Alan Ball Once Again Exploring Death for HBO

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HBO darling Alan Ball is producing and directing another pilot for the cable network, entitled All Signs of Death. The dark comedy, based on Charlie Huston's novel The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death, will follow a young crime scene cleaner who gets himself tangled up in a murder mystery.

Ball commented, "It's not so much about the crime, it's about the personal story of the central character and his journey back to being fully connected with his life after some very traumatic things."

Given the gritty nature of the plot, Ball is experimenting with handheld cameras to achieve a cinema verite style. "The show is about contemporary Los Angeles, but not the glamorous L.A. It's about the dirty underbelly of L.A."

As for Ball's morbid string of series, Six Feet Under to True Blood to All Signs of Death, he admitted, "Obviously death is a theme I'm fascinated by."

We are also expecting lots of nudity, lots of sex, and at least one queer character.

-- NICK STERGIOPOULOS

Previously >Need to Know: Sarah Blasko