Cameron Crowe’s Roadies cancelled after first season
David Farnor | On 17, Sep 2016
Cameron Crowe’s Roadies has not been renewed for a second season.
The show, which was commissioned by Showtime in the USA and aired exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in the UK, marked the Almost Famous director’s first foray into television. The show was exec produced by the Almost Famous director, along with Emmy and Tony nominee Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life, Wicked), J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk and Len Goldstein. Kathy Lingg was co-executive producer.
The show starred Luke Wilson as the tour manager of a fictional band, with Carla Gugino, Imogen Poots, Rafe Spall and Keisha Castle-Hughes leading an ensemble of people playing the people in the background of the music business.
Despite the big names both in front of and behind the camera, though, the programme attracted mixed reviews.
“Crowe definitely manages to get across a sense of community, but he hasn’t populated it with recognisable humans,” we wrote in our verdict on the series.
“Is it only bad because he used to do so much better? Well, no. While a lot of the problems on display are consistent with the quality trajectory of the show’s chief creative force, the first two episodes showcase dodgy material that sticks out like a sore thumb, even outside of the auteurist echo chamber. The first one, in particular, is home to an embarrassing subplot concerning a stalker that veers so strongly into misogyny that the only reason it’s unlikely to inspire a thousand think-pieces is that most people might struggle to even get that far into the episode.”
This week, Crowe revealed that Showtime has cancelled the show.
“Thanks to Showtime and J.J. Abrams for the opportunity to make the one and only season of Roadies,” Crowe wrote in a blog post on his official site, where he also posted a video of the last day on-set.
“My mind is still spinning from the giddy highs of working with this epic cast and crew,” he added. “Though we could tell a thousand more stories, this run ends with a complete ten-hour tale of music and love. Like a song that slips under your skin, or a lyric that keeps speaking to you, we hope the spell of Roadies lingers. It was life-changing experience for all of us.
“So much appreciation goes out to the sensational actors and crew who lived and breathed these stories and characters with their whole hearts. We became a family, our own music-loving troupe. Thanks also to the musicians who lived so comfortably in the world of acting. And thanks to all at Bad Robot, and Winnie Holzman, great collaborators all. Big thanks to our fans for watching and cheering us on. We’ll see you soon with a new project… and many of the same actors, I’m sure.”
Roadies is available to watch online in the UK exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
Photo: Katie Yu/SHOWTIME