‘Vinyl’ Cancelled by HBO

Vinyl, the high profile but troubled drama at HBO, will not see a season two. HBO announced that the series, about the music industry at the intersection of punk, disco and hip-hop in the 1970s, has been cancelled. “After careful consideration, we have decided not to proceed with a second season of Vinyl,” said HBO 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.”

The series had enticing auspices, with Mick Jagger, Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter among the creators, and Scorsese directing the pilot. Bobby Cannavale had the lead as a record executive tiptoeing between art and commerce. Vinyl debuted Feb. 14, and HBO took the unique step of ordering a second season just four days later.

But Vinyl but did not garner the critical or commercial praise commensurate to its hype.

Winter was taken off the project, with Scott Z. Burns hired to run the show for the second season, months before HBO’s change of heart.

Casey Bloys was promoted to HBO president of programing May 23, with longtime programming president Michael Lombardo departing.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.