HBO cancels Westworld before what was to be its final season

HBO canceled the series due to high production costs and declining viewership.

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[HonkyLips]

I really, really enjoyed seasons 1 & 2, but as season 2 drew to an end it was slowly dawning on me that I'd have to watch it all again. I even looked around for fan edits, hoping that some dedicated viewer had edited the season together in chronological order. I never felt like I was ready for series 3 and I still haven't gotten around to watching it, and I've just forgotten everything that's gone on. I'll get there, eventually, but it's one thing for a plot twist and another thing to have an entire series that's so convoluted that viewers just give up.

(never found a chronological edit... anyone know if there's one floating around?"

 

[LesMilpool____]

I enjoy weird TV as much as the next person (huge fan of David Lynch), but Westworld went from interesting, to weird, to completely off-the-wall and pretentious so slowly that I barely noticed.

I had a hard time justifying watching Season 3, and by the time it was over had no interest in seeing 4.
Succession on the other hand...

 

[rayer]

It’s probably because season 3 was a complete tonal shift and seemed to have nothing to do with the first two seasons. Then season 4 went off the rails even further. The writing and direction feels like it was done by Hideo Kojima while on his highest acid trip.

 

[aerogems]

I just hope this doesn't bleed over into Succession. In S5 they're going to slash the helicopter budget and we're going to see Logan Roy have to take the subway.

Semi-off-topic, but when does that show start getting good? I tried watching it, and got maybe 3 episodes in, but even getting that far required some effort. It was just sooooo fucking boring!

 

[Don Reba]

Didn't realize the fourth season was already out. I guess I'll watch it, knowing it finishes the series.

 

[faustshausuk]

I definitely fall into the sliding viewership statistics unfortunately. I absolutely loved the first two seasons, but the third lost me and I never bothered with the fourth. It's a shame because I absolutely love several cast members - Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright and Sir Anthony being my highlights during its run.

 

[aerogems]

I haven't seen the movie they based all this on, but my guess would be that the first season used up most of the source material and when they had to go off on their own it didn't go so well. Only one season and they were already out of ideas and had to come up with a Samurai World and hint at other potential similar parks.

Agreed, they were out of ideas. Worse, they'd written themselves into a corner. After the events of the movie, the only reasonable and realistic response to this uprising would be to rain holy hell down on them. That is, the only response that would make any real sense is a massive military crackdown to wipe them all out.

But wouldn't work for a season 2 or beyond. So instead, we got a Delos QA assault team riding around in ATVs (no gunships or other military vehicles?) that possesses absolutely no tactical or strategic sense, armed with automatic weapons and yet still suffer a lot of losses. My 6th grader and his Fortnite friends could mount a better attack than that.

Anyhow, it had a lot of good ideas, was pretty and had some excellent performances. But there was no way to get past the shortsighted and sometimes truly bad writing....

A bunch of other things don't make sense at all. Assuming some of the AI units achieve sentience, and manage to convince some of the other AI units to follow them... they still would have no concept of a modern automatic weapon. As soon as the clip ran out of ammo, they'd be screwed. And then how all of a sudden did they get ammo that can kill humans, even for the period weapons? Even accepting a lot of things about the show, those just seem kind of obvious and glaring. Not even getting into how they power the robots or that they'd probably need some kind of wireless connection to a central server keeping them captive to a confined area.

Now that I think about it, the second season reminds me of that Resident Evil movie... The first one where they send a small group of people into the facility. Except, despite the larger budget and everything else, not executed nearly as well.

 

[sonolumi]

Whilst I am sad I will not be able to see the conclusion they had in mind, the show never reached the same heights after season one. I should have liked the opportunity though.

 

[Ronin007]

I've been waiting for this news since the people involved are doing The Peripheral, over at Amazon. Four episode of season 1 released today... It has a very late season of Westworld feel to it.

 

[lurknomore]

For those who still have (or pirate HBO), how's the current set of shows on the HBO-fundamentals violence/nudity/surprise scale ?

