HBO‘s anthology series “True Detective” is back after five years with a new season that will compete at the 2024 Emmy Awards. This latest installment that premiered in January comes with the subtitle “True Detective: Night Country” and, while still part of the franchise, it’s the first to not have the involvement of creator Nic Pizzolato – other than his executive producer credit. It was instead developed by Issa Lopez who wrote (or co-wrote) and directed all six episodes, and stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as detectives in an Alaskan town investigating the disappearance of eight scientists. Let’s re-examine the three previous seasons of “True Detective” at the Emmys – which garnered a combined total of 22 nominations and five wins – to determine possible nominations in categories for the current season.
Here is the complete Emmys history for the first three seasons of “True Detective”:
Season 1 (2014):
Best Drama Series
Nic Pizzolato, Executive Producer
Cary Joji Fukunaga, Executive Producer
Scott Stephens, Executive Producer
Steve Golin, Executive Producer
Woody Harrelson, Executive Producer
Matthew McConaughey, Executive Producer
Richard Brown, Executive Producer
Carol Cuddy, Producer
Best Drama Actor
Matthew McConaughey as Rustin ‘Rust’ Cohle (“Form and Void”)
Best Drama Actor
Woody Harrelson as Martin Hart (“The Locked Room”)
Best Drama Writing (“The Secret Fate Of All Life”)
Nic Pizzolato, Written by
Best Drama Directing (“Who Goes There”) (WON)
Cary Joji Fukunaga, Directed by
Best Drama Casting (WON)
Alexa L. Fogel, Casting Director
Christine Kromer, CSA, Casting Director
Meagan Lewis, Casting Director
Best Single-Camera Cinematography (“Who Goes There”) (WON)
Adam Arkapaw, Director of Photography
Best Drama Picture Editing (“Who Goes There”)
Affonso Goncalves, Editor
Best Main Title Design (WON)
Patrick Clair, Creative Director
Raoul Marks, Animator
Jennifer Sofio Hall, Creative Producer
Best Series Music Composition (“Form and Void”)
T Bone Burnett, Music by
Best Contemporary/Fantasy Art Direction (“Form and Void”)
Alex DiGerlando, Production Designer
Mara LePere-Schloop, Art Director
Tim Beach, Art Director
Cynthia Slagter, Set Decorator
Best Single-Camera Non-Prosthetic Makeup (“The Secret Fate Of All Life”) (WON)
Felicity Bowring, Department Head Makeup Artist
Wendy Bell, Key Makeup Artist
Ann Pala, Makeup Artist
Kim Perridon, Makeup Artist
Linda Dowds, Personal Makeup Artist
Season 2 (2016):
Best Limited/Movie Sound Mixing (“Down Will Come”)
Daniel J. Leahy, Re-Recording Mixer
Steve Pederson, Re-Recording Mixer
Geoffrey Patterson, CAS, Production Mixer
Rob Bedrosian, ADR Mixer
Season 3 (2019):
Best Limited/Movie Actor
Mahershala Ali as Wayne Hays
Best Limited/Movie Cinematography (“The Great War and Modern Memory”)
Germain McMicking, ACS, Director of Photography
Best Limited/Movie Picture Editing (“If You Have Ghosts”)
Leo Trombetta, ACE, Editor
Best Main Title Design
Patrick Clair, Creative Director
Nic Pizzolato, Creative Director
Raoul Marks, Designer/Creative Director
Woosung Kang, Designer/Compositor/Art Director/Animator
Kyle Moore, Designer/Compositor/Art Director/Animator
Victor Jory, Editor
Best Limited/Movie Music Composition (The Final Country”)
T Bone Burnett, Music by
Keefus Ciancia, Music by
Best Limited/Movie Hairstyling
Brian B. Badie, Department Head Hairstylist
Andrea Mona Bowman, Key Hairstylist
Lawrence Cornell Davis, Personal Hairstylist
Best Limited/Movie Non-Prosthetic Makeup
John Blake, Department Head Makeup Artist
Francisco X. Perez, Key Makeup Artist
Debi Young, Personal Makeup Artist
Best Limited/Movie Sound Mixing (“The Great War and Modern Memory”)
Tateum Kohut, Re-Recording Mixer
Greg Orloff, Re-Recording Mixer
Geoffrey Patterson, CAS, Production Mixer
Biff Dawes, Scoring Mixer
Best Limited/Movie Sound Editing (“The Great War and Modern Memory”)
Mandell Winter, MPSE, Sound Supervisor
David Esparza, MPSE, Sound Designer
Micah Loken, MPSE, Dialogue Editor
Bernard Weiser, MPSE, Dialogue Editor
Ryan Collins, MPSE, Sound Effects Editor
Fernand Bos, MPSE, Music Editor
Jason Wormer, Music Editor
Eryne Prine, MPSE, Foley Editor
Sarah Monat, Foley Artist
Robin Harlan, Foley Artist
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When it comes to Best Limited Series, the program has never been nominated for this specific category at the Emmys, having only been recognized for its first season when it surprisingly submitted in the drama categories in 2014. Its security there in what is potentially a crowded roster of five is determined on how it does in the other races and if it can maintain its buzz since its finale in February.
With the acting categories, it seems that Foster is in a good position for Best Limited/Movie Actress, having just come off of an Oscar run with “Nyad,” her fifth nomination. This would be her third Emmy bid (her fourth if “True Detective: Night Country” makes Best Limited Series) and her first for acting, having previously been nominated for producing “The Baby Dance” (1999) and directing “Orange Is The New Black” (2014). Reis and other cast members, which include Emmy nominee Fiona Shaw, Oscar nominee John Hawkes and Emmy winner Christopher Eccleston, also contend for the supporting categories.
The below-the-line categories are where the show thrives, as it has gotten multiple citations in various crafts such as cinematography, picture editing, sound mixing, makeup, main title design and music composition, all of which it has a high chance of receiving mentions in those respective categories. Furthermore, “True Detective: Night Country” has a shot in production design, hairstyling, casting and sound editing, with the possibility of a writing or directing notice if it does really well – particularly the latter as Lopez will contend for the entirety of the season per Emmy rules.
As it currently stands in the combined Gold Derby odds, “True Detective: Night Country” is in fourth place (behind “Fargo,” “Lessons in Chemistry” and “Shōgun” in descending order) to win the Best Limited Series category with 11/2 odds and 1,269 users predicting it will make the lineup for the first time. It will likely be supported by the technical branches as some of those aspects may be hard to ignore, but whether it can get multiple above-the-line noms is something to watch out for and it will be interesting to see how it performs as their awards run is just getting started.
PREDICT the 2024 Emmy Award nominations through July 17
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