On the first season of True Detective, viewers followed a pair of former Louisiana State Police Detectives (Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson) who are brought in as part of an inquiry about a homicide case that they worked on in 1995. The cast also includes Michelle Monaghan, Kevin Dunn, Michael Potts, and Tory Kittles.
The series debuted in January to 2.33 million viewers in initial viewing. That was a positive sampling but viewership dipped nearly 30% in week two, to 1.67 million. Not a good sign. Would they keep falling?
In week three, viewership rose 16% to 1.93 million and the numbers have been rising each subsequent week. Last Sunday’s edition drew 2.34 million, slightly surpassing the premiere.
Because they’re not serving advertisers, HBO doesn’t make decisions based on ratings. Frankly, they’re interested in the perception that they’re providing quality content that TV viewers can’t find anywhere else. Girls, for example, has very low ratings but is critically acclaimed and that’s been enough to see it renewed for four seasons.
True Detective has been bringing in positive numbers for HBO as well as a lot of attention. There’s no doubt that it will be renewed for a second season.
Because its an anthology series, it’s unclear if any cast members would return. I suspect HBO may be holding off making an announcement until they have some casting and story details to include.
But, what do you think? Would you like to see True Detective return for a second season? Were you satisfied with the first season? Should any of the first season cast return or should they start from scratch?
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