Minx was one of my favorite shows that came out this year, and despite getting a second-season pickup, HBO Max has retracted that offer and will be pulling season one off the streaming service.
The show was a fun period comedy about a feminist writer in the ’70s named Joyce, played by Olivia Lovibond, who teams up with Jake Johnson’s character, an erotic magazine publisher, to create the first erotic magazine targeted toward women. It was funny, sexy, and had a lot of heart. And dongs. And we thought it was protected. But the proverbial condom broke.
Deadline reported that “until recently it was full steam ahead on Season 2 of the show, which added Elizabeth Perkins in a major Season 2 recurring role back in September.” This is a massive blow to the creators and just very chilling, considering how far this second season had gotten into production before being dropped. Pulling the show from streaming gives it no place to live and stops those involved from being able to get royalties from the project.
But that wasn’t the only series to get this news. Westworld and The Nevers are also being pulled from HBO Max. Westworld is a dystopian western series starring Evan Rachel Woods about a park made of life-like androids subjected to wealthy patrons’ desires. Its first season is among the most watched for HBO and won nine Primetime Emmy Awards. The Nevers is a Victoria-era supernatural drama created by Joss Whedon about a group of mostly women with abilities called “The Touch.”
Both series had already been canceled, but pulling the existing seasons from streaming means saying goodbye to easy access to one of the most popular and noteworthy new shows to come out of the platform. Deadline has said that “the HBO Max slate has been undergoing end-of-year financial review by WBD, leading to a slew of cuts.”
Within the creative industry, it feels like a death by a thousand cuts. Shows are getting canceled without any opportunity to grow because of how the new binge model works. If even getting picked up for a second season and getting 90% into production on that season doesn’t protect them from cancellation—what will? How will crews and casts feel safe? It undermines trust from the audience and in those making the media. Pundits have been saying that having dozens of streaming services wouldn’t be profitable in the long run. Where will the money come from when you can no longer get revenue from advertisements because people pay for ad-free packages?
I’m sad about Minx, but I’m also worried about what the future of entertainment will look like when half of all that gets renewed is just adaptations of other IP. White Lotus is a saving grace because it is so different from the House of the Dragon side of things, but we also do not see the same support for shows like Los Espookys or Gentleman Jack. It is just a weird experience to watch unfold. I love television, and while the age of excess has replaced the Golden Age, I wish we at least had more success around more niche works in that excess. I don’t feel like Buffy: The Vampire Slayer would not have lasted in this era, and that will always make me sad.
(via Yahoo News, image: Katrina Marcinowski/HBO Max)
