opposed to more liberal movements (such as gay rights) and deeply suspicious of foreigners, managed to gain a lot of attention and influence. The recent recession, as well as the election of America’s first African-American president, has also been reported to have possibly caused an increase in right-wing extremism within the United States2. Therefore, whether by coincidence or not, an extremist anti-vampire group such as The Fellowship of the Sun in True Blood can be seen as a reflection upon the current political climate in America, particularly areas such as Louisiana.
The fact that True Blood contains such controversial content greatly reflects upon HBO’s original programming, which constantly seeks to push the boundaries and limits of what is acceptable on the small screen, supporting their claim to be “not TV”. Since audiences were no longer looking for “least objectionable programming”, HBO had to produce “something different, challenging and more original” to justify the monthly subscription fee that viewers had to pay (Edgerton 2008: 11). McCabe and Akass also write that “viewers and TV journalists have long come to expect controversy, provocative content and thought-provoking television from HBO” (2008: 89), demonstrating that True Blood is by no means the first series that HBO has developed with controversial content, but follows a host of others such as The Sopranos, Deadwood and Six Feet Under. Developing such shows involves a large amount of risk-taking, but ultimately also helps HBO in terms of branding themselves as the forerunners of ‘quality’ drama unlike anything else available on television. Although the content of True Blood can potentially alienate a particular group of viewers (such as the religious and conservative people it claims to portray in the show), it also backs up HBO’s attempts to appeal to a demographic of higher-educated and sophisticated viewers who would consider themselves to be open-minded enough to not only accept the controversy, but to appreciate it. As McCabe and Akass state in their article, HBO constantly “talks about (and, in turn, flatters) its audience for original programming as professional, college-educated and discerning”, which might perhaps give certain viewers a sense of satisfaction (or even superiority) for being able to handle the provocative and controversial subject matters of HBO’s original drama. This demographic is particularly attractive to HBO as they are more likely to have more disposable income, allowing them to consistently afford the monthly subscription fee.
True Blood has been noted for containing explicit sexuality and violence. While the first season includes many sex scenes between characters (especially Jason Stackhouse), the second season ups the ante by containing scenes of drunken orgies when the maenad Mary Ann possesses the people of Bon Temps. Violence is also crucial to the show as the vampires are occasionally depicted as monsters capable killing without a second thought. For example, in the second season premiere “Nothing But The Blood” (air date: 14/6/2009), Eric rips a man he has held prisoner to pieces, a scene depicted with mutilated body parts and large amounts of blood. These graphic scenes are explained by Alan Ball in his audio commentary as supporting his vision of True Blood being a show where everything is “out of control”. They also reflect the fact that HBO (like other pay-TV channels) is exempt from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, allowing their original drama to contain a level of language, sex and violence that cannot be broadcast on free-to-air television. Therefore, HBO is able to take advantage of this exemption to set itself apart from network television. McCabe and Akass go further by proposing that HBO weaves sex and violence into its discourse of ‘quality’, using graphic scenes not simply for the shock factor but also to give the shows “authenticity” and brand HBO as a channel that dares to be different and subversive, “voicing its determination to change television fiction and how it is made” (2007: 70).
The issue of high levels of sex and violence can also be closely linked to authorship and HBO’s history of working with well-known and established hyphenates such as David Chase, Darren Star and Alan Ball. Edgerton and Jones state that “HBO’s legacy is also characterised by an unusually supportive relationship between the network’s programming executives and the creative talent they nurture and work with time and again” (2008: 320), commenting upon HBO’s cultivation of talent and ideas of authorship. This can clearly be seen in True Blood, a show that was developed as part of a two-year contract Alan Ball had signed with HBO after Six Feet Under. In an article on Variety.com, Ball said that he has a “great relationship with HBO”, and that “they give me a great deal of autonomy”. This is a clear reflection upon HBO’s philosophy of giving creative personnel the ability to tell stories the way they want to with very little interference from the network. Thus, when explicit sex and violence are included in a show, HBO is able to justify it as being part of the authorial vision of the creator. McCabe and Akass state that “brutal violence on The Sopranos, for example, is enclosed within a discourse of quality and its existence justified by the ‘intensely personal vision’ of Chase” (2008: 87). Similarly, the sex and violence depicted in multiple episodes of True Blood can be explained as being part of Alan Ball’s vision for the mood and tone of the series, and therefore legitimised.
