Based on the Southern Vampire Mystery/Sookie Stackhouse books by author Charlaine Harris, HBO’s newest original series, True Blood, is the first new drama from Alan Ball, creator of the now-defunct Six Feet Under. With a combination of humor, horror, mystery and romance, the show captures the frenetic, fun energy of Harris’ novels.

Featuring a cast where no one is in need of acne treatments, the star of the show is X-Men’s Anna Paquin, who plays Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress who, with the help of her vampire friend Bill, solves crimes.

The debut episode is more graphically sexual and features stronger objectionable language than Harris’ novels, but otherwise stays close and true to the source material. In fact, the debut episode that played tonight is taken almost directly from the first few chapters of Harris’ first Sookie novel, Dead Until Dark.

The big question is whether the freshman melodrama can stand up well against the third season of Showtime’s popular serial killer drama, Dexter.