Alan Ball deserves to be staked.

He took what was a decent series of books, and turned them into trash. The Louisiana in the books and in the series are not the same place. Everyone in the series is dirty, sleazy and untrustworthy, if not downright crazy (yes, I'm looking at you, madwoman pretending to be Tara Thornton). And if all that wasn't bad enough, Sookie was relegated to a bit-part player in what was supposed to be her own story, only used so Mr Ball could focus on the men around her. I do wonder if Ball actually read the books, because he certainly didn't seem to understand the characters, especially Sookie. I did laugh at the full name they gave Pam, intimating that she is descended from Plantagenet royalty - speaking as a descendant of the real Beauforts and Swynfords I did find that amusing. But it was not amusing enough to help me get over my dislike of this series. If Charlaine Harris lets any of her other stuff be turned into a series/film, I hope she retains enough creative control to prevent butchery on this scale.