Bill won’t be back for a while.
Ball confirmed that the arc of Bill’s kidnapping will last “about six episodes.” That sounds like just enough time to put Sookie (Anna Paquin) through the wringer, but not enough to try viewers’ patience. Plus, we’ll probably still get to see Bill deal with his captors in episodes 1-5.

Meet the Merlottes.
Shape-shifter Sam (Sam Trammell) will find his family this year, and Tucker gets to write their characters a lot in episode two. “I’m getting to write Sam’s family, which is a lot of fun, and, really, I feel really satisfying as a character arc,” she said. “I really am glad that he’s taking this journey and he’s learning about himself. I find that interesting. They aren’t the brightest people, maybe. At least they appear that way. They’re fairly dysfunctional, but like anybody else, they have their good things about them and not-so-good things. They’re still getting to know each other. Sam’s still getting to know them, and so are we.”

Werewolves sink their teeth into Louisiana.
Werewolves are coming to True Blood, and Ball offered a preview of what his wolf-people will look like. “They’re just wolves,” Ball said. “It’s just people who can turn into wolves, but they’re slightly bigger and much stronger. Their eyes glow orange a little bit.”

There’s even more supernatural stuff.
It’s not just vampires and werewolves. Woo is most excited about the expanding world of season three. “The entire world is going to get a lot bigger,” Woo said. “Not only the human world, but in Sookie’s eyes, she’s going to see the whole supernatural world. Luckily, since this show is through Sookie’s eyes, as an audience we’ll get to see a much larger supernatural world.”

Sookie will explore her own powers.
Sookie’s powers have gone from simple telepathy to some kind of hand-glowing power. Tucker confirmed that Sookie’s powers continue to expand in season three. “I think that Sookie is conscious of her abilities more this season than she’s been, and she’s questioning them more,” Tucker said. “We’re going to be exploring that more this season.”

Meet the Vampire King.
Ball said the Vampire King of Mississippi is coming in season three. He provides a contrast to Sophie-Anne, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana (Evan Rachel Wood). “He’s older,” Ball said. “He’s much more mature. He’s much more methodical and grounded. She’s kind of crazy. To me, she’s kind of like Paris Hilton/Lindsay Lohan, where she has a very short attention span and she’s very, very egomaniacal and very self-obsessed and doesn’t really think about her actions, whereas the Vampire King is very much an adult. He has an agenda. He has things he wants to achieve. I think he’s much more formidable than she is.”

Jason will stay out of trouble.
In two seasons, Sookie’s brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), has been accused of murder and got caught up in a cult. Season three will find him keeping a low profile. “I think Jason’s path this season is actually about not getting into trouble,” Tucker said. “It’s about trying to stay out of trouble. I think it’s going well for him.”

Sophie-Anne might get into more trouble.
Wood is signed to return for more episodes in season three. Since her recreational activities include orchestrating the sale of vampire blood, things could go very badly for her. “Well, Sophie Anne, when last we left her, she was sort of behind this selling of V as a recreational drug on the streets, pretty much,” Ball said. “That’s not something a vampire authority figure should be doing. If higher-up vampire authority figures figure that out, they’re not going to be happy.”

There’s a new biker gang in town.
Season three will introduce a biker gang called Coot’s F–k You Crew. Tucker said the new characters are still evolving and won’t be what you expect. “The one thing I will say is that they are very mysterious,” Tucker said. “They’re a group who’s been around a lot longer than you think. I don’t want to say too much about them right now, because I think that we are in the early stages of figuring that out.”

A new character called Tommy Mickens brings the hurt.
Woo is writing the new character of Tommy Mickens, who will make a huge impact on our favorite characters. “Tommy Mickens is someone I don’t want to reveal too much about, because I don’t want to ruin the surprise,” Woo said. “He’s a completely new character, but he plays very prominently in the emotional life of at first one and then, later, several other of our characters. He’ll be the first domino to push the rest.”

Headgear plays a major role.
Helmets have become a joke in the writer’s room. Tucker explained how the writers became aware they were relying too much on protective headgear. “There’ve been several moments that we’ve been pitching things and thought, ‘Oh, well, maybe she could be wearing a helmet, and that would protect her. Maybe he could wear a helmet in that scene,’” Tucker recalled. “Suddenly we realized we had a whole bunch of characters wearing helmets for no particular reason. So we thought, oh, that’s the theme of the season.”

Sorry, ladies, Eric is still a tease.
Fans keep demanding more screen time for Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), but the writers won’t indulge them. “You know, what’s funny is that he’s in the first two books; he’s a fairly minor character in Sookie’s universe,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of fan pressure that they’re supposed to be this big romantic thing, which actually in Charlaine [Harris]’s books doesn’t happen until much, much further down. I think if we did that, we’d probably bore them all to death. I think part of the magic of Eric is some of the mystery of Eric and the inaccessibility of Eric. I think you don’t want to turn them into the nice romantic love interest who’s in every scene. I think his danger is important, so not just throwing him up whenever somebody wants to see his bare chest is actually a more disciplined approach.”

