'True Detective' season 3 release date: Nic Pizzolatto to stay with HBO but will he do show's third season?

True Detective season 2 posterHBO

"True Detective" season 3 still hangs in the balance. There is still no concrete evidence if the show is in its pre-production stage or any other work performed on it. But the show's executive producer, Nic Pizzolatto, has been reported to be staying with HBO until 2018.

There are several reports with regards to the show's third season's existence. Variety previously reported that even if Pizzolatto is still with HBO, he has the final word if "True Detective" season 3 is a go or a no go. The network giant was said to offer three possible options for the show's writer/executive producer: get additional writers, have a new showrunner and, lastly, do it alone, similar to the second season. The network made it clear that whatever he chooses, he will still be the executive producer.

HBO's new chief of programming, Michael Lombardo, has acknowledged that the company has something to do with the show's second season ratings. Lombardo insisted on Pizzolatto hitting a specific airdate, which was met but the quality suffered in the end.

Lombardo said through The Frame, "I'll tell you something. Our biggest failures — and I don't know if I would consider "True Detective 2" — but when we tell somebody to hit an airdate as opposed to allowing the writing to find its own natural resting place, when it's ready, when it's baked — we've failed."

He added, "I think in this particular case, the first season of "True Detective" was something that Nic Pizzolatto had been thinking about, gestating, for a long period of time. He's a soulful writer. I think what we did was go, 'Great.' And I take the blame. I became too much of a network executive at that point. We had huge success. 'Gee, I'd love to repeat that next year.'"

For the meantime, "True Detective" fans will have to wait for a little more time before the third season materializes. It seems that Pizzolatto has not made up his mind yet if he is going for another season or move on to other projects that he has in mind.