A third season of 'True Detective' is probably not happening
According to The Hollywood Reporter's sources inside HBO, the pay network is leaning toward passing on a third season of the series.
That doesn't mean its relationship with the show's creator, Nic Pizzolatto, would end. After all, HBO just extended his production and development deal through 2018 late last year.
THR's insiders say that a new project from Pizzolatto is more likely.
While the show was celebrated in its first season, which won an Emmy for director Cary Fukunaga, Pizzolatto used different actors and directors for the second season. Unlike Fukunaga's season with stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, season two got mixed reviews from fans and critics. HBO brass had to defend the season as some critics delivered harsh reviews.
Business Insider's Joshua Rivera, for example, wrote that "'True Detective' is simply not a good show" in a review of the second season. THR's critic, Tim Goodman, said "the show was terrible on almost all fronts."
Regardless, then-programming president Michael Lombardo said he would do a third season. Since then, HBO has done some shifting. The network has seen a string of drama flops and it recently replaced Lombardo in his position with its head of comedy, Casey Bloys.
As most newly hired bosses tend to do, Bloys will probably want to throw out his predecessor's failures and start fresh.
Currently, HBO's only gem, "Game of Thrones," is renewed through its seventh season, low-rated "Vinyl" is set for a second season, and "The Leftovers" is set for a third and final season. A highly-anticipated series adaptation of the sci-fi movie "Westworld," meanwhile, has been delayed.