The latest big HBO Sunday night mystery show is here, and it is extremely weird. Yes, there’s a murder. And yes, it will spill out over the next six weeks. But DTF St. Louis is one of the oddest shows in the HBO staple. So odd that you might be wondering whether DTF St. Louis is based on a true story. And the little twist is that yes, it was based on a true story at one point… But not any more.
Spoilers past this point but the show focuses on St. Louis weatherman Clark Forrest (Jason Bateman) as he befriends ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter and big ol’ dummy Floyd Smernitch (David Harbour). They decide to join the titular app, which allows married people in the St. Louis area to hook up, and by mid-way through the episode, Floyd is dead at the local Kevin Kline pool… And it’s up a seasoned investigator, Detective Donoghue Homer (Richard Jenkins), and a younger one, Jodie Plumb (Joy Sunday), to figure out what happened. Somewhere in the mix is Floyd’s wife, Carol (Linda Cardellini), who works at Purina, as well as various other characters. And it sure seems like Clark may have killed Floyd because the latter found out Clark was banging Carol.
None of that happened in real life, of course. OR DID IT? No, it didn’t, but to explain why this might be confusing, we have to get into the true story that initially inspired DTF St. Louis.
DTF St. Louis Started Life As My Dentist’s Murder Trial
Back in 2022, HBO announced they were developing a series titled My Dentist’s Murder Trial. Written and Executive Produced by Steve Conrad, who also planned on directing the pilot, the show starred David Harbour and Pedro Pascal and was an adaptation of the New Yorker article, “My Dentist’s Murder Trial: Adultery, False Identities, and a Lethal Sedation,” written by James Lasdun (curiously the title seems to have been shortened since 2022 to simply “My Dentist’s Murder Trial”).
The article (in case your New Yorker subscription has lapsed) is a first person account of Lasdun watching his dentist, Dr. Gilberto Nunez, go on trial for murdering his patient by poisoning. The drug of choice? Midazolam, which is a sedative used by dentists. And the reason Nunez killed Kolman was Nunez was having an affair with Kolman’s wife. There’s more to it, like the lengths that Nunez went to in order to get Kolman’s wife to leave him, including impersonating a CIA agent. And then there’s another element, which involves Lasdun interviewing Nunez after the fact when he was out on bail.
Then in 2024, HBO announced they had greenlit DTF St. Louis, of which “the creative direction of the series evolved over time and is now based on a wholly original idea with no connection to the original article.” Pascal also left the series in the intervening time.
…So is DTF St. Louis based on a true story? Not according to HBO (or rather Variety‘s sources, who are quoted above). But the plot does seem similar, changing a dentist to a weatherman and jettisoning the reporter element for two cops. As for whether the rest will match up? We’ll have to keep watching to find out.
DTF St. Louis Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of DTF St. Louis premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max at 9 p.m. ET. Here’s what we expect from the full list of episodes in DTF St. Louis with premiere dates.
- Sunday, March 1, 2026: DTF St. Louis, Episode 1 – “Cornhole”
- Sunday, March 8, 2026: DTF St. Louis, Episode 2 – “Snag It”
- Sunday, March 15, 2026: DTF St. Louis, Episode 3 – “The Go Getter”
- Sunday, March 22, 2026: DTF St. Louis, Episode 4 – “Missouri Mutual Life & Health Insurance Company”
- Sunday, March 29, 2026: DTF St. Louis, Episode 5 – “TBA”
- Sunday, April 5, 2026: DTF St. Louis, Episode 6 – “TBA”
- Sunday, April 12, 2026: DTF St. Louis, Episode 7 – “TBA” *Season Finale*
Where To Watch DTF St. Louis
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