‘TRUE Blood,” HBO’s vampi res-as-everyday-people se ries, lacked ratings bite in its Sunday-night premiere.

The show, from “Six Feet Under” creator Alan Ball, averaged only 1.4 million viewers – almost 2 million viewers less than HBO’s 2007 bomb, “John From Cincinnati.”

That’s not encouraging news for HBO, still looking for a hit to replace “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City.”

“True Blood,” in fact, fared worse than other recent HBO series premieres – including “Big Love” (4.5 million viewers), “Rome” (3.8 million viewers) and “Deadwood” (5.6 million viewers), according to the LA Times.