'True Detective' season 3 news 2016: New lease in life for HBO's crime drama series?

"True Detective" came out strong with its maiden season, which starred Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. The limited series' first season was touted as "stellar," not only for its powerhouse cast but also for the men behind it–Cary Fukunaga at the helm and Nic Pizzolatto as writer and series creator. Unfortunately, its second season had a dismal showing, thereby making a third season questionable.

The second season of "True Detective" boasted of an all-star cast that included Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell, and Rachel McAdams. Nevertheless, then-HBO programming head Michael Lombardo admitted that the rushed production of the sophomore season served as catalyst for the show's demise, which was why they were having a hard time deciding whether to give the third season a go or not.

However, at the recent Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, HBO's new president of programming, Casey Bloys, told reporters that Pizzolatto's crime drama anthology "is not dead."

"It's a really valuable franchise for us," The Wrap quoted Bloys as saying during the TCA panel.

"I've talked to Nic about it, and I think both Nic and HBO, we're open to a third season," he added. "It's a really valuable franchise for us. I think both seasons average about 11 million viewers an episode. So not dead. Just I'm not sure we have the right take for a third season yet."

Pizzolatto is currently working on other projects, and as per Bloys, they're fine with somebody else writing the story for "True Detective" season 3 as long as Pizzolatto, who is signed to an overall deal with HBO, supervises the work.

Meanwhile, McConaughey has expressed interest in reprising his role, Rust Cohle, should "True Detective" season 3 happen. According to the 46-year-old actor, he has been discussing its possibility with Pizzolatto and would love to give it another go, saying he missed doing his character.

It looks like there's hope yet for the series, and if things go as planned, fans could get to see McConaughey act out Rust Cohle again when "True Detective" season 3 comes back on air.