HBO’s 4-Part Detective Thriller Quietly Becomes a Late-Night Sleeper Hit

2 weeks ago 8

Published Apr 4, 2026, 7:30 PM EDT

Adam Blevins began working in the entertainment industry in 2022 as a Staff Writer for Agents of Fandom, where he progressed to Senior Editor and interviewed talent from Marvel Studios, House of the Dragon, and Planet of the Apes. He joined Collider as a News Author in April 2024, was promoted to a Senior position in December 2024, and has written over 3,000 articles for the site, including exclusives relating to Avengers: Doomsday, The Penguin, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and more. He primarily writes about the latest box office numbers and the hottest movies and TV shows on streaming, while also covering superhero and sci-fi news. He has completed a set visit for The Chosen and even has several months of experience writing Gaming Features at ScreenRant. You can find him on X, LinkedIn, and Muckrack.

2026 has been quite the year for HBO already, and we’re only a few months into the year. The biggest new release for the streamer has been the sophomore season of The Pitt, the critically acclaimed medical drama starring Noah Wyle. The show has spent months atop streaming charts, and it’s already been renewed for Season 3, positioning it as one of HBO’s flagship series moving forward. HBO also brought fans back to the world of Game of Thrones with the debut season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The return to Westeros came on a much smaller scale, as fans were treated to a shorter story set at a jousting tournament juxtaposed with a massive war between families. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 2 is already in production and confirmed to air next year.

While HBO continues to release new shows and new seasons of beloved classics, there is one series fans are still waiting to see return. True Detective, which first premiered back in 2014, has aired four full seasons, and it’s even been renewed for Season 5. It’s unclear at this time when the fifth season will premiere, but reports indicate that Nicolas Cage will feature in one of the lead roles in the show. The first season of True Detective starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, and it’s still one of the most popular seasons on HBO Max in several countries. Even in places around the world that don’t have access to HBO Max, True Detective has become one of the top 10 most popular VOD purchases, a true testament to the show’s longstanding greatness.

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Another Beloved HBO Classic Is Moving Forward Quickly

While few shows have reached the popularity of True Detective, one that has come close through its first few seasons is The White Lotus. The vacation drama is an anthology series, with each new season taking place in a new location with an entirely different cast of characters. There is some overlap, but not enough to move the show out of its anthology classification. Roughly a year after The White Lotus Season 3, HBO has confirmed that production is set to begin soon on The White Lotus Season 4, which will be set in France.

Check out the first four seasons of True Detective on HBO Max, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of the show’s fifth season.