HBO to debut Ballers and The Brink after True Detective

By Sam Barsanti | April 9, 2015 | 10:30pm

Aux Features TV

HBO just gave us our first (moody) look at the (oh, so moody) second season of hit drama True Detective this morning, and now we know that the network will also use that show’s premiere to help boost a pair of (not especially moody) comedies: Ballers and The Brink. Both will debut immediately after True Detective on June 21—or, rather, Ballers will debut immediately after, and The Brink will debut 30 minutes after that. As we’ve previously reported, Ballers is basically Entourage with athletes, and it stars Dwayne “Rockman” Johnson as a retired football player who now hangs out with Rob Corddry, Troy Garity, and John David Washington.

The Brink is about three men who have to save the world after a bad guy takes over Pakistan’s arsenal of nuclear weapons (it’s a comedy, we swear), and it also stars famous people—none of whom are Dwayne “Nickname Joke” Johnson. Tim Robbins will play Secretary Of State Walter Larson, Jack Black will play Foreign Service officer Alex Talbot, and Pablo Schreiber will play ace Navy fighter pilot Zeke Tilson—formerly ace Navy fighter pilot Zeke Callahan, which was a much cooler name. Together, True Detective and these shows will help provide HBO with another thrilling summer of tonal whiplash.