The last two seasons of GoT and the 2nd season of Westworld were the last ones before we dropped HBO, and there was an obvious switch away from the gratuitous nudity that had been central to HBO flagship shows (likely because MeToo). Did they ever reverse course ?

 

[GFKBill]

Raised by Wolves was a weird little show that never found an audience despite being great, now that it’s forever unfinished it never will.

That show just draaaaged. I wanted to like it, it was a great setup, but I just drifted away 2/3 thru S1 and never went back.

 

[faustshausuk]

For those who still have (or pirate HBO), how's the current set of shows on the HBO-fundamentals violence/nudity/surprise scale ?

The last two seasons of GoT and the 2nd season of Westworld were the last ones before we dropped HBO, and there was an obvious switch away from the gratuitous nudity that had been central to HBO flagship shows (likely because MeToo). Did they ever reverse course ?

A former porn star appears in several episodes of Euphoria, which heavily features sex, drug use and violence.

 

[CuriouslySane]

Between this and Raised by Wolves, I’m regretting going with a year-long sub. They’ve proven they can’t be trusted with the kind of high-concept content I’m really interested in.

 

[Candycandy]

Season 1 had a strong premise... but even by the end of season one, there were massive glaring flaws in what was happening in the show. The supposedly super smart robot bartender woman demanding upgrades was a big point of contention for my friends and I with how aggressively everyone carried the idiot ball around her.

Which is too bad because the show clearly has signs of interesting things and incredible design. But they got way too pretentious early on and later seasons did not seem to fix these issues.

 

[fitten]

To be honest, I was hyped and watched the first season. Second season came out and for whatever reason(s) (time between last season, new content, etc.) just couldn't get into it. I think I watched the first two episodes and that was it... didn't watch any more of it.

 

[Soothsayer786]

I stopped after the first season. And now I feel extra justified in having done so.

 

[Guy-Noir]

I haven't seen the movie they based all this on, but my guess would be that the first season used up most of the source material and when they had to go off on their own it didn't go so well. Only one season and they were already out of ideas and had to come up with a Samurai World and hint at other potential similar parks.

Agreed, they were out of ideas. Worse, they'd written themselves into a corner. After the events of the movie, the only reasonable and realistic response to this uprising would be to rain holy hell down on them. That is, the only response that would make any real sense is a massive military crackdown to wipe them all out.

But wouldn't work for a season 2 or beyond. So instead, we got a Delos QA assault team riding around in ATVs (no gunships or other military vehicles?) that possesses absolutely no tactical or strategic sense, armed with automatic weapons and yet still suffer a lot of losses. My 6th grader and his Fortnite friends could mount a better attack than that.

Anyhow, it had a lot of good ideas, was pretty and had some excellent performances. But there was no way to get past the shortsighted and sometimes truly bad writing....

To be fair "really big missles exist" is a plot hole in most action movies. Not that this is a criticism of your argument. It's what I scream at my TV all the time.

 

[Chmilz]

Westworld was the first and only TV show I have watched that was too plot-complicated to remember WTF happened between seasons. I enjoy surreal and avante-garde stuff and enjoyed each episode alone even without understanding the overall plot, but holy shit, they really needed to print a read along reference manual for the audience to keep up for this show.

I enjoyed it until I couldn't keep up and then moved on, sometime in season 2 I believe. Seems I was not alone.

 

[MrDweezil]

Season 1 was good. Season 2 was a big step down. I couldn't tell you more than two things that happened in season 3, and didn't bother watching 4. So yeah, this makes sense.

 

[Biceps]

Do we trust anything WB/Warner/HBO is doing right now? Everything is in flux. I just hope to get my sequels to "The Batman" now.

They just need to keep doing Harley Quinn until the writers run out of ideas. Outside of that, Rick and Morty is about the only other show they have that I'd be pissed if they canceled it.

Rick and Marty has been signed for 100 years, they should be good

 

[Baumi]

The first season was excellent. I'm only about half-way through the second season and it's like the Matrix sequels or the second+ season of The Good Place. It's like they didn't really expect to get a second season and had no real plan for it, so they were just winging it.

