by Sabrina Brody

It’s cheesy, sometimes great, often terrible. This applies to both love and HBO’s True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris’ pulpy fantasy novels about thought-reader Sookie Stackhouse and her adventures with otherworldly creatures that walk among us. True Blood is addictive, despite sometimes sucking quite literally, and it’s coming back June 14th for a second season of topless Jason Stackhouse, mopey southern gentleman Bill, dryly sarcastic Eric Northman (please, please put him in the spandex outfit as described in the books) ditzy but likable Sookie, underdog Sam, and The Angriest Woman Alive, Tara. Is Lafayette, often the most entertaining character on the show, really the dangling dead leg we saw last season? (Spoiler alert: if this decides to follow the book at all, he’s incredibly deceased. But creator Alan Ball has veered away from the often meandering plots of the books, so anything is possible.) For those of you who want your vampire fix, or just want to watch that scene where Eric is in Bill’s bathtub over and over, the DVD is out.

Meanwhile, Anna Paquin is relishing her Golden Globe and her real life romance with co-star Stephen Moyer. She tells Hamptons Magazine that the two had an instant connection. She also goes on to talk about how thrilling it is to receive acclaim and awards for her role as Sookie, since she’s been acting since age 9 and is thrilled to move beyond the restrictions of being labeled a child actor.

As for this season, who knows what camp to expect or how many times Sookie will almost die at the end of an episode? It’s a little trashy, and sometimes the plots and characters border on tedium, but the ad campaign for the second season alone is so sexy that it makes it all worth it. It’s not as arty as the opening credits, but seems to imply Jason will suffer from a crisis he resolves with Jesus, Bill and Eric will face off, Sam has unresolved issues with Tara and the new mysterious woman in both of their lives, and Sookie…will get get some action.