The Idol has been canceled on HBO after a five-episode first season

The Idol has been canceled at HBO after just one season. HBO has chosen not to renew Sam Levinson and Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye’s controversial series, which was poorly received by critics and audiences alike. Season 1 ended after only five episodes, although it originally mentioned six episodes planned. This led many to wonder if the studio had ended the series early on due to hate viewing, although it was later claimed that this was a miscommunication. When rumors of a canceled second season began circulating in June, HBO’s PR team intervened say that no decision had been made.

“The Idol was one of HBO’s most provocative original programs, and we’re thrilled with the strong audience response,” an HBO spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. “After careful consideration, HBO, as well as the creators and producers have decided not to offer a second season. We are grateful to the creators, cast and crew for their incredible work. While some actors signed on for the series thinking it was a limited series, Da’Vine star Joy Randolph claimed in an interview that The Idol had always planned a second season and that HBO was “satisfied”. of the result. Despite his comments, HBO stopped showing viewership data after the first two episodes.

The premiere drew 913,000 views on HBO Cable and Max (formerly HBO Max), down 17% from co-creator Levinson’s previous hit series Euphoria (1.1 million viewers). Episode 2 dropped slightly to 800,000 viewers, after which the studio stopped releasing data. At the time, HBO attributed the decline in views to linear viewers, which made sense given that The Idol appeals to a younger demographic – most of whom would ideally prefer streaming platforms over the TV channel. . In India, the show has been made available for streaming on JioCinema, although Viacom18 has yet to reveal any measurements. The Idol opened to an average rating of 19 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with the main points of criticism being the overtly graphic sex scenes and lack of direction.

The show’s dialogue was widely talked about on the internet, especially the rude remarks uttered by The Weeknd, who played cult leader Tedros who invaded pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp)’s life. Last March, a report by Rolling Stone spoke of the unrest on the set of The Idol, where its original director Amy Seimetz (Upstream Color) left the project when 80% of the work was completed. The focus was supposed to be on the struggles and exploitation of a rising pop star in Los Angeles, before Levinson joined in and crushed most of Seimetz’s work to glorify the toxic relationship between Depp and the characters of Tesfaye. He also ended up directing all the episodes. It was also revealed that co-creator Tesfaye/The Weeknd felt the series was originally “too much geared towards a female perspective”.

All five episodes of The Idol are now available to stream on JioCinema in India and Max wherever available.