Member Since: 5/10/2012
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HBO to cancel True Detective?
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the casual observer, HBO is sitting pretty. The network picked up more awards at the 2015 Emmys than any of its competitors, including both the outstanding comedy award for Veep and the outstanding drama award for Game of Thrones. The strength of the global phenomenon that is Thrones also helped the network launch its streaming platform HBO Now. But with both Thrones and Veep nearing their final seasons, and HBO Now underperforming, HBO is looking toward the future and aiming to make some big changes—including, possibly, pulling the plug on True Detective.
After several abortive attempts to get another drama off the ground, HBO decided this week to replace longtime programming head Michael Lombardo with the much younger Casey Bloys, formerly the chief of comedy programming. Bloys has gotten credit for developing a number of exciting new projects, including Danny McBride’s Vice Principals and Sarah Jessica Parker’s Divorce, as well as overseeing HBO’s current stable of comedy hits like Silicon Valley, Veep, and Girls. Meanwhile, on the drama side, Vinyl debuted to less-than-stellar reception, and the Lombardo-led network has been unable to get a variety of projects—including two David Fincher dramas, a limited series from Steve McQueen, the Tom Hanks–produced Lewis & Clark, and the big-budget sci-fi drama Westworld—off the ground.
But perhaps the biggest HBO stumble on Lombardo’s watch was Season 2 of True Detective. The rushed installment in the anthology series blew most of the goodwill earned in Season 1, and likely ended the series’s potential to become a franchise capable of shoring up the network’s dramatic slate. Lombardo dutifully fell on his sword after the season flopped, saying, “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. 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.”
But according to The Hollywood Reporter, despite the fact that HBO has signed an overall deal with Pizzolatto, a third season of True Detective seems unlikely to happen during Bloys’s new regime. “HBO sources suggest a new project from creator Nic Pizzolatto is more likely,” T.H.R. reports, implying that the network would prefer to get out of the True Detective business without ending its relationship with Pizzolatto.
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http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/...-cancelled-hbo
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