I didn’t watch or hate-watch The Idol, the HBO/Max series starring Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp. I saw some clips and, obviously, I covered some of the controversies with the show. It was really hilarious to watch, over the course of about a month, the buzz and promotion for The Idol to go from “this is a sexy TV show about exploitation” to “no, we’re in on the joke, Abel’s character is supposed to come across like a loser and a charisma-vacuum” to “this is a limited series, we never promised a second season, and there’s definitely not one missing episode.” So, yeah, after all of that, The Idol is not getting a second season. Find something else to hate-watch.
The Idol is one and done at HBO. The controversial series from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, will not be returning for a second season.
It’s not a huge surprise given the critical and commercial reception of the show, which starred Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp. It also came after extensive reshoots following the departure of director Amy Seimetz, as revealed by Deadline in April 2022, and a reduced order taking its total number of episodes to five.
Some of the cast did mention the possibility of a second season during interviews, though show insiders said that creators did not come into the production process with a plan for a multi-season arc.
“The Idol was one of HBO’s most provocative original programs, and we’re pleased by the strong audience response,” said an HBO spokeswoman. “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.”
First of all, are we already back to calling it HBO? I’m not complaining – the rebrand to “Max” was one of the dumbest corporate strategies I’ve ever seen. As for no second season… ten bucks says that HBO was perfectly willing to throw money at Sam Levinson to make a second season, but he was just too busy exploiting the actors on Euphoria. Plus, didn’t they film most of it in Abel’s mansion? Abel probably didn’t want to let those people into his home again.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Sam Levinson, Lily-Rose Depp and Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye attend “The Idol” photocall at the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 23, 2023 in Cannes, France.,Image: 778496867, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Huitel / Avalon
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- Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp attend “The Idol” photocall at the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 23, 2023 in Cannes, France,Image: 778498062, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Huitel / Avalon
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- Abel ‘ The Weeknd ‘ Tesfaye, Lily-Rose Depp and Director Sam Levinson photographed during the photocall for The Idol as part of the 76th Cannes International Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France on 23 May 2023.,Image: 778513454, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
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- Premiere of ‘The Idol’ during the 76 Cannes Film Festival. Featuring: Abel Tesfaye The Weeknd, Lily Rose Depp, Sam Levinson Where: Cannes, France When: 22 May 2023 Credit: IPA/INSTARimages **UK, USA AND AUSTRALIA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Premiere of ‘The Idol’ during the 76 Cannes Film Festival. Featuring: Abel Tesfaye, The Weeknd, Lily-Rose Depp and Sam Levinson Where: Cannes, France When: 23 May 2023 Credit: Aurore Marechal/Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- HBO Original Series ‘The Idol Premiere Afterparty at Cannes Film Festival. Featuring: Lily-Rose Depp Where: Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France When: 22 May 2023 Credit: Robert Smith/INSTARimages
Tbh I think The Idol cost way too much to produce and the audience was simply not there. Not even a kpop idol got people interested. All it got was viral tweets making fun of it. Also you just know The Weeknd got annoyed people were laughing at him. Euphoria has all those problems but people are actually watching it.
people weren’t even hate watching it much. the ratings were really terrible, especially for the amount of promotion and money spent. hopefully this means Abel will give up on acting and maybe Lily Rose will too.
I didn’t think this was ever in doubt. Shows that air fewer episodes than they make don’t get a second chance
Doubt it. Abel thinks he’s the bees knees and won’t quit and will probably get other chances. Lilly Rose I heard was actually kinda good and made the most of the horrible writing and direction.
I tried watching it and couldn’t make it past the third episode, but I was honestly surprised by Lily Rose’s performance and thought she did a great job with what she was given. I actually thought that all of the actors playing her team were the best part of the show. In my opinion, I think there was potential for a good show if they had focused the storyline around the Lily Rose character and her team and cut out all of the Abel mess.
“Find something else to hate-watch.”
“And Just Like That” has been renewed for a third season.
Literally my first thought. Although–unpopular opinion–but I think the second season was MUCH better than the first. The writers are still clearly sniffing glue in the writer’s room but something about all the characters is finally starting to gel, at least for me!
what in the world???? does SJP have some sort of majority share in HBO now or something? bc i cannot fathom why anyone would renew AJLT…the second season was just as bad as the first. and the Aidan storyline made NO SENSE, and they made miranda officially the worst character
That they vastly under promoted, then canceled Perry Mason, one of the best shows streaming, to pay the bills for this garbage??? HBO used to be the go-to for intelligent, well written, grown up programming. Now it’s Skinemax meets HGTV. So much for prestige. I canceled them when they canceled PM. 😑
WE WON! lol
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Lily-Rose Depp in this, really she was great and her story was great. Unfortunately every single thing about Abel ruined this. I couldn’t stomach were he was taking the show after the second episode. He was so awful I can’t even listen to his music when it comes on the radio anymore.
It’s a series, I thought it was a movie?!
I did not watch this but I enjoyed the reviews/tweets/memes mocking it.
Studios, networks, and streamers are tightening their belts; they can still afford cheap rubbish, maybe, but this show probably cost a bundle due to the ‘talent’.
I didn’t even bother to watch it based on really negative reviews by everyone.