HBO's programming exec just took the blame for the failure of 'True Detective' season 2
Some have blamed creator Nic Pizzolatto for the lackluster season, but HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo told the Frame that he feels responsible for the second season's failure to live up to the first, though he doesn't necessarily believe it's one of HBO's "biggest failures."
"When we tell somebody to hit an air date as opposed to allowing the writing to find its own natural resting place, when it's ready, when it's baked - we've failed," he explained. "And I think in this particular case, the first season of 'True Detective' was something that Nic Pizzolatto had been thinking about, gestating, for a long period of time. He's a soulful writer. I think what we did was go, 'Great.' And I take the blame. I became too much of a network executive at that point. We had huge success. 'Gee, I'd love to repeat that next year.'"
He continued that the pressure to pump out a second season didn't let Pizzolatto have the creative freedom he needed.
"Well, you know what? I set him up. To deliver, in a very short time frame, something that became very challenging to deliver," Lombardo said. "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."
Pizzolatto signed a two-year contract with HBO in 2014, leaving the option open for a third season, though nothing has been confirmed yet.
"I'd love to have the enviable certainty of knowing what my next year looks like," Lombardo added. "I could pencil things in. But I'm not going to start betting on them until the scripts are done."