Despite ostensibly renewing Vinyl back in February, HBO announced Tuesday that there will be no second season. The cocaine-laced tour of 1970s rock never caught on with critics or audiences, despite the involvement of Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger. Showrunner Terence Winter was let go before work began on the new season, but the creative shake-up didn’t turn the boat around. According to Variety, new showrunner Scott Z. Burns was still sketching out the second season when word came.
HBO’s new head of programming Casey Bloys was behind the decision; Vinyl was developed by his predecessor. Before being promoted in May, Bloys oversaw some of HBO’s least golden-age-of-Televisiony programs, including Eastbound and Down, Flight of the Conchords, and the late, lamented Enlightened. Could HBO be slowly backing away from the age of the angry male antihero? If we’ve learned nothing else from Vinyl (and the 1970s), it’s best not to set expectations too high.
