With production continuing on Season 6, Mark Hudis has stepped away from his relatively new post as showrunner of True Blood. Brian Buckner has been named as his replacement by the network. Mark Hudis is leaving to focus on his own shows under a two-year development deal he signed with HBO last spring. Here is a brief statement from the network regarding Mark Hudis' departure.

"Mark Hudis has stepped down as showrunner of True Blood to focus on development under his overall deal with the network."

Brian Buckner has been with the show as both a writer and producer since Season 1. Before joining the HBO vampire series, Brian Buckner wrote and produced for network sitcoms such as Friends, Spin City, and Joey. It isn't known how many episodes of Season 6 are left to be shot.

We reported in May that Mark Hudis took over the day-to-day operations of the show from series creator Alan Ball, who announced last February that he was leaving after Season 5. Mark Hudis joined the series in Season 4, after previously working with Alan Ball on the CBS sitcom Cybill.

HBO hasn't announced when Season 6 of True Blood will debut yet.