True Detective Was Nearly Purchased By Showtime

The second season of True Detective is seemingly stalled at HBO, but the journey to the first season almost saw the show end up on a different network entirely.

HBO has a new flagship show in True Detective, but the series almost ended up somewhere else as a rival network nearly snatched up True Detective before it could premiere.

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Showtime and HBO have a pretty intense rivalry going on as each network tries to answer one another with a hit show. Each has their own hits, as Game of Thrones, True Detective and others populate HBO while Showtime has hits like Masters of Sex and Ray Donovan.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Showtime nearly secured a deal for True Detective and the network thought they had indeed snagged the show. Then HBO stepped up to the plate and the rest was history.

"It was a formidable package, and the suitors lined right up. Netflix, FX and Showtime each made plays. Showtime’s David Nevins was pretty sure he had it, then HBO swooped in with a bigger offer. Lombardo and his team were in awe of Pizzolatto’s fearlessness."

Had Showtime snagged True Detective, the question is how different would the series have been? The chances are things would have gone pretty much the same, but the fact that Showtime would have watermarked the series and not HBO could have been a game changer for the network.

It never happened though, as True Detective seems like it was always destined for HBO and it has very clearly landed in the right home.

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