HBO President On ‘Vinyl’s Demise, On-Screen Violence -TCA
HBO had renewed Vinyl for a second season and installed a new showrunner when the premium cable network reversed course and canceled the show. It was one of the first programming decisions made by Casey Bloys after he succeeded Michael Lombardo as President of Programming. At TCA’s HBO executive session on Saturday, he was asked about making the call to end the high-profile (and expensive) period drama from Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger.
“It didn’t land,” Bloys said about Vinyl. “With limited resources, we didn’t think the retooling was worth the producers’ time if it would only move the needle a little bit.”
Bloys noted that the experience had left a mark. “We will more carefully consider things; it’s not something that I’d like to do or relish doing going forward.”
There were a number of questions about on-screen violence against women on HBO series, with Westworld, The Night of and Game of Thrones mentioned.
“I can tell you that violence, it’s not just specific to women. It’s indiscriminate. Plenty of men are killed as well,” Bloys noted, listing a few examples of violence against men on HBO shows. After more questions about rape scenes featuring female characters, Bloys admitted, “I think the criticism is valid. It’s something that people should take into account. It’s not something we’re wanting to highlight.”
Drama is a relatively new area for Bloys who ran comedy for HBO until early this year when he also added drama series oversight.
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