HBO Debuts TRUE DETECTIVE, Starring Harrelson & McConaughey, Tonight

1995: Detectives Martin Hart and Rust Cohle, partners in Louisiana's Criminal Investigation Division, are assigned to a macabre murder by a killer with disturbing occult leanings. As they attempt to uncover the secrets of this bizarre crime, their own lives collide and intertwine in unexpected, sometimes catastrophic ways.

2012: When a similar case leads to an investigation of the original '95 murder by two new detectives, Martin and Rust separately tell the story of both the investigation and their lives, including why Cohle left CID in 2002.

Shot on location in Louisiana, the drama series True Detective begins its eight-episode season TONIGHT, JAN. 12 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Matthew McConaughey ("The Wolf of Wall Street," Golden Globe nominee for "Dallas Buyers Club") stars as Rust Cohle and Woody Harrelson ("Out of the Furnace," "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire") stars as Martin Hart in the show, which also stars Michelle Monaghan ("Gone Baby Gone") as Hart's wife, Maggie, who struggles to keep her family together as the men in her life spiral into cycles of obsession and violence.

Alternating between 1995, 2002 and 2012, all eight episodes were written by series creator and novelist Nic Pizzolatto and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga ("Jane Eyre"), who executive produce along with Scott Stephens, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Steve Golin.

At first glance, Martin Hart and Rust Cohle couldn't be more different. Hart, a native Louisianan, is an outgoing family man with two kids, whose marriage is buckling under the stress of the job. Cohle, a former undercover narcotics detective from Texas, embraces isolation, articulating a pessimistic, even bleak, world view. But they share an obsession with justice and a facility for violence that will inflict irreparable damage on both men.

Also featured in True Detective are Kevin Dunn (HBO's "Luck") as Major Quesada, Hart and Cohle's boss; Tory Kittles ("Sons of Anarchy") and Michael Potts (HBO's "The Wire") as detectives Papania and Gilbough, in charge of the 2012 investigation; Elizabeth Reaser ("The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn") as Laurie; Shea Whigham (HBO's "Boardwalk Empire") as revivalist Joel Theriot; Clarke Peters (HBO's "Treme") as a rural minister; Jay O. Sanders ("Person of Interest") as Billy Lee Tuttle; and Lili Simmons (CINEMAX's "Banshee") as Beth, a prostitute.

January's episodes:

Episode #1: "The Long Bright Dark"

Debut: SUNDAY, JAN. 12 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)

Other HBO playdates: Jan. 12 (11:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m.), 13 (12:15 a.m.), 14 (9:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 15 (10:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 16 (midnight), 17 (9:00 p.m.), 18 (1:00 a.m.) and 24 (8:00 p.m.), and Feb. 4 (11:00 p.m.), 7 (7:00 p.m.) and 8 (10:15 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: Jan. 13 (9:00 p.m.), 17 (1:15 a.m.) and 19 (3:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m.), and Feb. 1 (5:00 p.m.) and 9 (4:00 p.m.)

Former Louisiana State CID partners Martin Hart and Rustin Cohle give separate statements to a pair of investigators about the murder of a prostitute, Dora Lange, 17 years earlier. As they look back, details of the crime, replete with occult overtones, are accompanied by insights into the detectives' volatile partnership and personal lives.

Written by Nic Pizzolatto; directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.

Episode #2: "Seeing Things"

Debut: SUNDAY, JAN. 19 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Other HBO playdates: Jan. 19 (11:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m.), 20 (12:15 a.m.), 21 (8:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 22 (10:00 p.m.), 23 (midnight), 24 (9:00 p.m.), 25 (9:45 p.m.) and 31 (8:00 p.m.), and Feb. 4 (midnight), 7 (8:00 p.m.) and 8 (11:15 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: Jan. 20 (9:00 p.m.), 24 (1:15 a.m.) and 26 (12:30 p.m., 8:00 p.m.), and Feb. 1 (6:00 p.m.) and 9 (5:00 p.m.)

Under pressure to land a suspect in the Lange murder, Quesada warns Hart and Cohle that they might be replaced by three detectives from a new task force. The pair lobbies for extra time to follow up on a lead that takes them from a rural cathouse to an incinerated church. With his marriage to Maggie already strained by work, Hart finds respite away from home.

Written by Nic Pizzolatto; directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.

Episode #3: "The Locked Room"

Debut: SUNDAY, JAN. 26 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Other HBO playdates: Jan. 26 (11:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m.), 27 (11:45 p.m.), 28 (9:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 29 (10:00 p.m.), 30 (11:45 p.m.) and 31 (9:00 p.m.), and Feb. 1 (9:00 p.m.), 5 (10:00 p.m.), 6 (midnight), 7 (9:00 p.m.), 8 (12:15 a.m.) and 14 (8:00 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: Jan. 27 (9:00 p.m.) and 31 (1:40 a.m.), and Feb. 1 (7:00 p.m.), 2 (12:30 a.m.), 3 (9:00 p.m.) and 9 (6:00 p.m.)

A hidden image at the burned-out church leads Cohle and Hart to Joel Theriot, a tent-revival minister whose parishioners finger a scarred "tall man" seen with Dora Lange. Brought in for interrogation, a sex offender matching the description is quickly dismissed by Cohle, despite offering a confession. Hart gets sidetracked after Maggie sets Cohle up with a friend at a C&W bar. Looking to establish a pattern of murder, Cohle pores over old case files, finding a connection with a woman assumed to have drowned years earlier.

Written by Nic Pizzolatto; directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.

Matthew McConaughey's feature films include "Dallas Buyers Club," for which he just received a Golden Globe nomination, "The Wolf of Wall Street," "Mud," "Magic Mike," "The Lincoln Lawyer," "Bernie," "The Paperboy," "Contact," "Killer Joe," "Thirteen Conversations About One Thing," "We Are Marshall," "Surfer, Dude," "Reign of Fire," "The Wedding Planner," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," "EDtv" and "Dazed and Confused." He was previously seen on HBO in a recurring role on "Eastbound & Down."

Woody Harrelson received Oscar(R) nominations for "The People vs. Larry Flynt" (Leading Role) and "The Messenger" (Supporting Role); Golden Globe nominations for "The People vs. Larry Flynt," "The Messenger" and HBO's "Game Change"; and five Emmy(R) nominations for "Cheers," winning once, as well as Emmy(R) nominations for "Frasier" and HBO's "Game Change." His other feature films include "Out of the Furnace," "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire", "Now You See Me," "The Hunger Games," "Zombieland," "Surfer, Dude," "Transsiberian," "No Country for Old Men," "A Prairie Home Companion," "Natural Born Killers" and "Kingpin."

Writer and series creator Nic Pizzolatto is a former professor of literature who wrote the novel "Galveston" and the short-story collection "Between Here and the Yellow Sea." His film work includes re-inventing "The Magnificent Seven" for MGM and star Tom Cruise.

Director Cary Joji Fukunaga's directing credits include "Jane Eyre" and "Sin Nombre."

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