HBO Renews "Vinyl" for Season 2 after One Episode
February 18, 2016
by Kate Stanhope


HBO is investing in the music business. The pay cabler has renewed freshman drama "Vinyl" after one episode, it was announced Thursday.

The period drama hails from impressive auspices including Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and former "Boardwalk Empire" and "The Sopranos" writer Terence Winter.

Scorsese directed the two-hour pilot, which aired Sunday. Although the first episode drew small numbers (an average of 760,000 viewers), the renewal is not surprising given the talent involved in the prestige project.





The series stars Bobby Cannavale, also a "Boardwalk" alum, as a record label president in the '70s trying to save his company.

Other cast members include 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.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/hbo-renews-vinyl-season-2-867397

http://nypost.com/2016/02/14/how-vinyl-recreated-nycs-filthy-old-music-venues/

The HBO series used some digital work and some recreations to get the 1973 look just right. PLUS: Unpacking the pilot. (http://gothamist.com/2016/02/16/vinyl_history_scorsese.php)

HBO Cancels "Vinyl"
by Liz Raftery
June 22, 2016


Despite a previous renewal announcement, HBO has reversed course and decided to cancel its big-budget music industry drama "Vinyl" after just one season, TVGuide.com has confirmed.

Though it had huge names like Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger attached as executive producers, "Vinyl" never took off in the ratings (though it was quickly renewed for a second season shortly after the Season 1 premiere). In April, showrunner Terence Winter was dropped -- and things have only gotten grimmer for "Vinyl" fans from there.



"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 premiere reportedly cost $100 Million to produce.

http://www.tvguide.com/news/hbo-cancels-vinyl/

Regarding the decision to renew and then cancel "Vinyl", HBO's new programming president Casey Bloys said:

“The decision to pick it up was an optimistic one… With a little bit of distance… it really becomes about priorities. The tough decision came down to, ‘Are we going to get this from good to great?’ I didn’t know if we were going to make it. And if I’ve got limited resources, there are other things I want to do.”

http://tvline.com/2016/07/30/game-of-thrones-season-8-spinoff-hbo/