The two *leads* on TD are more interesting, IMO, than anyone on Fargo, and since the show makes no bones with concerned about anyone other than them I judge it accordingly. It never pretended to be an ensemble.
Lester and Malvo were tons of fun but they were drawn (deliberately I think) as cartoon characters most of…

Perhaps, but I know which approach I found more fun to watch.

Are you talking about police work in terms of the shows depicting actual police work by the characters, or in the more general sense of the nature of the job and the effect it has on said police officers?
I'd say TD wins on both counts, but I'm curious about what you mean.

If True Detective does encourage more A-list actors (even ones in the midst of a movie winning streak a la McConoughey) to do TV, that *is* a game changer. I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more 6-10 episode miniseries too thanks to TD.

Astute point. Whenever the comic relief cops had conversations in Fargo I was always reminded that someone went really out of their way to write that kind of dialogue.

Oh, True Detective easily. As someone else said, I'm sure Fargo just finishing will result in more residual love on this thread, but in a few months I think this question will be ridiculous. TD's quality permeated pop culture in a way Fargo didn't come close to.