What!? Only 3 Seasons of 'True Detective'?!

Consider this your fair warning: don't get attached. The creator of True Detective doesn't see the show lasting past Season 3, which is essentially like a boyfriend telling you after one really hot year of smoking sex and a shared passion for the Matthew McConaughey renaissance, that he just knows it won't last. He just can't see it working, ya know? So enjoy a three-year fling, but be ready to lay your heart elsewhere when the deadline hits. Shall we all go cry in a room while clutching our laptops with HBO Go close to us?

Okay, I'm getting dramatic. (Only fitting for a high-stakes HBO drama, though. I've learned from the best!) Writer and creator Nic Pizzolatto is busting his ass! It's so much! He isn't a machine, guys. He said in an interview on Wednesday at the Banff World Media Festival:

Each season I'm essentially creating a brand-new TV show and it can't have any growing pains like a regular first season. It has to work right out of the box and that's incredibly exhausting [...] I'm writing every episode so I can't imagine I would do this more than three years. I'd like to have a regular TV show with fixed sets and regular actors.

Okay, okay. We'll concede. It's too tough of a show to maintain; he'll wear himself out. Sometimes you need balance and finding that perfect project that fulfills you while it keeps you happy and able to sleep at night is not easy.

But seriously, the process is grating and exhausting. And by the way — he doesn't have answers yet for who will be on Season 2 (well, besides not Jessica Chastain).

We haven't approached anybody yet. When I get back we're going to be meeting with directors and get the casting process into full gear [...] We have four primary POV [point of view] roles we will really need to focus on and once those are in place we'll know the shooting schedule for sure. Right now we're planning to start in the fall.

So we're allowed to get excited for whatever happens on Season 2, but we shouldn't get too excited. We've got to admit that if the team is committed us to giving us only three seasons, then those seasons will likely be pretty damn good.

Image: HBO