LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: HBO never misses. The streaming giant has built a reputation for producing some of the most highly decorated and well-scripted shows in the past. ‘Succession', ‘Barry', ‘Game of Thrones', 'The Sopranos' reigned on television, and HBO ensured that it raked in tons of money on the back of these massively successful shows. But the channel seems to have made a blunder with one of its productions if ardent fans are to be believed.
‘Perry Mason’ aired for three years on HBO until the channel decided to pull the plug. After only two seasons and multiple rave reviews, the coveted legal drama has shut shop courtesy of the executives at HBO. The channel has decided not to renew the series starring Matthew Rhys and executive produced by Team Downey’s Robert Downey Jr and Susan Downey. HBO released a statement to Deadline, enlightening the viewers about their hasty decision.
“We are tremendously grateful for the remarkable work of Matthew Rhys and the unrivaled cast and crew of Perry Mason for their reimagining of such a treasured and storied franchise. While we won’t be moving forward with another season of the series, we are excited to continue working with the brilliant creatives at Team Downey on future projects.” When the news broke, the fans who were already distraught over the endings of ‘Succession’ and ‘Barry’ didn’t hold back to give HBO a piece of their mind. But some were angry at themselves, having not promoted ‘Perry Mason’ when it most needed it.
'You should've tuned in’
It was surprising to see a dedicated fan base of ‘Perry Mason’ taking on HBO on social media. There was a barrage of angry reactions to the news. The biggest voice was of a fan, typing in all caps and calling out all others for not supporting the show. “WHY DIDN'T YOU ALL WATCH IT!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! YOU ALL SHOULD'VE TUNED IN!!” One fan uses a Kendall Roy template from the ‘Succession’ finale to prove his point. “They canceled Perry Mason I'm climbing over the fence and Colin can't stop me.” A fan wanted to blame the marketing team while another defended the show with all his might. “This was the only remake that's ever been good. Faithful to the novels. Sad.” There was one fan who showed us the direction where HBO Max was heading. “And now they’ll replace it by adding more 90-Day Fiancé, Real Housewives, and baking competition shows. Poor Max going from first to worst.”
'This show has the best title cards in all of television'
A few fans were crying their heart out on Reddit as well. The sentiments were the same — defend the show and abuse HBO for its grave mistake. One fan wrote, “Not surprising, no marketing, years between seasons, this show wasn’t really given a chance. The writers' strike doesn’t help either, though I don’t think the strike affected this cancelation, but who knows. Big bummer.” Despite the impeccable storyline and character development, a fan drew everyone’s attention to the title cards of the show and said, "This show has the best title cards in all of television.” There was one fan who saw the reason behind this cancellation. “Ah, I see the new overlords are making budget cuts,” which seems to be the case since HBO’s head of drama Francesca Orsi in an interview with Deadline stated, "Each show has a job to do, given the price tag that we give to it, and there’s a viewership. component, and there’s a critical response element to it and of course, the buzz nature of a show. It’s those elements that we are always keeping in mind and discussing relative to whether or not a show will continue.”
Guess the fans will never forgive HBO for canceling one of their favorite shows in recent years.
