Could True Detective Work on Broadcast TV?

True Detective definitely earns its M rating from HBO, there’s no doubt about it. From the language to the violence and nudity, True Detective is meant as a mature show for adults. Be that as it may, the landscape of broadcast TV is changing. The later it gets, the more that’s allowed. All you have to do is watch Hannibal on NBC to see broadcast TV push the limits to the absolute extreme.

Now, Hannibal shows at NBC’s graveyard shift at Friday at 10 PM on the east coast. At that time slot, the rules are certainly slackened. But if True Detective were shave off some of the language and nudity, there’s no reason why it couldn’t be shown on simple broadcast TV. The violence of Hannibal outshines anything seen on True Detective, so there’s not really any worry there.

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We already know that HBO has a really good thing going with True Detective, so consider this a simple exercise in “what if.” It’s an interesting exercise, however, simply because it forces us to examine the changing broadcast landscape. It wasn’t too long ago that the thought of something like True Detective on NBC or ABC would have seemed ridiculous.

These are changing times, and series that are taking inspiration from True Detective are starting to crop up. True Detective may be too niche to succeed on broadcast, but it’s nowhere near as out of the question as it used to be.