5 Reasons Why True Detective Is Going To Be Cancelled

5. HBO's Not Doing Amazingly

They may have the biggest show on television right now, but aside from Game Of Thrones HBO isn't really knocking them out of the part. Many of its recent massive hits - True Blood, Boardwalk Empire - have wrapped up and many of the shows brought in to replace them - Vinyl, The Newsroom and The Leftovers (which has had a critical upturn but remains niche) - haven't hit as big as expected. It's still incredibly high quality television and there are exceptions of course - comedy-wise the channel's doing strong with Girls, Silicon Valley and Last Week Tonight - but in terms of audience engagement it's down compared to the likes of Netflix.

True Detective has been the one resounding counter to this. The first season was an incredible success on all counts and was enough to ensure the second chugged along view-wise. However, if they're desperate for an up-turn, the channel can't really afford to put time, effort and money into backing an iffy horse. They need a smash hit, especially as Game Of Thrones is entering its final act, and True Detective no longer seems to be it.

That's what new head of programming Casey Bloys is looking for, and it's hardly surprising this rumour started from internal HBO sources.