HBO pulls the plug on ‘Vinyl’

Despite a star-laden roster and Martin Scorsese producing (and previous announcements to the contrary), Vinyl has played its last tune on HBO.

The series starred Bobby Cannavale as a 1970s record label executive trying to hold his company, and his life, together. The show also featured Olivia Wilde, Ray Romano, and James Jagger.

“After careful consideration, we have decided not to proceed with a second season of Vinyl,” the network said 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 show had suffered from mixed reviews (HitFix”s Alan Sepinwall called the season “disappointing”), low ratings, and a bloated price tag. It”s estimated that the 10-episode season cost $100 million, with the pilot itself running around $30 million.

News of Vinyl“s demise can”t be good for HBO on a variety of fronts. Not only had they invested a lot of money into the series, but the network is looking to replace an aging roster of shows that includes Game of Thrones and Veep. Plus HBO has another hole in their schedule following the end of True Detective thanks to its season 2 debacle. And it must do this all with a new head of programming following the departure of long-time chief Michael Lombardo. He announced his plans to leave the network in May.

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