'True Detective' season 3 renewal update: Series is not dead, says new programming chief

After a subpar second season, official news about a third installment for HBO's anthology crime drama, "True Detective" has unsurprisingly been hard to come by. However, loyal fans of the Emmy-nominated series have yet to lose hope.

According to Movie News Guide, speculations about the show's possible return abound owing to the fact that HBO has not officially cancelled it yet. Although "True Detective" had a less than stellar sophomore run, it made waves during its freshman year. Forbes reported that the show even made a record as HBO's most-watched freshman series, beating "Six Feet Under."

But its second season was panned for its poor writing, thus leading to "True Detective's" bad showing on the ratings board. After just two seasons, the show's fate has gone bleak, much to its fans' dismay.

However, HBO's new programming chief Casey Bloys recently hinted at the show's possible return. Although it doesn't seem like "True Detective" season 3 will come in the near future, the mere assurance that the show is not dead is enough to give hopeful fans something to look forward to.

During the Television Critics Association's press tour back in July, Bloys said that showrunner Nic Pizzolatto may be promoted to a supervisory role while somebody else takes over in writing the show's rumored third season.

Pizollato reportedly expressed interest in working on a third season for "True Detective" but did not yet have a concrete plan on how the series would go. But an article on Vanity Fair hinted in August that PIzzolatto may have been assigned on the Perry Mason-based series starring Robert Downey Jr., which would presumably fit right into "True Detective's" nature. Could this alleged series end up being "True Detective's" much awaited third season, or will HBO hire new writers to carve out a path for "True Detective" season 3?

If all goes well, a third season of "True Detective" is rumored to air in 2018.