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# Bring Back the True Detectives
- URL: https://spyglass.org/true-detective-mcconaughey-harrelson/
- Published: 2025-06-01T21:35:42.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-22T20:57:41.000Z
- Description: As in, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson...
- Author: M.G. Siegler
- Tags: television, hbo, streaming, entertainment, true detective

[‘True Detective’ Creator Says ‘I Have Another Story’ for Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson to Return: ‘We’ve Talked About Doing It. I Think the Guys Are Open to It’‘True Detective’ creator Nic Pizzolatto says he has an idea for a new season with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-28.png)VarietyZack Sharf![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/thumbnail/true-detective-hbo.jpg)](https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/true-detective-matthew-mcconaughey-woody-harrelson-return-1236414038/?ref=spyglass.org)

Alright, alright, alright:

> “[True Detective](https://variety.com/t/true-detective/?ref=spyglass.org)” creator [Nic Pizzolatto](https://variety.com/t/nic-pizzolatto/?ref=spyglass.org) recently appeared on the [“Nothing Left Unsaid” podcast](https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmailtrack.io%2Fl%2F2d58772182dedf57d259d6ac3fc995f8c583cfc3%3Fnotrack%3D1%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fopen.spotify.com%252Fshow%252F5fhcANt7CSnYvgBlgxpVVa%26u%3D11307746%26signature%3D73fe879f3f1ad76d&data=05%7C02%7Czsharf%40variety.com%7Cc82db612ddc54800a70d08dd9d447601%7Ce950f25546e44144a778a6ff4f557492%7C0%7C0%7C638839639628338124%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=t%2Bdo2NI9dmovmzvYknxe7yLtgAXdF2QxmBTVF0z3AR4%3D&reserved=0&ref=spyglass.org) and revealed he has an idea for a new story that would bring back the characters of Rust Cohle and Marty Harty, memorably played by [Matthew McConaughey](https://variety.com/t/matthew-mcconaughey/?ref=spyglass.org) and [Woody Harrelson](https://variety.com/t/woody-harrelson/?ref=spyglass.org) in the first season of HBO’s anthology series. Many viewers (and [McConaughey himself](https://variety.com/2025/film/news/matthew-mcconaughey-returning-to-acting-true-detective-1236331071/?ref=spyglass.org)) still regard “True Detective” Season 1 as the show’s best. The 2014 season earned Emmy nominations for both actors.

There is no debate here. The most recent (fourth) season of *True Detective* – "Night Country" – was okay. [It started strong but ended weak, IMO](https://spyglass.org/true-detective-night-country/). The third season, with Mahershala Ali, was overall pretty good but up and down. The second season was a mess and borderline unwatchable. But the first season? 

I mean, personally I think it was one of the best seasons of any show ever on television. [And I've been saying this since it first aired.](https://parislemon.com/post/79299648807/the-cutting-up-of-content?ref=spyglass.org) Even today, over a decade later, [it lingers in your brain, haunting you](https://parislemon.com/post/78066652392/on-the-topic-of-true-detective-the-scene-above-is?ref=spyglass.org). In many ways, it felt like [the beginning](https://parislemon.com/post/78064440161/i-like-to-debate-which-television-shows-have-the?ref=spyglass.org) of [a new wave of "prestige TV"](https://parislemon.com/post/79281036733/tv-s-new-golden-age?ref=spyglass.org) that led directly into the streaming revolution, with Hollywood talent now routinely doing series.

So yeah, they should run it back.

> “I actually have another story for Cohle and Hart that — who knows? — maybe we’ll do it one day,” Pizzolatto said. “It’s character-based again. … But it’s not something I’ve written or anything. It’s just, I had that in my head. And we’ve talked about getting back together and doing it, and I think the guys are open to it. It’s just a question of whether that would ever happen or not.”

If I'm HBO – in the midst of the [clusterfucky HBO/Max/HBO Max rebrand](https://spyglass.org/its-hbo-max-again/) – I move heaven and Earth to bring back McConaughey and Harrelson. It may have been tiny compared to say, *Game of Thrones* – which [they should](https://spyglass.org/game-of-thrones-movie/) also [potentially revisit](https://spyglass.org/remake-game-of-thrones-please/) with the original cast to remake the last couple of seasons – it had and still has a cultural cachet that matters. This could bring back HBO, quite literally.