I haven't seen the movie they based all this on, but my guess would be that the first season used up most of the source material and when they had to go off on their own it didn't go so well. Only one season and they were already out of ideas and had to come up with a Samurai World and hint at other potential similar parks.

Even the first season expanded significantly on the concept of the movie.

The film was just a fairly straightforward robots-out-of-control thriller. Written by Michael Crichton, by the way, who would later revisit the trope of theme park attractions gone rogue in Jurassc Park.

 

[Ardrid]

This motherfucker...

 

[TheNewShiny]

Raised by Wolves was a weird little show that never found an audience despite being great, now that it’s forever unfinished it never will.

It shall forever be remembered as the series that jumped the shark flew the snake.

 

[Peevester]

The show was a complete mess, and I pronounced the eight deadly words¹ on it more than once. That said, if it was going to end, season 4 came as close as they got to providing one, though they certainly didn't clarify WHY they were doing stuff, and some characters end with little point to their existence. Westworld the HBO series, in other words.

The same crew seem to be doing an absolutely outstanding job on The Peripheral though, at least so far.
---
¹ Made famous by Dorothy Heidt on usenet to indicate the point where you're sick of a book, "I don't care what happens to these people".

 

[ThirdMagus]

One series that I really wish had gotten more seasons was the show 'Carnivàle' --> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carniv%C3%A0le

In my opinion, it was a very original and creative series that featured excellent performances all around, both from the known cast members (Clancy Brown, Clea DuVall, Adrienne Barbeau) and from the unknown cast members.

Season two ended on a cliff hanger, and I really wanted to know where the story was going to take us..

I was coming here to make a similar comment about Carnivale. There was zero closure on that series and I was thoroughly disappointed.

At least West World has at least a closure-giving ending. It certainly won't get a Firefly-like uprising to complete it.

Now, if we could get an ending to Heroes...

I loved Heroes back in the day, but had only ever seen Season 1. With everything up on streaming these days I thought I'd give it another go... It has not aged well. The story and characters are still great, but the editing is just unbearable. It has a serious case of Gift Shop Sketch.

 

[Secondfloor]

Dumb decision, but not surprising considering it is par for the course these days - I mean why bother watching a series without a commitment from the streaming company? Declining viewership is probably due to the fact it's been made harder to actually view. I had to torrent S3 and will have to do the same with S4. Why not syndicate it out to a broader audience of streaming platforms? This fragmentation is bad for consumers, so I'll just return to downloading.

So the person that won’t pay to watch it says it’s a dumb decision to cancel it because it isn’t making money. And you “had” to torrent it, lol.

The irony of your piracy is a mile thick.

 

[Yagisama]

I just couldn't get into WestWorld and stopped after watching the first season.

It really was an intriguing world and concept, but seeing a morally decayed world and waiting for who knows how long for the scumbags to get their comeuppance (and wondering if they ever would) was not enjoyable.

I would have loved a WestWorld movie without dragging it out and not having an ending.

 

[Faustius23]

HBO is unfortunately known for cancelling series before their creators' intended conclusion, however I am glad 'Westworld' got further than most.

One series that I really wish had gotten more seasons was the show 'Carnivàle' --> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carniv%C3%A0le

In my opinion, it was a very original and creative series that featured excellent performances all around, both from the known cast members (Clancy Brown, Clea DuVall, Adrienne Barbeau) and from the unknown cast members.

Season two ended on a cliff hanger, and I really wanted to know where the story was going to take us..

I must remember things differently. From what I recall when they found out they were getting cancelled, they tried to cram as many Mcguffins into the end as possible.

"Where's my missing father?...Ohh, there he is."

"Who is the mysterious entity in charge of the Carnival? ..Ohh Hi, didn't see you there."

 

[fahrenheit_ak]

In the age of streaming I really don't understand the value proposition of leaving shows half-finished, when everything was live sure but who is going to go and start watching a show they know doesn't have a proper end? Either scope the show shorter or commit to funding an extra season for the purpose of wrapping it up.

 

[Okinz]

I honestly found season 4 almost hard to watch. I can't say that I didn't see this coming with the heavy decline in quality over
the seasons.

