HBO exec explains decision to cancel Lovecraft Country

Last year, the 18 time Emmy-nominated series Lovecraft Country was one of HBO’s standout shows. After its season 1 finale, the fate of the series was left in limbo for months until it was finally announced this July that the series was canceled.

A solid reason was never given as to why HBO didn’t move forward with a second season. Part of the reason might be because the first season covered the entirety of Matt Ruff’s source novel,  but shows like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead are comfortable changing or going beyond the source material, so that can’t be the whole reason.

Now, HBO and HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys is speaking about the company’s decision to end the series. And to put it bluntly, it’s not a great explanation.

HBO exec explains Lovecraft Country cancelation

“When you make the decision to not go forward with a show, it’s usually a confluence of factors,” Bloys told Variety. “And that was the case here. It has to be something we think makes sense for us. In this case, we couldn’t get there …”

"I don’t think it would be fair to point at any one particular thing. I think that the work [showrunner Misha Green] did, and the recognition that it got, this doesn’t change any of that."

As Hypebeast mentions, Green had a well-thought-out plan for season 2 that included a “75-page Bible” full of her ideas.

The vagueness of Bloys’ statement comes off as a bit uncomfortable. Lovecraft Country was already a series that pushed boundaries when it came to discussions around the Black experience and racism in the U.S. And honestly, it was brave of HBO to greenlight a story like that because no other network had a series like it.

I could see HBO thinking that her season 2 ideas were going a bit too far when it came to pushing boundaries further. This, after all, was one of her ideas for season 2: a newly imagined segregated America.

The creativity factor is certainly there. And maybe we’ll look back at Misha Green as ahead of her time. Fortunately, she’s struck a deal with Apple TV+, and perhaps they’ll be more open to her ideas. And with luck, maybe some of her Lovecraft season 2 ideas will make it into whatever she’s got in store for Apple.

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