It's been a wild ride: HBO's "The Idol" has been canceled after just one season. The big names to boost the show like The Weeknd, Sam Levinson or Lily-Rose Depp weren't enough to save it – might be for the best, though.
The Idol has been controversial at best and disturbing at worst. The story of Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) who tries to rise to fame as a singer might sound like a cute little "chase your dreams" type of thing, but let her meet Tedros (Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd) and you'll watch her get into a violent world you probably wouldn't wish on anyone.
What started out as a show with six planned episodes by Amy Seimetz (She Dies Tomorrow, The Girlfriend Experience) ended up being a series with only five episodes by Sam Levinson (Euphoria) that dies after its first season.
"The Idol" Gets Canceled After Problematic Runtime
HBO announced the end of The Idol, ending all hope for season 2 (if there ever even was "hope"):
After much thought and consideration, HBO, as well as the creators and producers have decided not to move forward with a second season.
They also said they were pleased by the "strong audience response" (speaking of "no bad publicity" and stuff, huh?) and thankful for all of the people that worked on the show, including cast, crew and creators.
While the show was never meant to be a multi-season show, the cast still kind of teased a possible sequel to the story in interviews, obviously to no effect.
It wasn't even only the disturbing story of Jocelyn, the unlikeable-ness of The Weeknd's character or the forced shock-value by Sam Levinson that made the show as controversial as it was, even the production of the show has been a disaster.
After Amy Seimetz left and Levinson took over, he apparently scrapped the whole story that was meant to be about a woman reclaiming her own agency, an empowering tale with a strong message, and turned it into "torture porn" – it's not only uncomfortable for audiences, but also behind the scenes, according to Rolling Stone.
However, the nightmare is now over, as there won't be a season 2.
Nothing disturbing here, only high quality content: EarlyGame's YouTube.