Vinyl: Cancelled by HBO; No Season Two After All

The music has stopped. The Vinyl TV show on HBO has been cancelled. This reverses the decision HBO made to renew Vinyl for a second season, on February 18, 2016. Set in the 1970s New York City music scene, the drama stars Bobby Cannavale as Richie Finestra, a record label president who is trying to save his company and his soul without destroying everyone in his path.

The Vinyl TV series cast also includes Olivia Wilde, Ray Romano, Ato Essandoh, Max Casella, P.J. Byrne, J.C. MacKenzie, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Juno Temple, Jack Quaid, James Jagger, and Paul Ben-Victor. Created by Mick Jagger, Martin Scorsese, Rich Cohen, and Terence Winter, HBO describes Vinyl as featuring, “the sex- and drug-addled music business of the early 1970s at the dawn of punk, disco and hip-hop.”

This is not Bobby Cannavale’s first one-and-done TV show. He also starred as Trevor Pierce in the 2009 reboot of Rob Thomas’s Cupid TV series, which was cancelled after one season on ABC.

Olivia Wilde, who played his wife Devon Finestra on Vinyl, played Jenny Reilly on The Black Donnellys, which NBC pulled from the air during its first season. The network then made the remaining episodes available for streaming on NBC.com, before it cancelled the drama series.

TV Line reports HBO’s statement:

 

“After careful consideration, we have decided not to proceed with a second season of Vinyl,” HBO 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 Vinyl cancellation comes two and a half months after news broke that Terence Winter would not return for the second season, due to “creative differences.” Scott Z. Burns had been reportedly tapped as showrunner for Vinyl, season two.

What do you think? Did you watch the first season of HBO’s Vinyl TV series? Are you disappointed that Vinyl has been cancelled? Do you think Vinyl should have been renewed for a second season?