It has been discussed before in his other threads but this shouldn’t surprise anyone considering Abel has been going over the line of problematic for a long time. That’s why I’m bored with him, he has nothing new to say and he’s quickly becoming the poster child for toxic masculinity and this show seems like it’s finally going to be the thing that turns people off of him. The original concept for the show was interesting but we should have known Sam Levinson would be high on that Euphoria hype and take it to extremes. Disgusting. Also Abel can’t fucking act.
The Weeknd - Dawn FM
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HBO and Lily-Rose Depp have also doubled down and are standing being the show/Sam and the rewrites.
In a statement sent to Variety, HBO asserts, “The initial approach on the show and production of the early episodes, unfortunately, did not meet HBO standards so we chose to make a change. Throughout the process, the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment, and last year, the team made creative changes they felt were in the best interest of both the production and the cast and crew.”
Defending Levinson, Depp said in a statement to Variety, “Sam is, for so many reasons, the best director I have ever worked with. Never have I felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input and opinions more valued. Working with Sam is a true collaboration in every way — it matters to him, more than anything, not only what his actors think about the work, but how we feel performing it. He hires people whose work he esteems and has always created an environment in which I felt seen, heard, and appreciated.”
I also really don't think this is going to have much/any affect on The Weeknd's career as a pop star. Even if it's as bad as it looks/sounds, he's way too massive for this to have any meaningful impact. Outside of Twitter, this isn't a thing.
In a statement sent to Variety, HBO asserts, “The initial approach on the show and production of the early episodes, unfortunately, did not meet HBO standards so we chose to make a change. Throughout the process, the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment, and last year, the team made creative changes they felt were in the best interest of both the production and the cast and crew.”
Defending Levinson, Depp said in a statement to Variety, “Sam is, for so many reasons, the best director I have ever worked with. Never have I felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input and opinions more valued. Working with Sam is a true collaboration in every way — it matters to him, more than anything, not only what his actors think about the work, but how we feel performing it. He hires people whose work he esteems and has always created an environment in which I felt seen, heard, and appreciated.”
I also really don't think this is going to have much/any affect on The Weeknd's career as a pop star. Even if it's as bad as it looks/sounds, he's way too massive for this to have any meaningful impact. Outside of Twitter, this isn't a thing.
he/him
Yeah, it probably won’t. Especially because it’s mainly Sam who is getting a lot of the heat. That doesn’t make Abel’s involvement and “response” any less disappointing, though. But I guess we’ll see what the show actually turns out like (even if that clip he posted isn’t, um… good)
The full article on Variety does deny some aspects. They say the show was not scrapped. The only thing that was scrapped and reshot entirely was the pilot, so it sounds like the original footage is still being utilized. They also said that nobody has seen any final edits (which sounds like they’ll probably pull or tone down some of the alleged graphic scenes).
https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/the-weeknd-slams-rolling-stone-the-idol-report-hbo-1235540212/
Further to your point, HBO shows don't generally reach a massive audience. Breakout hits (e.g. Sopranos, Game of Thrones, SATC) are rare. They had probably the last remaining guaranteed bums-on-seats movie star in the lead of a show for years and even that didn't break out. Even if the show is a disaster, I'd expect it will simply come and go with little to no lasting impact on Abel's career or reputation.
I love all those shows (except Euphoria which I couldn't get into) but with a couple of exceptions, the noise about them on Twitter etc is well out of proportion to the number of people actually watching. Which is the point the original poster was making about the likely controversy around this.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one because I still believe that an HBO original is maybe second to Netflix when it comes to global reach especially when it comes to Abel’s key demographic that tends to be older and willing to pay for premium entertainment.
But I agree with you, I don’t think this is going to hurt him anyway.
What show/star are you referring to here?
I think the oversized Twitter noise vs actual show ratings is true of all a lot of TV right now though, not just at HBO, as the streamers are hesitant to reveal any actually tangible numbers (hence the bullshit "minutes watched" metric Netflix provides). It's also hard to cut through the noise and make projects that have actual staying power in the culture, and beyond the occasional Netflix smash, HBO is the one network people have come to expect quality and event programming at.
