HBO has changed its mind on a second season of the rock’n’roll drama about the 70s music industry, announcing that the show will not be returning for a sophomore series.
The show, which boasted star executive producers in the form of Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger, plus Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter as showrunner, had been moving toward a second outing despite a poor critical reception for its first season. However, HBO said in a statement that after consideration, it had decided to U-turn.
“After careful consideration, we have decided not to proceed with a second season of Vinyl,” HBO said in a statement, as reported by Deadline. “Obviously, this was not an easy decision. We have enormous respect for the creative team and cast for their hard work and passion on this project.”
The decision comes after the cable giant installed Casey Bloys as head of programming, and after Winter was removed as showrunner to be replaced by the Bourne Ultimatum writer Scott Z Burns.
Vinyl had been in development for 20 years, with Jagger and Scorsese trying to make it into a movie before working with HBO to bring the story of Richie Finestra, the music executive with addiction issues, to the small screen.
Some critics praised its honest portrayal of addiction, while others struggled with its nostalgia for a period that felt like a foreign country to many younger viewers and relied on the “anti-hero” trope seen in shows such as The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire.
HBO recently announced its shows for this September, with the channel opting to pair sci-fi film remake Westworld with Sarah Jessica Parker vehicle Divorce and former cult web series High Maintenance.
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