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It has just been confirmed at the Paley Center for Media that “True Blood” will be back for the third season in June 2010, the same time frame when season 2 debuted. During the panel held in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 28, creator Alan Ball and other writers such as Raelle Tucker and Alexander Woo came out with a lot of spoilers for the new season.

First thing first, Ball answered the question about season 2’s cliffhanger where Bill was abducted by an unknown person. Ball spilled that fans need not wait long because it will be revealed immediately in the first episode. Another juicy spoiler would be shirtless Eric. “Alexander Skarsgard appears without most of his clothes in the very first episode of season 3,” Ball revealed.

On which characters will strut back, Ball said, “There are a big boatload of new characters in season. Even the Newlins may appear again.” He also confirmed that Evan Rachel Wood will return as Queen of Louisiana, something which the audience at the panel were not too excited about. Pam and Nan Flagan will also show up. Interestingly, one dead character which will be resurrected in the form of flashback would be Godric.

Regarding the fate of Sookie, Ball said, “There will be more conjecture about what she is and she will be more driven to discover what she is.” In fact the theme for the third season would be “Identity”. Her relationship with Bill may not be a smooth ride in season 3 but they “have a connection that will not die.”

The third season is based on Charlaine Harris’ third book “Club Dead“. Ball said that he has a responsibility to stay true to the book but then there would be no surprises.

The third season of “True Blood” has begun casting new characters who will either be a regular, a recurring or a guest. Calls are made for the actors to fill in the roles as a new vampire, Sam’s brother, and a gang crew who will play a part in torturing Bill.

The new vampire would be Franklin Mott who is in Charlaine Harris’ third book “Club Dead”. Unlike in the book version, the show is looking forward to present Mott as a “sexy” 25 to mid 40s character instead of an early 60s man. Mott has a lot of scenes with Tara because he has “an immediate and torrid connection” to her after meeting at a local bar.

Sam’s quest to find his real family will be enhanced with his younger brother’s presence. Tommy Mickens is a dirty but good looking youngster who works at a Tire Depot in Arkansas. He tends to hide his identity because his family has been owing money all over town. He is unaware who Sam is. Both Mott and Mickens are slated to be regulars.

The new villains will be the F*ck You Crew. Cooter is a ringleader of the biker thugs who love the taste of V. Together with the other three bikers Louie, Gus and Jimmy, Coot stabs Bill for his blood. These people may as well be the kidnappers of Bill in the season 2 cliffhanger.

Other characters are “intensely beautiful” vampire named Talbot, a gay attractive Latino named Jesus Velasquez, young NYU grads seducing Jason for threesome, Eric’s new dancer at Fangtasia, Reverend Daniels, an elderly woman named Olivia and African American couple Betty and Marvin.

“True Blood” will be back for the third season in summer 2010. While the characters above have not found the actors, King of Mississipi has had Denis O’Hare to portray him.

When it comes to finding love, True Blood’s vampire hunk Alexander Skarsgard is looking for a woman with brains – not fangs! – who likes to laugh.

“A sense of humor is number one for sure,” Skarsgard told PEOPLE at the Gucci Icon-Temporary Flash Sneaker store opening in New York City. “Being funny and smart is very important.”

Known as the sexiest man alive in his native Sweden, the single actor, 33, is turning heads and causing blood pressures to rise with fans everywhere thanks to his brooding True Blood ego and charming good looks. “It’s very flattering,” he said of the swooning. “I turn a little pink!”

Though Skarsgard, who’s been shooting the film Straw Dogs in Shreveport, La., for the past three months, has been linked romantically to costar Kate Bosworth, the sexy vampire has experienced fervent fan encounters that have ranged from sultry to slightly uncomfortable.

“I’ve gotten proposals and suggestions that are slightly inappropriate,” Skarsgard said with a laugh. “It’s odd but very flattering!”

While True Blood fans will have to wait until next year to see Skarsgard again as bad-boy vampire Eric Northman, the actor will start shooting season 3 of the hit HBO series next month, and says he’s eagerly looking forward to catching up with costars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, who announced that they were engaged to be married in August.

“They are some of my best friends back in L.A.,” said Skarsgard of the couple. “The cast and the crew is amazing and I can’t wait to get started again. I really look forward to it and I miss them a lot.”

True Blood creator Alan Ball has a message for fans awaiting the third season of his hit show:

Someone… will… die!

“Somebody is going to bite the dust and it’s going to be really good to see them get what they deserve,” Ball told TVGuide.com.

Ball added that “it’s a person we’ll be happy to see go,” leading us to guess the victim will be Pam, Eric’s mean-spirited second hand.

Renewed for at least one more season, True Blood returns in the summer of 2010.