Vinyl—the serially clichéd rock drama—wasn't the worst show HBO has ever produced. But was it bad enough to warrant HBO to cancel the show after one season (something it almost never does)? Hell, Ballers—the 'roided out, sports version of Entourage—will survive through a second season beginning in July.
"After careful consideration, we have decided not to proceed with a second season of Vinyl," HBO said in a statement. "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."
That's nice to say.
Here's the thing, though: no one expected Ballers to be a masterpiece of television storytelling. They expected it to be, well, exactly what it is. HBO wanted Vinyl to be its next prestige drama. They attached Terence Winter (of Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos fame), Mick Jagger, and Martin Effing Scorsese to the series. They spent $30 million on the two-hour opener, and it included a scene where the New York Dolls rocked so hard they literally brought the house down (which actually happened, but not in a shitty metaphor for the changing New York rock scene in the '70s way). They spent $100 million on the entire first season.
In the end, it drew meager ratings because you've seen the same plot 1,000 times already. But ratings have never been a huge concern for HBO. The real problem with Vinyl was that it made HBO look bad. They blew their money, their own reputation—and the reputation of some of the finest living artists!—on a show that combined all the worst parts of Mad Men and Almost Famous and somehow made that idea worse than it actually sounds.
At least they still have Game of Thrones...
