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Martin Scorsese, Who Executive Produced the Failed HBO Series ‘Vinyl,’ Reveals What Went Wrong

Oct 25, 2018  •  Post A Comment

Martin Scorsese says the way a top film director can get a TV show to work is for the director to “do everything” on the show — something that didn’t happen with the failed HBO series he was recently a part of, “Vinyl.”

Scorsese thinks the series “would have turned out differently if he had directed the entire show, instead of just the pilot,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, which notes: “Scorsese exec produced the high-profile show, about the adventures of a 1970s New York music executive, together with Mick Jagger, with Terence Winter (‘Boardwalk Empire’) as showrunner.”

Scorsese discussed the show at the 2018 Rome Film Festival.

THR notes that “despite the pedigree, and its $100 million budget, the series was a flop and HBO dropped it after a single season. The show’s two-hour premiere attracted just 764,000 viewers, one of the smallest ever showings for an HBO debut. HBO later cut ties with showrunner Winter on season 2 over creative differences, before abruptly cancelling the show altogether.”

“Scorsese had been trying to develop the project with Jagger for 20 years, initially as a film before deciding to do it on TV,” THR notes.

Said Scorsese: “It was ultimately tragic for me because we tried for one year. I did the pilot. We tried for one year with HBO, but we couldn’t get the creative elements together. It was something that I realized, in order to make it right … I think I would have had to direct every episode and be there for the three to four years.”

4 Comments

  1. It was also quite boring and never gelled plot-wise. That has more to do with writing than the director.

  2. It was a ridiculous stinker from the word go.

  3. Bill (above) is right who cared about any of the characters and their self-indulgent ‘stories’? I dropped out after ep 2. zzzzzzzzzz

  4. That’s a shame, i just saw season 1 and i think is really good, not only the pilot but the entire season, i think david bowie was great, also Alice Cooper and to see the Ramones and the New york Dolls is genius, i think that people may give the show a second chance and they would realize is a great show.

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