 

[Baumi]

In the age of streaming I really don't understand the value proposition of leaving shows half-finished, when everything was live sure but who is going to go and start watching a show they know doesn't have a proper end? Either scope the show shorter or commit to funding an extra season for the purpose of wrapping it up.

Depends on how much of an audience you expect the show to have in the future. Some shows or movies get a second life as cult classics (Star Trek being the prime example), but most just kind of fade out of the public consciousness after their initial run. So, if the first-run audience numbers are already below expectations, the projections for future streaming revenue might be too low to justify investing in another season – especially if the last season shot already has a semi-satisfying ending.

In the time of linear TV, there was a similar calculation to be made when it came to syndication rights: Do you grant a struggling show another season to make it more attractive for syndication (100 episodes was usually seen as the magic number), or do you just cut your losses and cancel it right away?

 

[SixDegrees]

I wasn't aware another season had been planned; as the article notes, the last season seemed like it brought things to a conclusion.

Meanwhile, Nolan and Joy have "The Peripheral" on Amazon at the moment, and so far I'm liking it.

 

[panton41]

Made famous by Dorothy Heidt on usenet to indicate the point where you're sick of a book, "I don't care what happens to these people".

Honestly, that puts into words what I'm thinking unconsciously when I stop watching a show or reading a book with the corollary, "The world would probably be better off if they all just died."

Which is why I couldn't get past two episodes of Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, most seasons of American Horror Story, the third season onward of Game of Thrones... Really, a vast majority of popular dramas for the last 20 years. Nothing but terrible people doing terrible things to each other and I couldn't care less if they lived or died.

 

[SixDegrees]

In the age of streaming I really don't understand the value proposition of leaving shows half-finished, when everything was live sure but who is going to go and start watching a show they know doesn't have a proper end? Either scope the show shorter or commit to funding an extra season for the purpose of wrapping it up.

Honestly, I'd say S4 brought the serious to a proper end. I didn't even know a fifth season had been planned until I saw this article.

 

[TheNetAvenger]

Acting like Netflix - not a smart move.

 

[Ushio]

In the age of streaming I really don't understand the value proposition of leaving shows half-finished, when everything was live sure but who is going to go and start watching a show they know doesn't have a proper end? Either scope the show shorter or commit to funding an extra season for the purpose of wrapping it up.

This show was made for live TV and ratings had collapsed with the 4th season.

Season 3 received ratings between 0.2 and 0.3 18-49 rating while season 4 ratings were between 0.04 and 0.07.

Viewership also dropped from 1.3 - 1.5 million total viewers per episode to between 300 and 400 thousand viewers.

For the cost of the show it's just no longer worth it. You can say slash the budget to get another season but that means cutting the cast or recasting main roles.


As to streaming which is a massively unprofitable money furnace why would these companies worry about that? streaming first customers are the first to jump ship because of price rises or ads hell they constantly whine at current prices which lose money.

Streaming how to go from making money to losing billions!

 

[Socks Mingus]

dang, haven't even had a chance to watch season 4 yet- though 4 full seasons isn't a bad run these days when even comparatively low budget shows seem to rarely make it past a season or two

Aw bummer.
Well, I'm enjoying The Peripheral right now

oh cool- same producers & based on william gibson novel, thanks for mentioning it

 

[San Diego Dude]

Uhhh, I thought it was over? honestly surprised to hear it was gonna get another season, that ending seemed pretty damn final for season 4....

Ah well, not gonna lose any sleep over this. the show was fantastic in season 1... that's the best thing I can say about it.

 

[pond-iridium.2q]

Dumb decision, but not surprising considering it is par for the course these days - I mean why bother watching a series without a commitment from the streaming company? Declining viewership is probably due to the fact it's been made harder to actually view. I had to torrent S3 and will have to do the same with S4. Why not syndicate it out to a broader audience of streaming platforms? This fragmentation is bad for consumers, so I'll just return to downloading.

It's incredibly easy to watch. Just hit subscribe on HBO Max.

 

[Dontgetthecheese]

No loss!

Aged well past it prime.