2018 has just started and already we’ve had to readjust our expectations for the year as major shows like Game of Thrones and Stranger Things have had their premiere dates pushed back to 2019. That trend continues now with news from HBO’s Programming President Casey Bloys, who just revealed on the Television Critics Association press tour (via The Playlist) that True Detective season 3 also won’t be returning this year.
When asked if the show would debut in 2018, Bloys replied “No, 2019.”
Time may be a flat circle, but it certainly moves slowly when it comes to certain quality programming.
Of course, this may be a good thing. The follow up to the critically acclaimed 2014 debut season of True Detective was largely panned when it came out, the result of talented showrunner Nic Pizzolatto trying to meet HBO’s demands for more of the same as soon as possible. HBO execs went so far as to accept the blame for rushing season two out, and have taken their time allowing season 3 to gestate.
2017 saw slow but positive movement with Moonlight star Mahershala Ali being attached to act and Deadwood creator David Milch coming on board to help out Pizzolatto. Stephen Dorff was added as Ali’s partner earlier in January 2018, and the season is set to begin shooting in February. That wasn’t fast enough to lock in a premiere date for this year, so now we’ll just have to wait until 2019.
It’s not all bad news, though. We’ve still got more Westworld coming in Spring of 2018, and other networks continue to give HBO a run for their money in this golden age of television. But for those looking forward to the washed out grime crime we came to love from True Detective season one, we’ll just have to wait a little longer.
