True Detective Dream Director: Seth MacFarlane
By Josh Hill
There are a number of Hollywood directors we’d like to see direct a season of True Detective but that will never happen since the show is going to be moving to a multi-director format this upcoming season. But in the spirit of being daring enough to want an entire season directed by a Hollywood director, we need to at times be bold with our choices and there is no bolder choice than Seth MacFarlane directing a season of True Detective.
Before you need to change your pants because you laughed so hard at that suggestion, let’s really think this one through because at it’s core the choice does make some sense.
LEt’s throw out the crutch everyone is leaning on right now — Seth MacFarlane is not going to do a parody season ig he were ever chosen to helm an entire season of the show. Chances are he’d take this project more seriously than he has anything ese in his career and if there’s one thing MacFarlane is, it’s dedicated.
He stuck with Family Guy even through cancellation, only to have the show come back stronger than ever. Not only that but he basically owns Fox at this point as he had three of the four Sunday night slots all to himself at one point in time and controlled television this past year when his series Cosmos — a serious and scientific series free of cutaways and fart jokes — was simulcast on virtually every channel out there.
But above all, he’s a true creative mind — and one that’s not always dirty. The way Quentin Tarantino is about cinema, MacFarlane absorbs pop culture and that may come into play when writing the script. It would have it’s lighter moments, but MacFarlane’s deep knowledge of pop culture could help him tie True Detective back to older shows that came before it in a weird yet cool way.
Finally, he takes projects seriously. His first directorial outing Ted was much better than anyone thought it was going to be and he went the route of cinema because he tired of being known as the Family Guy dude. He’s branched out into other films such as Hellboy 2, he’s hosted the Oscars, conducted live shows and even recorded albums that harken back to the way songs were sung when Sinatra was signing them.
If he were given an opportunity to take on something as serious and critically acclaimed as True Detective, there’s no doubting that MacFarlane would take it more seriously than he’s taken anything before because if he did the show right, it would open up a new path in his career he’s likely itching to get into.