The whirlwind surrounding The Weeknd’s HBO original series The Idol, which ran its first season this summer, is officially over. On Monday (August 28), HBO confirmed that a second season of the show will not be happening, less than two months removed from the airing of the Season 1 finale on July 2.
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“The Idol was one of HBO’s most provocative original programs, and we’re pleased by the strong audience response,” an HBO spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Deadline. “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.”
Initially, The Idol‘s first season was meant to include six episodes, as the show tells the story of a pop star named Jocelyn (played by Lily Rose-Depp) being taken under the wing of unorthodox music guru Tedros (played by The Weeknd). However, after the peculiar and explicit nature of the show was a frequent topic of discussion for viewers, the show-runners such as The Weeknd and co-creator Sam Levinson decided five episodes were enough.
Around this time, rumors began swirling that HBO had already decided to forgo a second season. But, HBO would soon deny this, claiming a decision had not yet been reached.
“It is being misreported that a decision on a second season of The Idol has been determined,” they wrote in a tweet. “It has not, and we look forward to sharing the next episode with you Sunday night.”
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After the finale, titled “Joceyln Forever,” released, some of The Idol cast members had already started looking forward to working on a second season, most notably Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who played the character Destiny.
“I see season one as setting up the world in great detail and character development, to set up a season two where it’s like, now we’re really going to get in the shit,” she said in an interview with GQ. “When you finish a project, it’s always like, ‘Is there a possibility for season two?’ And they’re always like, ‘Yeah, for sure!’ It’s everyone’s desire and intention to do a season two, and until we hear differently, that’s the plan.”
As noted before, though, Randolph and the entire team working on the series did, in fact, hear differently this week. And, according to Deadline‘s aforementioned report, “creators did not come into the production process with a plan for a multi-season arc.”
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