The vampires really aren’t the strangest residents of HBO’s new series, "True Blood," airing Sept. 7.

The show — from "Six Feet Under" creator Alan Ball, is based on Charlaine Harris’ The Southern Vampire Series and takes place in the rural Louisiana town of Bon Temps, what has to be one of the randiest towns in the country.

Based on the first five episodes, it’s absolutely addicting, although it has some major flaws. It’s doubtful "True Blood" will have the more mainstream appeal of "The Sopranos," or even "Six Feet Under," but if you can past some of the cheese, it’s well worth it.

Set in modern day, vampires are beginning to "come out of the coffin" after the Japanese have developed a synthetic blood drink, True Blood. That means the vamps don’t have to munch on humans for their sustenance — although there are some who aren’t ready to give that up. Meanwhile, there’s an underground demand for a new drug, V, made from vamp blood that gives humans extra strength, LSD hallucinations and some help in the sack.

Waitress Sookie Stackhouse (a sweet and sassy Anna Paquin) is immediately entranced by the first vamp (to her knowledge) to visit Bon Temps, Bill Compton.(Stephen Moyer, although British, oddly has one of the best Southern accents). Part of the appeal is that Sookie can read people’s thoughts — an ability she can turn off, but not without some effort — and she can’t read Bill’s mind.

The Gothic-style town of Bon Temps quickly becomes caught up in the world of vampires — whether it’s fear of the unknown to absolute fascination, as in Sookie’s kookie grandmother who’s delighted to find out that Bill, who was made a vamp during the Civil War, can tell her more about the war and her family’s history.

The town is stocked with oddball characters from the usual town gossips, toughs and tarts to the major players in Sookie’s life — her bland boss Sam (Sam Trammell), her horndog brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), and her sassy best friend, Tara. (Rutina Wesley). Sam is madly in love with Sookie, but hardly stands a chance against the ultimate vamp bad boy. "You know what I wish would come to town?" Sam mutters. "Buffy or Blade or one of those badass vampire killers to come get Bill Compton."

BIll, looking every one of his over 140 years, has a conscience, but can’t always contain his biting tendencies. Paquin and Moyer have some good chemistry — in one episode where they don’t have much screen time together, I found myself willing them to at least look at each other. As with most of these vamp/human relationships, Bill can’t help but go a little fang-faced when he’s around Sookie. (The vamp teeth in "True Blood" leave something to be desired.)

Bill is, as all good vampire love interests should be, a bit mysterious, but the danger is that he can also come across a bit boring. Hopefully, that will be rectified in the future. We do get of his backstory — flashbacks to his human life that have a strangely cheap quality about them.

Meanwhile, Sookie’s best friend, Tara, evolves past just a funny, tough exterior to someone who became that way after having to deal with her drunk mother. And then there’s Sookie’s brother, Jason, who is involved with about half the women in town, and who is beginning to discover that fang banging is a popular after-dark activity in town.

One of the weaknesses of "True Blood" is the inability to latch onto any one character because of them are so odd. But even that weakness improves after the first couple of episodes. Sookie is an interesting protagonist — she’s smart, but naive, sweet but feisty. And you can’t help but smile with some of her reactions to the seediness of the town such as when she tells Bill, "Listen, you might be a vampire, but when you talk to me, you’ll still talk to me like a lady." Sookie’s prone to uttering phrases like "oh my stars."

Each episode ends with a cliff-hanger and the one at episode 5’s end is the biggest — promising to change Sookie’s life the most. There’s a lot of balls tossed up in the air: the murders of local women, of which Jason is a suspect; Sam’s crush on Sookie; an old vamp in town who has Sookie on his radar; a trio of out-of-control vamps; and a dog who doesn’t seem to be a dog.

The combination of quirk, black humor, sex and romance doesn’t always blend perfectly, but there’s just something so damn likable about the series. If Ball can get these pieces to meld a little better, "True Blood" should rack up a loyal following.

Verdict: "True Blood" is different, intriguing, addicting and worth checking out.