True Blood Season 6 Cut to 10 Episodes? Say It Ain’t So!

In a new interview with TV Guide, outgoing True Blood showrunner Alan Ball casually mentioned that not only will production on season 6 start in January (instead of November like it has in the past) to accommodate Anna Paquin’s pregnancy, but “there will only be 10 shows next season partly because of Anna and partly because of the economics.”

If you’re like me, you just cursed out loud.

Alan dropped a few additional nuggets about True Blood season 6, but I have a feeling they won’t get much attention:

• Steve Newlin made it out alive.
• Anna Paquin will be back right away when production begins in January 2013.
• Alcide may still be carrying a torch for Sookie.
• The “parents” Jason saw in the season 5 finale are the result of being thrown across the field and hitting his head: “It shook something loose in his subconscious, which is using his parents as a way to communicate his more violent and vengeful impulses.” Expect to see them in season 6.
• Other characters we know and love “are pursuing a less than generous agenda.”
• We’ll find out what the Elder Faerie meant when she told Sookie, “There’s a reason you give your heart out to every fangster you meet.”

Read the full interview at TVGuide.com.