‘The Idol’ Canceled By HBO

Perhaps the twisted minds of Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye were just too twisted for TV. The duo’s show The Idol was canceled by HBO after one season.

Set in the wild world of pop music, something Tesfaye knows very well, the series followed a star named Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) trying to make a comeback with a new album. While being pushed and pulled in different directions by her cadre of handlers, managers, and record execs, she’s also targeted by the enigmatic Tedros Tedros (Tesfaye), who she falls in love with. Over the course of five episodes, the duo tested each other mentally and sexually, leading to a climactic confrontation that — spoilers — left Jocelyn in charge, and Tedros wandering around a stage like a kid lost in IKEA.

In a statement provided to Variety by HBO, the network said, “The Idol was one of HBO’s most provocative original programs, and we’re pleased by the strong audience response. After much thought and consideration, HBO, as well as the creators and producers have decided not to move forward with a second season. We’re grateful to the creators, cast, and crew for their incredible work.”

It’s refreshing to not see HBO blaming this on the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the excuse many networks and studios have been using lately when they just don’t want to bring something back for a second season. However, it’s a little reductive to say the show had a “strong audience response.” While plenty of people liked the show, including Decider’s own Sean T. Collins and Meghan O’Keefe, plenty of people also hated it. On Rotten Tomatoes, the show garnered 19% from critics and 41% from audiences. Meanwhile, IMDb’s audience score was 4.8/10.

Your mileage may vary with the efficacy of review aggregators, though, so far more damning was the actual viewership for the series. While the first episode drew 913,000 viewers, rising to over 7 million with repeated airings and streaming on Max, episode 2 fell to 800,000 viewers. After that, HBO no longer released the viewership numbers for the final three episodes of the season… Never a great sign, and nowhere near the heights of Levinson’s HBO hit Euphoria; or what you might expect from the most streamed artist on Spotify (that would be The Weeknd, not Depp).

The slow ratings for the show led to viewers thinking the show was canceled during the airing of the season when news came out that it would be five episodes, instead of the originally announced six. That, however, was a decision made in advance of the season airing. And then a Page Six report attesting the show was going to be canceled due to Levinson’s alleged on-set behavior was vehemently denied by HBO on Twitter/X. However, this time, the show is really, for real canceled.

You can still watch the first and only season of The Idol on Max, at least until they disappear it like a lot of the other shows they want to pretend don’t exist (hey there, Westworld).