Here's Why HBO Max Canceled Minx After One Season
HBO Max's "Minx" is no more. Variety reports that the 1970s-set comedy series about members of a company working to publish the first feminist porn magazine has been cancelled, despite already receiving a season 2 renewal in May 2022. In fact, according to Variety's sources, "Minx" was nearing an end on second season production, meaning it now joins a small group of recent series — including the TBS comedy "Chad" and the excellent Netflix show "GLOW" — whose renewals have been reversed after the cast and crew has already started working on the next season.
"Minx," which stars "New Girl" favorite Jake Johnson and "Guardians of the Galaxy" actor Ophelia Lovibond, is a sort of sex positive odd couple series about a down-and-dirty publisher, Doug (Johnson), who teams up with an initially uptight feminist, Joyce (Lovibond), to create Minx magazine, a fictional women's magazine that trades in both full-frontal male nudity and dense articles about social issues.
Along for the ride were Joyce's boyfriend Glenn (Michael Angarano) and her sister Shelly (Lennon Parham), plus Doug's assistant Tina (Idara Victor), porn star and centerfold coordinator Bambi (Jessica Lowe), and photographer Richie (Oscar Montoya). Ellen Rapoport created the series, and took to Twitter in the wake of the cancellation news, confirming Variety's report that the Lionsgate Television-produced series will be looking for a new home.
HBO Max keeps swinging the axe
Though "Minx" could rise again, its cancellation bad news for "Minx" fans and TV fans alike, as it sets further precedent for a streaming landscape that's much less stable than creators and fans previously expected. Variety points out that the cancellation likely comes as the latest cost-cutting move by HBO's parent company Warner Brothers Discovery, the same group that unceremoniously cancelled the "Batgirl" film and axed TBS and TNT's entire scripted lineups (including the above-mentioned show "Chad") earlier this year.
The company has also been steadily removing shows (including a significant number of animated shows) from its streaming platform, and Variety says "Minx" will leave the streamer soon as well. This, in particular, is a disturbing trend given that many of the shows in the modern streaming era are not granted home video releases, meaning that even the people who made a series may not be able to see it once it disappears from its streaming home.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO and President David Zaslav has been on an aggressive and quite public mission to save the company money after Warner Bros. merged with Discovery this spring. In October, WBD filed paperwork indicating that they plan to restructure and cut costs in a way that will likely involve scrapping around $2 billion worth of TV shows and films. This means that "Minx" likely isn't the last show we'll see meet a cruel fate despite previously seeming safe.
There's hope for Minx yet
Rapaport took to Twitter to say as much in the wake of the cancellation, referencing further programming cuts while also confirming that "Minx" may live on elsewhere. "I am obviously disappointed that Minx (along with several other shows yet to be announced) is leaving HBO Max," she shared. News also dropped yesterday that Joss Whedon's "The Nevers" and the once-popular sci-fi show "Westworld" would also be leaving the platform, though it's likely there could be more announcements to come.
The showrunner continued, "I'm proud of the show we've made and am confident that the audience will come with us to our new home," adding, "Thank you to the best cast and crew in the business." The first season of "Minx" was critically acclaimed, and it caught viewers' attention with its retro sex positivity and Johnson's confident performance. Hopefully, the series will land a new home soon.