Working with hyphenates has also greatly contributed to HBO’s branding and declaration of being different (or even above) regular television. The emphasis on authorship that HBO places on its original programming likens the products to “traditional art forms carrying high cultural kudos: theatre, international art cinema, and literature” (McCabe and Akass 2008: 87), thus reinforcing their slogan of “It’s Not TV, It’s HBO”. The backgrounds of the creative personnel also help to appeal to more sophisticated audiences who might not be attracted to regular network television. For example, besides working on True Blood and Six Feet Under, Alan Ball has also worked in film (writing the Academy Award-winning feature film American Beauty) as well as theatre. In this way, fans of his film and theatre work might thus be drawn to subscribe to HBO so as to gain access to his television work, giving HBO a subscriber base made up of sophisticated viewers who would be attracted to the fact that they have original programming created by people who have experience in perceived “higher” art forms.
Both HBO’s support of authorship and willingness to push the limits of television fiction have also proven to be beneficial to the network in terms of attracting other creative talent such as directors and actors. In their audio commentary on True Blood episode “The First Taste” (air date: 14/9/2008), both actress Anna Paquin and director Scott Winant (both of whom have backgrounds and experience in feature films) said that they were attracted to working with HBO as its exemption from FCC regulations and the creative freedom allowed to personnel allowed for more provocative and interesting content in its programming. They went as far as saying that pay-TV has gone beyond feature films in terms of experimentation and risk-taking as films had to worry about Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) classifications restricting audiences and limiting their target markets. The presence of well-established creative talent with backgrounds in feature films can also be seen in other HBO dramas such as Big Love (starring film actor Bill Paxton), Band of Brothers (produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks) and Deadwood (starring film actor Timothy Olyphant). Therefore we can see how HBO uses its exemption from FCC regulations to its advantage by allowing creative personnel more freedom and control than other networks, which in turn attracts more creative talent from perceived “higher” cultural mediums such as film, contributing to the branding of HBO as being “not TV”.
HBO has also managed to set itself apart from other networks by consistently producing shows with high cinematic quality. In her article Jane Feuer states that a show like Six Feet Under shares the “thematic materials of films that have been certified as serious art” (2007: 151), suggesting that both the writing, as well as the production, of an HBO drama shares qualities with cultural mediums such as art cinema. This is achieved by HBO’s production budgets: by reducing the number of episodes in a season from twenty-four to twelve, they are able to invest larger amounts for each episode, emphasising quality over volume. According to Edgerton, “at HBO, thirty minutes of originally scripted prime-time programming currently costs between $1 million and $2 million” (2008: 14), indicating that each episode of HBO’s original programming has particularly high production values that result in products that are incredibly cinematic in terms of film stock, shooting styles and special effects. The large budgets also allow HBO to secure established professionals, such as directors and cinematographers, to work on their programmes. This can be seen in True Blood, which makes use of well-established and experienced directors and cinematographers such as Michael Lehmann, Scott Winant and Checco Varese (who have all worked on feature films) to achieve a high standard of visuals. This has allowed HBO to move away from the aesthetics of standard television programmes towards a visual aesthetic closer to that of the films it airs alongside its original programming.
The series-serial structure that is utilised in True Blood also lends itself to HBO’s monthly subscription system. The show makes use of season-long story arcs, with cumulative narratives that build up from episode to episode, finally being resolved in the season finale. This structure could possibly have simply developed from the fact that each season of True Blood is based on a novel from Charlaine Harris’ the Southern Vampire Mysteries series, but is very suitable for HBO. The highly serialised narrative of the series rewards loyal viewers, keeping them subscribed to HBO from month to month. However, as each season mainly deals with a new story arc, True Blood is still kept accessible enough to get new subscribers interested in the programme. This structure has also been utilised to some extent in other HBO dramas such as The Sopranos, and is perfect for HBO’s subscription system.
