It’s looking like there won’t be an encore for The Idol (Sky Atlantic), the toe-curlingly naff and sexist music industry drama from pop star The Weeknd and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. If anything, the set has been cut short, with the show mysteriously trimmed from six to five episodes, the last of which confirmed it was not only the worst TV show of the year – but a potential turkey for the ages. It was the Dark Side of the Moon of terrible telly – so cringe-inducing it’s hard to imagine how it got off the drawing board, let alone on to our screens.
In a way, you have to credit the quality control. The Idol has maintained a consistent awfulness throughout. It began with Lily-Rose Depp’s Britney Spears-esque pop star Jocelyn insisting it was her prerogative as a strong woman to whip off her top for a photo shoot. Five weeks later, it ended with Jocelyn snogging her abusive mentor Tedros – aka the Weeknd – in front of a packed stadium in Los Angeles.
The audience was actually there for a concert by The Weeknd, who begged the indulgence of his fans last November to film footage for his vanity project. This was before a devastating Rolling Stone exposé claimed original show-runner Amy Seimetz had been squeezed out because, according to reports, she had brought too much of “a female perspective”.
It’s fair to say The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) and Levinson have corrected course. As Jocelyn, Lily-Rose Depp has spent most of her screen time in various stages of undress. In the finale, she performed yet another risqué dance routine, this time for the entertainment of a sleazy Live Nation executive (Eli Roth).
