Alan Ball is leaving True Blood

Oh no! Word is Alan Ball is leaving True Blood!

Blastr reports

Rumors of Ball's departure from the series began circulating early Friday, and then were confirmed Friday afternoon by Forbes' Roger Friedman. Friedman cites "exhaustion" as the chief explanation for Ball's departure from the show, which he developed from Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels. But even though he's no longer planning to lead the series, Ball seems to be willing to at least hang around in some capacity.

"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," Friedman said. "This could also very well be a money issue, as series tend to get more and more expensive as they drag on."

That seems to indicate that season four was Ball's last season as the guiding force of the show, but we don't yet know who will be stepping in to fill that void. Ball's co-executive producer Gregg Fienberg, who's been with the show since season two, is probably a good guess, but HBO hasn't said anything about any of these developments yet, so we'll just have to wait and see.

I hope they get someone good. Hell, I'll do it.