“True Detective” Starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey Starts with Top Debut Ratings

The new HBO crime thriller “True Detective” grabbed a huge rating and viewership on its first episode premiere on Sunday. As per a number of media sources, it is said to be the top debut ratings for any HBO TV series since the 2010 premiere of Boardwalk Empire, which had scored nearly 4.8 million. Viewership of True Detective went up to 2.3 million, topping the debuts rating and viewership of most watched HBO shows like Game of Thrones, which had drawn almost 2.2 million viewers for first episode of first season, and The Newsroom, which got around 2.14 million viewers. HBO had chosen this show in April 2012 with an order of 8 episodes. It is created and written by Nic Pizzolatto, while Cary Joji Fukunaga has directed all episodes.

True Detective stars renowned actors Woody Harrelson (Zombieland, Now You See Me) and Matthew McConaughey (The Wolf of Wall Street) as homicide detectives named Martin Hart and Rust Cohle in mid-90s Louisiana hunting a serial killer that spans more than 15 years, and observes their lives spiral uncontrollable. Who would not be tempted to watch it when it includes two great actors like Harrelson and McConaughey? The acting is outstanding, the cinematography fluid, and the storyline both calculated and edgy. It is more than anything else, a work out in disturbing atmosphere — a journey through not just the preternatural things in a small urban area but also the odd saintly countryside of the Deep South.

It might look unusual to release a classy crime thriller like True Detective against the ceremony like Golden Globes Awards that grabs the attention of less audience as compared to a main prime-time football game — which is what HBO deals with most of the time in an year. Also, with record ratings and viewership on first day, True Detective looks like a show that is really going to be progressive even more in future.

“Yeah, I was involved in the conception, and the idea was – as it was pitched at the time – that they wanted to combine the best of independent cinema with television. We didn’t have a network yet. We didn’t know we were going to be with HBO. We did know that we wanted to bring in feature film talent, and wanted one director, one vision to put the whole thing together”, said director Cary Joji Fukunaga, who is known for 2011 film “Jane Eyre”.