'True Blood's' Alan Ball on His New Show on 'Skinemax'

8:00 AM PST 1/10/2013 by Merle Ginsberg & Gary Baum

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The creator of "Banshee" tells THR that after HBO passed and its sister network picked up the show, "I never felt like 'that's a step down.'"

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

This story first appeared in the Jan. 18 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Alan Ball's 'Banshee': TV Review

The buzzed-about pulp thriller series Banshee, debuting Jan. 11, originally was developed by Alan Ball for HBO, home to his True Blood.

But the network passed on the small-town drama, and its sluttier sister, Cinemax -- beginning to experiment with its own prestige-minded original programming -- picked it up.

TV REVIEW: Alan Ball's 'Banshee'

"I never felt like, 'Skinemax, that's a step down,' " says Ball. "If [the executives] are looking to redefine it, that's great. When we were at HBO, we were dialing back on the pulp nature. At Cinemax, we went to our original pitch again: high-octane entertainment, violent and clever, yet complex. It also allows us to treat the sexuality in the show in a very frank and adult manner. We don't have to hold back."