The next season of True Blood is highly anticipated, if only for the fact that the show is getting a big behind the scenes change: Alan Ball is out, and Mark Hudis is in as showrunner.

Speaking about what he plans to bring to the beloved vampire show, Hudis teased a good deal to his alma mater Haverford College. The following is an excerpt from their Fall 2012 magazine. Hudis essentially awarded his old school with the first interview on what he has in store:

“Certainly he’s not going to be the Bill we know and love,” says Hudis of the character’s evolution next season. “He’s going to have more bite, no pun intended.” What else can we expect? Following a season that dealt with more global issues (such as national vampire politics), Hudis wants to bring the action back to Bon Temps, the small Louisiana town that is home to the show’s central characters, and focus on telling fewer stories with more characters (True Blood-ophiles might also be interested to know that Sookie and Jason will spend the year searching for Warlow, the vampire that Sookie has been promised to.)

We’re particularly excited about the “fewer stories with more characters” tease, because one of our issues with True Blood season 5 were a couple of the plot lines we just did not care about. The show is, after all, a story about vampires, and we’d prefer to see a little less of the other supernatural story lines.

In related news, True Blood actor Joe Manganiello revealed to Access Hollywood recently that he’s about to cut his hair in preparation for filming.

True Blood season 6 premieres in the summer, and a particular start date is not yet set. We’ll keep you updated!

Alan Ball decided to step down in May.

Thanks to TrueBlood-Online for the tip.