There’s good news for the world of vamps, fangbangers, and all manner of oddballs today. HBO has renewed True Blood for a seventh season, which means Eric, Sookie, Bill and the rest of the Scooby gang will be back for more campy humor and a lot more drama. It also means that the show is doing quite well, despite losing showrunner Alan Ball before this season hit the airwaves.
Currently, True Blood is smack dab in the middle of its sixth season, a season that has promised a long-awaited war between vampires and humans living in Louisiana and elsewhere around the world. Caught up audiences are now exactly halfway through this season’s 10-episode run, and this bold, brave, and over-the-top battle is only now really beginning to billow to the forefront in the series, as the various characters plotlines begin to intersect more often. This, to me, seems like a great reason to sign on for another set of episodes, but for HBO, there were other factors to consider, as well.
First, True Blood actually does extremely well for HBO, when factoring in the numerous viewing platforms the subscription cable network offers to its subscribers, including an initial TV run, On Demand, and HBO Go. The show averages more than 10 million viewers each week when looking at the different options available to its audiences. On top of this, HBO President of Programming Michael Lombardo believes True Blood is a signature show for the network, which goes a long way to explain why the network would want to bring the drama back. It’s like how Bones is a signature show for Fox or NCIS is a signature show for CBS.
“True Blood remains a signature show for HBO, and a true phenomenon with our viewers. Thanks to Brian Buckner and his talented team, the show continues to be a thrill ride like nothing else on TV.”
As noted by Deadline, Lombardo announced the news on Monday, stating the series will return to the schedule during the summer of 2014. If the show sticks to its usual routine, we should see Season 7 sometime next June for a run that will continue through August.
I thought True Blood might look a little different after Alan Ball opted to leave the series and put together a new program for Cinemax called Banshee. Regardless, the program has kept the same look and feel while continuing to push its characters in new directions this season. There was a little bit of trouble with finding a new showrunner, but eventually Brian Bruckner stepped up to take on the task and will continue to do so into Season 7. Luckily if you haven’t been keeping up with True Blood post-Alan Ball leaving the show, there’s still time. True Blood airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. You can check out the recent “weeks ahead” trailer, below.
