Creator Alan Ball has done some amazing things with the television series ‘True Blood’. The guilty pleasure reads of the Sookie Stackhouse series came to life with the characters being written almost exactly how you imagined it. Sadly, it was announced today that he will be stepping down, although will still have his hand in the show.

Forbes reports the following:

“Sookie and her pals from HBO’s True Blood are losing their creator. Alan Ball, I have confirmed, will step down from being headwriter of the show about sexy vampires mixing it up in New Orleans. Explanations include exhaustion, and maybe that the show seemed like it had tired blood last season. Ball will still be with the show, I’m told, but a new regime will guide the fates of the characters into their new season. This could also very well be a money issue, as series tend to get more and more expensive as they drag on.”

Forbes then goes on to say the following, which makes things sound like it is just a rumor:

“There’s a rumor going around that Alan Ball, creator of the great and successful HBO series, “True Blood,” may leave the show. No disputes. He just says he’s exhausted. Well, he’s given a lot of blood. Maybe he needs a transfusion. My guess is that HBO will persuade him to stick around and keep an eye on Sookie and the vampires. Ball, of course, created and wrote “Six Feet Under” and directed [this is actually written, not directed by Ball] the Oscar winner “American Beauty.” Vitamins please! I don’t know how he does it anyway. “True Blood” really is a complex masterpiece. Anyway. this is just a Friday rumor and not confirmed.”

It seems more than a little contradictory. I reached out to Ball, but did not receive any comment.

If this is the case and we are losing the creator of Alan Ball, this could change the course of the series. As of right now, they are in the middle of filming Season 5, with nothing said about a 6th season. There was a lot of bad blood (pun intended) about Season 4, claiming that it was dull and lifeless in comparison to other seasons. But there has been a lot of cast additions, hopefully to breathe some life back into the series. Do you think this is something that was cooked up to give the next season a boost?

If this is true, what do you think will happen to our neighbors of Bon Temps? Do you see an ending that you would find satisfactory in Season 5?

(UPDATED)

According to Deadline, the rumors have been confirmed by both HBO and Ball himself that he will be stepping down as showrunner, but will remain on as executive producer.