“True Blood,” HBO’s flagship vampire series will be laid to rest after the seventh season, according to an announcement made by the network on Tuesday.
“True Blood has been nothing short of a defining show for HBO,” said HBO’s president of programming Michael Lombardo. “Together with its legions of fans, it will be hard to say goodbye to the residents of Bon Temps, but I look forward to what promises to be a fantastic final chapter of this incredible show.”
The drama, which is based on Charlaine Harris’ books and stars Anna Paquin as the fairy Sookie Stackhouse, was recently renewed for a 10-episode seventh season in July, following season 6 that debuted to 4.5 million viewers in June.
True Blood was HBO’s third-most-watched original scripted series ever, trailing only The Sopranos and Game of Thrones.
Season 7 is set to premiere sometime in 2014. Aside from Paquin, key cast members Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgard are expected to return for the last season.
