HBO Aims To Take Over Your TV

HBO's hit series True Blood will return to airwaves on June 13th.  The series will pick up with Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) trying to find Bill Compton's (Stephen Moyer) mysterious abductor from the end of season 2 of the popular series.  The series has been HBO's most popular in-house production since The Sopranos ended its run on the network.

Also on HBO, the long-awaited follow-up to Band of Brothers, The Pacific, premiered on Sunday night.  Like Band of Brothers, The Pacific is Executive Produced by Tom Hanks.  The new mini-series follows a crew of US Marines as they wage war against the Japanese in World War II.  The 10 episodes cost a reported $150-200 million for the network, but given how much money Band of Brothers has made in DVD and now Blu-ray sales over the years, they should have no trouble recouping their investment.  The new WWII series is off to a strong start with 3 million viewers watching the premiere.

Finally, HBO is also producing a television series based on the popular Game of Thrones books by George R. R. Martin.  Following completion of the pilot last November, the remaining 9 episodes of the first season will begin filming in Ireland this June.  HBO was reportedly very happy with a rough cut of the pilot and the series is expected to be the network's most expensive production to date, with top-notch production values and brand-name talent like Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings) and Lena Heady (300, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) attached. 

HBO is aiming squarely at fans of science fiction and fantasy films, the type of fickle audience typically ignored by larger broadcast networks, but exactly the rabid fan base a pay network like HBO needs on board as subscribers.  An air date for the new series has not been released, but expect Game of Thrones to premiere sometime prior to Christmas.