Last Sunday’s premiere of “True Detective: Night Country” was a ratings disappointment.
Linear numbers for the show, starring Jodie Foster, were down 83% from the previous iteration of the series in 2019. The total was 565,000. HBO said “Night Country” scored 2 million views when you include HBO Max and delayed viewing.
But the hardcore number on HBO, Sunday at 9pm, was down 77% in the total demo number as well.
This series has excellent reviews on Rotten Tomatoes — 93%. Foster plays a small town sheriff in Alaska hunting the disappearance of eight scientists. It’s interesting, but it’s not sexy, which may be why viewers aren’t pouring in.
The numbers are similar, however, to the just concluded and much ballyhooed season of another omnibus series, “Fargo,” which starred Jon Hamm, Juno Temple, and Joe Keery from “Stranger Things.” That was on FX and is running on Hulu and also got solid reviews. But maybe the audience for small town sheriffs uncovering mysteries has exhausted itself for the moment.
“True Detective: North Country” returns tomorrow, Sunday, at 9pm.
