My partner got the first season on DVD for Christmas, and we've watched two episodes, so far. The writing is very good.
Ryan Kwanten is a poster boy for what is meant by the term lean.
FYI Stephen Moyer shows his bare butt, and it's a nice one, in a 1997 BBC series "The Grand" which also stars a gracefully aging Susan Hampshire.
Moyer appeared in the first season but was replaced by another actor in the second season.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0610459/
We cracked up at the scene - in the credits, I think - where the sign "God Hates Fangs" appears.
Someone, earlier in the thread, questioned the device of silver weakening vampires.
Some years back, I got interested in the subject of vampires, and read a ton of vampire books, many of them series. Some authors tend to come up with variations of the traditional vampire legends, some of them interesting.
For example, Chelsea Quinn Yarbrough's vampires can walk in sunlight - provided they have some of their native earth on their persons (usually incorporated into their footwear). Other writers portray vampires as unable to have sex. It is a fascinating genre. Somehow, I missed the books by Charlaine Harris upon which True Blood is based, but I will rectify that oversight in the near future.