The Idol Hits Rock Bottom, Goes Down as HBO's All-Time Worst Series

Without a doubt, HBO is one of the most iconic and beloved television networks, responsible for producing such hit shows as The Wire, The Sopranos, Succession, and True Detective. However, the network's producers have also made a number of pretty terrible mistakes over the years, betting on projects like Vinyl and Luck, only to cancel those incredibly expensive series after just one season.

However, it looks like all of HBO's past mistakes have been surpassed this year, as Sam Levinson and The Weeknd's The Idol proved to be one of the biggest flops of this young decade.

The story of pop star Jocelyn being corrupted by cult leader Tedros looked like a very promising project on paper, especially considering that the show was created by Euphoria's Sam Levinson, a genius provocateur with a great eye for up-and-coming actors. However, viewers and critics hated The Idol the moment it premiered in June, arguing that Levinson and The Weeknd's series failed to deliver its intended message, while the writing itself left much to be desidered.

'It's pretty pretentious. It tries to pretend it's some profound social commentary but doesn't pull it off, instead just throwing out the most unsubtle exposition I've ever seen in a show in between [The Weeknd's] song clips and unsexy sex scenes,' one fan pointed out. 'It's basically all the most unappealing parts of Euphoria with considerably less interesting characters and relationships.'

And, as The Idol's Metacritic score confirms, it is officially the worst HBO series ever. As of now, the show has a ridiculous 2.0 user score and a dismal 27% from critics. And while you might think that HBO's biggest previous flop, the awful John from Cincinnati, was probably even more critically destroyed, that show actually scored an impressive 50% from critics.

Yes, it looks like The Weeknd and Sam Levinson have not only damaged their careers, but also the reputation of a giant like HBO, and the producers who were in charge of the series will probably be lambasted by higher-ups for years to come.

'I wonder if there's an HBO exec somewhere getting grilled at a meeting and just absolutely going through it,' one fan jokingly asked.

Source: Reddit, Metacritic.