When it comes to HBO, everyone knows they make some of the coolest movies and TV series out there, but there are some that didn’t quite make the cut, such as these 7 biggest HBO flops of all time.
With titles such as fan-favorite Game of Thrones on the list, you’d think every show is a hit, but things aren’t always like that. Each has its own fan base, but always some will do better than others. True Blood, The Wire, Veep, True Detective, Deadwood, and many more are just some of the shows that hit HBO after the network financially supported all things related to them.
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Just like any other company producing movies, some of the shows are more successful than others. There are countless factors involved here, including the age bracket the shows target, the show’s type, the time they are broadcasting and so on, although the latter is less important nowadays since all shows are almost immediately available to watch online. However, some shows are simply going to be more successful than others and that’s that. For successful ones check our highest rated TV shows of all time.
To make our list we took a look at several other sites, including Goliath and Collider, looking for those shows that weren’t as successful as other HBO productions. Without further ado, here are the 7 biggest HBO flops of all time.
7. True Blood
Sure, there are plenty of fans of the show, and it ran for seven seasons, but by the end of it, everyone seemed eager just to wrap it all already. Why? Well, because it just went off the rails somewhere after the first season. The series is based on the Charlaine Harris novels, but it quickly takes off into a different direction than the books, such a different direction that everyone is left baffled. Fans of the show believe that Anna Paquin’s (Sookie Stackhouse) marriage to co-star Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton) heavily influenced the way the show went, favoring the relationship between the two characters when everything points in the opposite way. The ending of the series, which we won’t spoil, just in case you want to watch it, made everyone cringe to the high skies.
6. Luck
The show starred Dustin Hoffman, so it should have been a hit, right? One of the biggest names in Hollywood didn’t manage to make this show a hit, so what went wrong? Well, the show first aired in January 2012, and despite getting renewed for a second series, we never got to see it because, by the half of March 2012, it got canceled.
Since the show centers around horse betting, it’s animal safety concerns that actually got it canceled. That’s because several horses were injured and were later euthanized during filming. HBO said it wanted to make sure such accidents won’t happen again on its sets and decided to cut it short.
5. Lucky Louie
Louis C.K. is usually a name tied to success in TV series, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Lucky Louie. The show aired in 2006, and it didn’t manage to get past that first season.
C.K. plays a part-time mechanic at a muffler shop, and the filming is done with a live studio audience, like in the “good old days”. While the show depicts the average working class family lifestyle, it didn’t manage to connect with the audience. HBO ordered 12 episodes, which were filmed and aired, and the scripts for another eight episodes for a second series. It decided to cancel the show, however, before work even started on those, so that was the end of Lucky Louie.
4. John from Cincinnati
Another one-season wonder for HBO is John from Cincinnati, a show that ranks 4th in our list of biggest HBO flops of all time. It focuses on the surging community from the famous Imperial Beach in California. The show came from David Milch (Deadwood, NYPD Blue) and writer Kem Nunn and it only aired for one season in 2007.
Despite high anticipation following the pilot premiere, which happened after the series finale of The Sopranos, the show lost audience over the following weeks, dropping to about 3 million by the end of the season.
3. Carnivàle
Set during the Great Depression, Carnivàle tells the complicated story of a farm boy from Oklahoma and a minister that are caught up in a war between Heaven and Hell. Does this sound interesting? It does to us, and that makes it even more annoying that the show only lasted for a couple of seasons. So much wasted potential!
There were supposed to be six seasons of Carnivàle, but it was all cut short after only two, the show airing from 2003 to 2005.
2. In Treatment
Making its debut in 2008, In Treatment that ranks second in our list of biggest HBO flops of all time, is a drama produced by HBO about a psychologist and his weekly sessions with his patients. It started off with five episodes per week during the first and second seasons, reducing the number to four episodes per week during the third and final season.
The big idea behind the series was sitting there and watching someone’s therapy session. Well, it didn’t go that well with the public and the number of viewers dropped and dropped and dropped. Critics labeled the show as “tiresome”.
1. Vinyl
When Vinyl was released earlier this year it was meant to be one of the biggest shows ever to hit HBO. Martin Scorsese and Terrence Winter teamed up once more to bring a compelling story to the screen – the rock scene of the 1970s New York City. Bringing Mick Jagger to the mix was sure to bring the show the realness it needed. HBO put its trust and its money in the project, investing north of $100 million in the series.
Reviews weren’t that great, ratings weren’t that great either. Despite announcing a second season after the premiere of Vinyl, HBO changed its mind and decided not to proceed with the plans after all. That’s a big disappointment and a lot of money to spend on a show that you’re not even going to continue. All in all, this takes Vinyl to the top of the list of the 7 biggest HBO flops of all time.
