Ever since the marked dip in quality from seasons one to two – one attributed to a rushed script – the immediate future of True Detective has been uncertain at best. Not only has HBO continually ducked out of a decision to renew the anthology show for a third run on the air, but series creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto has also been coy about the possibility of returning to the procedural largely due to the massive workload it entails.
While fans have been holding out hope for the network to announce a new cast, setting and storyline for season 3 – in many ways to right the wrongs of the show’s sophomore run – a new tidbit emerging today via The Hollywood Reporter only casts more doubt over the show’s future.
Rather than pushing ahead with True Detective season 3, head of programming Casey Bloys revealed to THR that Nic Pizzolatto – who recently inked a deal with HBO through until 2018 – will now helm an all-new series for the network. Cary Fukunaga, on the other hand, who shot to fame after directing a handful of episodes from True Detective season 1, has been busy with the likes of Beasts of No Nation, effectively condemning the ensemble anthology series to the back-burner over at HBO.
Earlier this year, former HBO executive Michael Lombardo took much of the blame for season 2’s shortcomings, stating that:
Well, you know what? I set him up. To deliver, in a very short time frame, something that became very challenging to deliver. That’s not what that show is. He had to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. Find his muse. And so I think that’s what I learned from it. Don’t do that anymore.
Despite hitting the ground running with a stellar opening season, excitement for True Detective has dried up and dried up fast. HBO has evidently taken heed of the show’s decline, and could well by safeguarding it from the limelight until such a time when there’s a palpable demand for a multi-faceted crime drama.
Published: May 25, 2016 03:51 pm