It's also true that not every HBO show cuts through, but I think a (probable) 100 million dollar++ HBO show starring The Weeknd and a million other famous people from the creator of Euphoria is absolutely designed and expected to be a smash hit. It's not like the show is some small indie production like Somebody Somewhere that can fly under the radar with a 0.0 in the demo (season 2 coming April 23rd!).
HBO is also at a transitional point as Euphoria is probably winding down, Succession is ending and House of the Dragon isn't back until fall 2024 or whatever. They wouldn't reshoot most or the entire thing if they didn't believe the project could potentially be their next big thing. It has to succeed.
I don't either think any of this will have much impact on the ratings, but if the show is as bad as it sounds like, then people might be less willing to stick with it than they are with Levinson's other show. Though as we all know too well from stanning our flop girl faves there's no accounting for taste or morals with the GP. I mean just ask Lily-Rose Depp's dad.
Not much actually, it's surprisingly common. The Game of Thrones pilot was reshot. Sometimes once it's edited and seen by the execs it becomes clear that although the execution wasn't giving, the story is still strong enough to try again with a new director/cast/whatever.
I think one big difference between all of the mentioned shows and what we've seen with The Idol is the acting.
Euphoria, White Lotus, etc all are known for amazing acting performances. The Weeknd and Depp are giving absolutely wooden and weak performances in the posted clip. Also Troye Sivan allegedly plays a sizable part and his latest movie was also horrifically acted. So I don't think this is going to be the award-show magnet the others are. Not to say it won't have an audience, but the prestige is not going to be present.
Euphoria, White Lotus, etc all are known for amazing acting performances. The Weeknd and Depp are giving absolutely wooden and weak performances in the posted clip. Also Troye Sivan allegedly plays a sizable part and his latest movie was also horrifically acted. So I don't think this is going to be the award-show magnet the others are. Not to say it won't have an audience, but the prestige is not going to be present.
I'm sorry but I am going to have to agree with @Mike on this one. HBO has undoubtedly delivered the best quality shows of the last decade, but a HBO hit doesn't compare with the viewership of a Netflix or network hit. What the shows do is drive a lot of conversation, specifically with the louder costal elites. The weekly viewership The White Lotus, Euphoria, Big Little Lies, Mare, Hacks or Insecure bring would get them canceled over at Netflix in two seconds.
The HBO business model has always been around retaining membership, even way before any streamers showed up. Ratings obviously help them, but they have renewed shows with ratings in the 0s before.
And then you have a series like Yellowstone that is watched more than any of these shows and you hear nothing about it.
I don't think anyone can compete with a giant like Netflix but you're also comparing HBO US ratings with Netflix global numbers. If HBO had an app that was available worldwide the numbers won't look that bad in comparison.
It feels like I'm on HBO's payroll with all my posts, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that The Idol is designed to exist on a platform like HBO and will garner a big exposure globally.
Literally nobody said the overall viewership compares to Netflix?
(But also... HBO isn't available in many countries, even the Netflix rival HBO Max isn't in the UK for instance, and there's no way of measuring illegal viewership of shows like White Lotus that seemingly everybody watched.)
(But also... HBO isn't available in many countries, even the Netflix rival HBO Max isn't in the UK for instance, and there's no way of measuring illegal viewership of shows like White Lotus that seemingly everybody watched.)
I’m howling at how bad the acting is there from all three. I haven’t seen a single ounce of talent from Lily thus far in her career.
I was gonna say, this just feeds into his appeal for most of his fans. And no one is reading trades like Variety beyond the coastal elites who watch all of HBO's programing slate, so it will hardly affect viewership - if anything, this will do a better trick at getting people to tune in out of morbid curiosity; as well as just making more people in the industry/on social media aware this show even exists. I doubt this being a hit or a flop will have much of an effect on anyone involved, unless it becomes as huge as the network's biggest shows... which has always felt unlikely.
Christ that clip feels like its from a bad reality TV show.
Considering the success of exploitative media like Pam & Tommy and Blonde just last year, I doubt this show is going to hurt Abel or Sam or any man involved. Unfortunately. Men stop telling stories about women solely as an outlet for your depraved fantasies challenge. Do that challenge.
Considering the success of exploitative media like Pam & Tommy and Blonde just last year, I doubt this show is going to hurt Abel or Sam or any man involved. Unfortunately. Men stop telling stories about women solely as an outlet for your depraved fantasies challenge. Do that challenge.
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