The Idol canceled: Sam Levinson and The Weeknd’s series will not have a season 2

The controversial series with Lily-Rose Depp ends after only five episodes broadcast.

It’s official, HBO is (already) ending the series The Idol. The life expectancy of the series would have been only a few months. Created with Reza Fahim And The Weekndthe program of Sam Levinson (Euphoria) debuted on June 5 on the platform, after being presented at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

“The Idol was one of HBO’s most provocative original programs and we are thrilled with the strong audience response. After careful consideration, HBO and 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”, explained an HBO spokesperson to variety.

Our opinion on The Idol: an overly calibrated satire of show business (review)

The first season, shortened to five episodes instead of six, will therefore be the only one to see the light of day. I have to say that The Idol has had a journey full of controversies, right from its filming. In March, RollingStone in fact broadcast an investigation, with 13 supporting sources, to demonstrate that the show had “derailed in an extravagant and disgusting manner”, notably with a massive creative overhaul, and the replacement of director Amy Seimetz with Levinson.

At Cannes, the series received a very mixed reception and the broadcast on American TV was not very convincing (913,000 viewers for episode 1, 800,000 for episode 2.). Even if the Replay audiences were not catastrophic, the series especially suffered numerous criticisms concerning the hypersexualization of its female character, embodied by Lily-Rose Depp, scenes more vulgar than erotic, and a rather hollow scenario.

If The Idol is abandoned, Sam Levinson can still count on season 3 of Euphoria, which he teases as being darker than the previous ones. However, you will have to be patient: due to the actors’ and screenwriters’ strike in Hollywood, the sequel with Zendaya should not be released before 2025.