HBO 's hot new anthology drama True Detectives opened solid in the ratings Sunday night , while comedy Girls returned to a series-high audience . Despite facing the Golden Globe Awards , HBO 's freshman drama debut had 2.3 million viewers — the biggest HBO series opening since Boardwalk Empire in 2010 , and just barely edging out the series premiere of Game of Thrones from 2011 . True Detective 's first replay added another million viewers to the tally . True Detective stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as Louisiana detectives hunting a serial killer . Check out Jeff Jensen 's in-depth analysis of the first episode . Meanwhile Girls returned to a series-high 1.1 million viewers , up 28 percent from the season 2 debut . Guess that TCA question # ragespiral fight about Lena Dunham 's nudity did n't hurt the show 's popularity ( and might have even helped ) . EW 's recap here . Though it might seem odd to launch a sophisticated premium drama like True Detective against an event like the Globes , the awards show draws fewer viewers than a major prime-time football game — which is what HBO faces most weeks this time of year . Also , True Detective feels like a show that 's likely to grow even more in the coming weeks . See the original story here at EW.com .
` ` True Story '' premiered on HBO . It was HBO 's biggest premiere since ` ` Boardwalk Empire '' and was up against Golden Globes .