Writer Nic Pizzolatto originally envisioned True Detective as a novel, but he soon realized that only television enabled him to drive his storytelling goal.
"The voice may lie to you," he told The New York Times in 2014, "but the image never will." When True Detective premiered on January 12, 2014, the viscerally dark HBO crime anthology immediately stood out because it focused equally on the mismatched detectives at the center — played with brutal intensity by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson — and their pursuit of a ritualistic killer in atmospheric Louisiana. Though the two cops ultimately wrap their case and partnership, the haunting concept continued.
Season 2, starring Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch and Rachel McAdams, aired in 2015; the drama was revived in 2019 with two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali. Now, Jodie Foster and Kali Reis take over in True Detective: Night Country, as police officers investigating the disappearance of eight men operating a research station in Alaska. (Tigers Are Not Afraid's Issa Lopez serves as writer, showrunner and director.) Leading up to the January 14 premiere and ten-year anniversary of the original, here's a By the Numbers investigation.
Number of seasons: 4
Number of episodes: 30
States where the narrative has unfolded: 4 (Louisiana, California, Arkansas and Alaska)
Emmy nominations: 22
Emmy wins: 5, including Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2014
Amount of Pizzolatto's original two-year development deal with HBO: $1 million, per Forbes
Number of pages in Pizzolatto's original draft of True Detective: 550
Reported budget for Season 1: $4-4.5 million per episode, per The Hollywood Reporter
Episodes in which Pizzolatto has a writing credit: 24, which comprises the first three seasons
Episodes directed by Lopez: 6, which comprises all of Season 4
Number of viewers who watched the first episode of Season 1 on HBO: 2.33 million, per HBO
Number of viewers who watched the Season 1 finale: 3.52 million, its highest-rated episode to date
Average number of viewers who watched the first season when factoring on demand, DVR and streaming views: 10.9 million
Length of tracking shot for the drug raid in Season 1's fourth episode, "Who Goes There": 6 minutes
Viewers who watched the Season 2 premiere: 3.17 million
Viewers who watched the Season 2 finale: 2.73 million
Number of years that encompass Season 3, which focused on the disappearance of two young girls: 3 (1980, 1990, 2015)
Cast members nominated for Emmys for their roles: 3 (Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in 2014; Mahershala Ali in 2019)
Emmy nominations for Season 2: 1 (Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or Movie)
Longest gap in between seasons: 5 years (2019-2024)