The ‘must-see’ allure of True Blood is mostly generated by its heavy serialisation within each season, hooking viewers and keeping them watching week after week. True Blood takes full advantage of its serial nature by ending each episode on a cliff-hanger, almost as if in the middle of a scene, and then beginning the next episode exactly where the previous had left off, keeping the viewer firmly within the world of the narrative. Clues are constantly being dropped in episodes that get picked up later on in the season (or even in the next season) to keep viewers loyal to the show over a long span of time. For example, in the pilot of True Blood Sookie defends Bill against the Rattrays, a couple of vampire drainers, winning when the heavy chain she throws at Mack Rattray mysteriously wraps itself tightly around his neck. This strange occurrence is never again mentioned in the first season, but is rehashed towards the end of the second season as Sookie discovers that she is not completely human. However, it is still not revealed just what Sookie really is, and therefore continues to be a serial thread to be picked up in subsequent seasons, keeping viewers intrigued and more likely to tune in again when the third season returns in 2010.
This ‘must-see’ allure is highly characteristic of HBO dramas. In his chapter Edgerton writes that “HBO epitomized ‘appointment TV’ (programming that viewers build into their daily schedules) for its 28.2 million subscriber households in the first quarter of 2006”, suggesting that HBO has consistently developed programmes that have a ‘must-see’ allure to attract viewers week after week. This is reflected in HBO’s marketing campaign “It’s Not TV. It’s H2O”, a promo shot as a mockumentary about the survival and growth of the watercooler industry caused by the increased number of employees around America gathering around the watercooler to talk about HBO’s original programming. This promo reflects HBO’s aim to consistently develop original drama that hooks people into viewing the programme week after week so as to be able to keep up with the narrative and the discussions that are going on around the show.
Although True Blood is a highly successful programme that has been noticed for its conceptual novelty and controversial content (among other things), it has to be viewed and analysed within the context of HBO’s original programming. I believe that True Blood is emblematic of HBO’s original dramas in terms of its risk-taking, ideas of authorship, visual aesthetics and ‘must-see’ allure, and is a brilliant example of the sort of programming that supports HBO’s claim of being “not TV”.
List of Cited Works
“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”, True Blood, Exec Prod. Alan Ball and Greg Fienberg, Perf. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, et al., HBO, 13 September 2009.
Edgerton, Gary. “Introduction: A Brief History of HBO”, in The Essential HBO Reader, Gary Edgerton and Jeffrey Jones, eds., Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 2008, pp. 1-20.
Edgerton, Gary and Jeffrey Jones, “HBO’s Ongoing Legacy”, in The Essential HBO Reader, Gary Edgerton and Jeffrey Jones, eds., Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 2008, pp. 315-330.
Feuer, Jane, “HBO and the Concept of Quality TV”, in Quality TV: Contemporary American Television and Beyond, Janet McCabe and Kim Akass, eds., London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2007, pp. 145-157.
Martin, Denise, “Ball Back in HBO’s Court: Cabler Calls on Six Feet Under Creator for New Vamp Skein,” Variety, 27 October 2005, at http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117931816.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1.
Martin, Denise, “TCA: Alan Ball: ‘True Blood’ is not a metaphor for gay people,” Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2008, at http://latimesblog.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/07/tca-alan-ball-t.html?cid=131189542.
McCabe, Janet and Kim Akass, “It’s not TV, it’s HBO’s original programming: Producing quality TV”, in It’s Not TV: Watching HBO in the Post-television Era, Mark Leverette, Brian L. Ott and Cara Louise Buckley, eds., New York: Routledge, 2008, pp. 83-93.
McCabe, Janet and Kim Akass, “Sex, Swearing and Respectability: Courting Controversy, HBO’s Original Programming and Producing Quality TV”, in Quality TV: Contemporary American Television and Beyond, Janet McCabe and Kim Akass, eds., London: I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2007, pp. 62-76.
Meserve, Jeanne, “Right-wing extremism may be on the rise, report says,” CNN, 15 April 2009, at http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/14/extremism.report/.
“Nothing But The Blood”, True Blood, Exec Prod. Alan Ball and Greg Fienberg, Perf. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard et al., HBO, 14 June 2009.
“Sparks Fly Out”, True Blood, Exec Prod. Alan Ball, Perf. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Nelsan Ellis et al., HBO, 5 October 2008.
“Strange Love”, True Blood, Exec Prod. Alan Ball, Perf. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, et al., HBO, 7 September 2008.
“The First Taste”, True Blood, Exec Prod. Alan Ball and Greg Fienberg, Perf. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Rutina Wesley et al., HBO, 14 September 2008.
I hope it's not too noticeable that I kind of got into the holiday mood and lost enthusiasm in essay-writing about two-thirds of the way through! Right, now I just have to print it and take it to the Media Studies department and I'll be 100% home-free with university!