Sadly, great content and business models clashed recently as two of the best shows on television were cancelled. HBO’s ‘Bored To Death,’ ‘How To Make It In America,’ and ‘Hung,’ will be no more.
What hurt the most was not knowing that the recently concluded seasons for these shows would be their last. Bored To Death, created by genius Jonathan Ames, starred Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson an amazing trio. The show, in its weird and wacky way, captured the details of Brooklyn and New York City. How To Make It, starring Bryan Greenberg, was filling a void in a post-Entourage world. The second season, which just ended, was superb and had amazing music curated throughout. Not surprisingly, fans across social platforms are not happy. Bluefin Labs provided us with some great data on comments around the linear broadcasts of the shows on HBO after the announcement had been made.
Bored to Death
- Bored to Death concluded its third and final season on 11/28/11. In its third season, the first-run episodes of the show received on average about 650 comments per telecast.
- From 12/20 to 12/21, we have seen over 3,600 comments in response to HBO’s announcement that Bored to Death is being canceled.
- Commenters were both upset and angry with HBO and HBO’s decision. Some of the most frequently used terms in audience comments included “sad,” “WTF,” “sucks,” “pissed,” and plenty others.
- Here are some sample comments that depict people’s reaction to the news:
o HBO I am so mad right now. I am happy you are bringing Enlightened back for a second season I am pissed you are canceling Bored to Death.
o HBO just cancelled Bored to Death. I am pissed
o I am very disappointed that Bored to Death has been cancelled, I really really loved that show.
o I’m so sad that Bored to Death got cancelled. :(
o I hate HBO for canceling how to make it in america and bored to death. I HATE YOU HBO :(
How to Make it in America
- How to Make it concluded its second and final season on 11/20/11 with a new episode average of about 4,700 comments per telecast. Certainly a more socially engaging series than Bored to Death.
- From yesterday 12/20 until 12/21 we have seen over 9,100 comments in response to HBO’s announcement that How to Make it in America is being canceled.
- The comments were similar to Bored to Death:
o Sad to hear that HBO is cancelling How to Make it in America, the show will not air a third season #HTMIIA
o No way HBO is canceling #HowtoMakeitinAmerica. It was the better version of entourage for a city kid.
o So how to make it in America gets canceled and I’ve never gotten depressed over a TV show before. #occupyHBO
o IS HBO KIDDING ME!!! CANCELLED HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA AND BORED TO DEATH WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.
Hopefully these shows will transform nicely into the cult genre that Arrested Development, Party Down and many others have turned into. At the very least, we’re confident that the amazing actors from these shows will show up a lot in new programs in 2012.
