By Erin Maxwell

If there is a sense of loss due to the lack of "Twilight" at this years Comic-Con, folks seem to be dealing with their disappointment by channelig their energy into "True Blood." Folks lining up a mere two hours before the event were turned away as hardcore fans began filling the room in the early morning. Most waited thru seven hours of programs just to catch a glimpse of the cast HBO's hit vamp skein.

Moderated by Tim Stack, Alan Ball introduced a montage of clips that offered a look into future episodes and then the cast took questions about season three, their characters and the future of "True Blood."

Sookie seems to be kicking way more ass this season. Why do you think that is?

Anna Paquin: I think she has always kicked ass in her own way, but life has beat her down, so now she is ready to fight back.

What are your favorite gross out moments?

AP: After Marianne took over the house, there was a small, naked man in the sink that was doing something intimate with his intestines. That was interesting.

What does Tara always find the wrong guy?

Rutina Wesley: I think the minute she is attracted to someone, she runs away. It's a security defense she learned in her childhood. I'm hoping the security will come down in the future.

Sam's family is right out of Jerry Springer. Why does he put up with it?

Sam Trammell: Sam wants to help his brother, but it's not the best thing really.

How did the Snoop Dogg video come about?

Alan Ball: I knew he was a fan and wanted to be in the show since the first season, but I was so busy. They shot it one day and brought it in on Monday for me to see.

What celebs watch the show?

Kristen Bauer van Stauten: I heard Elizabeth Taylor is a fan

Charlaine Harris: Anne Rice is a huge fan of the show

What will happen between Jessica and Hoyt?

Deborah Ann Wall: I think you can't love someone until you love yourself. But with the confustion of being a vampire, Jessica doesn't know how to love herself yet.

If Eric had to choose between Pam and Sookie, who would he pick?

KBS: I am his progeny. Sookie is his infatuation. So...choice C.

What is your favorite episode?

CH: "I Will Rise Up." But I find something to love in each episode.

As actors, do you prefer to film the sex or the violence?

AP: Well, you have to fake the violence.

Stephen Moyer: All of us that have to be naked, we starve ourselves. Doing the physical stuff is more fun because you get to eat.

How is it working with animals?

KBS: Skaarsgaard isn't that bad.

What are your favorite lines?

KBS: I have been answering to "hooker" a lot lately.

Nelsan Ellis: I like every time I say bitch.

KBS: Every script is filled with gems.

What is your inspiration for Lafayette?

NE: My mama. I also have four sisters...and they are crazy. I take their crazy and stuff it into Lafayette.

Do you think Sookie and Bill are soul mates?

AB: I believe they are. I think the Bill/Sookie relationship in the books is different than the show because of how in evolved. On the show, their love is genuine and true.

CH: Things are evolving differently in my world. It's two seperate entertainment experiences.

I have been known the ending in my world for about eight or nine years. Please don't capture me later to find it out.

If you can be any type of supernatural, what would it be?

DAW: A witch. To have power and not be 17 forever. Or a virgin.

Any teasers for season four?

AB: Everyone goes to therapy. Everyone goes on medication. Everyone is happy.

Actually, there is a character that doesn't know who he or she is....and maybe someone who once hated him or her now doesn't.

(Pictured above: "True Blood" stars Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin hold a cutout of Alexander Skarsgard at Friday's Comic-Con panel)

Some tidbits of interest from HBO's TCA sesh for its new vampire drama "True Blood":

**Creator/exec producer Alan Ball (pictured with stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer) affirms right off the bat that he's no vampire freak. He stumbled on the book series that spawned "True Blood" while browsing in a bookstore as he waited for a dental appointment. He was sold by the tagline "Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend wasn't such a good idea" on the first installment of Charlaine Harris' series of Sookie Stackhouse novels. As he read through it, he realized the colorful characters and backwoods Loo-zee-ana setting would make a fine TV show.

**Ball, renowned for "Six Feet Under" and "American Beauty," has never seen "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"  or "Angel" or read Anne Rice novels. But he does have a favorite vamp pic, 1987's "Near Dark," which marked the directorial debut of Kathryn Bigelow. "The best vampire movie ever made, in my opinion," Ball told TCA-ers.

**Ball didn't say whether he'd seen CBS' "Moonlight" or not, but he did volunteer an opinion on the show."I think it's pretty lame when you let your vampire go out in the day just because you don't want to shoot at night," Ball said.

**A great deal of thought was put into how to depict the physiological attributes of the undead. No quick slip-on fangs for "True Blood's" vampires. "We took great pains to depict a certain kind of physiology for the fangs, where they are actually retracted like rattlesnake fangs, and then they click forward. I wanted to approach the supernatural not as being something that exists outside of nature, but something that is more deeply rooted in nature," Ball said.

"How would you characterize the sex?"

This line in Alan Ball's new HBO vampire drama "True Blood" is posed not by a shrink or a sex therapist or a nosy friend but a sheriff's deputy with a thick Louisiana drawl. Let's just say it stems from a situation involving a roadside work crew and a loose woman named Maudette who turns up dead in her apartment.

"True Blood," based on the series of fantasy/mystery novels by Charlaine Harris, is true to its fictional small Louisiana town setting (Bon Temps). It's swampy, languid, humid, lusty and full of ... steam. I've still got another seg to go on the screener HBO sent out on Monday, so I'll reserve judgment until I've spent two hours with this weird collection of characters.

Ball is definitely not Pasadena anymore. I am pretty much convinced that Anna Paquin (pictured) is the best thing about the show -- by far. She's adorable, and does a lot with material that could otherwise sound ridiculous, in the wrong hands. (I'll leave it others to decide if she nails the accent.)

In a nutshell, "True Blood" takes place in the not so distant future when the undead have "come out of the coffin," complete with their own advocates making the talk show rounds and an equal-rights-amendment type bill that they're pushing in Congress. Paquin plays a plucky virtuous waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who has her own unusual trait in that she can read minds -- which can make her rounds at the tables at the backwoods bar and grill where she works awfully noisy.

Sookie is open-minded enough to be friendly to vampires, who are now able to "mix" with mortals after the invention of mass-produced synthetic blood, which is supposed to keep them from gnawing on unsuspecting sweet young things like Sookie. Bill, played by Stephen Moyer (pictured left and below with Paquin), is a handsome, mysterious vamp who falls for Sookie after she shows him some kindness one night (it involves her whacking a bad guy with a heavy chain, and protecting Bill from the greedy whims of some trailer-trash types).

Lois Smith is good as Sookie's slightly-daffy grandmother. Rutina Wesley is fun to watch as Sookie's smart-mouthed best friend, Tara ("Can you believe someone would name a black girl after a plantation. My mother was either stupid or mean.") So far some of the supporting characters seem a little 2-D, but Sookie is compelling enough to make up for a few Southern-fried cliches in the pilot seg, written and helmed by Ball.

"True Blood" bows Sept. 7. HBO is cranking up the viral marketing campaign with the launch of this elaborate website for Tru Blood, a "synthetic blood nourishment beverage" that figures into the show's storyline. Just in case you miss it on the Web, HBO also took out a full page faux ad for Tru Blood in today's edition of Daily Variety. "Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Friends."