The Idol: HBO show cancelled after one season

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A young white woman and a slightly older black man sit on an expensive-looking sofa on a white marble veranda. They appear to be in a sunny country. Both wear sunglasses and she's sitting behind him, leaning on his shoulder. She's wearing a orange tube top and a skirt, her bare feet are curled up and resting on the edge of the couch. He's wearing a dark grey tracksuit top with black and red accents which looks retro. He's wearing trousers in a matching shade and resting one arm on the woman's knees.Image source, Eddy Chen/HBO
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Flop Idol: Lily-Rose Depp and Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye won't be reuniting for another season

TV drama The Idol - which had some of the worst reviews of the year - has been cancelled.

The music industry satire, starring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye, was blasted by critics when it was released.

Audiences were also unimpressed, and rumours of the show's cancellation began before its finale had even aired.

Studio HBO has now officially confirmed that The Idol won't be getting a second season.

A spokesperson said the show was one of its "most provocative original programmes" and it had been "pleased by the strong audience response".

They added that the company, creators and producers had agreed "not to proceed" with a second season, and thanked all involved for "their incredible work".

Many people thought The Idol was doomed when HBO cut its original six-episode run down to five, although the company issued a statement after the finale insisting its fate hadn't been decided, external.

The fall of The Idol

The Idol - created by Euphoria mastermind Sam Levinson - was met with excitement when it was first announced.

It follows the story of Jocelyn, a popstar played by Lily-Rose who gets involved with mysterious nightclub boss figure, Tedros, played by The Weeknd, who also co-created the show.

But the hype turned sour when reports of production troubles and a "toxic atmosphere" on set emerged.

The cast was forced to defend the show at a pre-release press conference where Levinson told reporters The Idol would be the biggest show of the summer.

That prediction turned out to be a little optimistic. When it finally landed, the response to the show was almost universally bad.

It was called "the worst programme ever made", "toe-curlingly naff", and criticised for alleged misogyny and shallow characters.

It currently has a 19% critic rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, external.

Sam Levinson and the cast haven't yet commented on news of the show's cancellation.

The Weeknd has been back to his day job, performing gigs at stadiums around the world.

Lily-Rose Depp is due to appear in the upcoming vampire film Nosferatu.

As for Levinson, he's been working on season 3 of Euphoria, but it's unclear when it will be released due to Hollywood strikes and the death of Fezco actor Angus Cloud.

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