NewsWhy Dustin Hoffman's Luck Was Cancelled After One Season

Why Dustin Hoffman’s Luck Was Cancelled After One Season

HBO

We often see big TV series productions put down for various reasons, but the reason why HBO canceled “Luck” will shock you.

Luck was an American TV series created by Dustin Hoffman and David Milch and it is set in the world of horse racing. 

We don’t get too much horse racing action in big movies and TV series, which is why the “Luck” series was highly anticipated by horse racing enthusiasts. So, if you are betting on the 2022 Breeders’ Cup contenders, this series would probably ignite your interest. 

Unfortunately, we won’t see “Luck” even renewed for a strange reason that isn’t that common.

The Luck TV Series premiered on January 29, but HBO aired the first episode on December 11, 2011, as a preview. After getting so much attention and viewership, the TV series Luck got renewed for a second season of 10 episodes scheduled to begin in January next year.

So, why after a successful launch, the TV series Luck was canceled?

The Reason Why TV Series Luck Was Cancelled

HBO pulled the plug on the show in March after the first season changed into mired in controversy over several horses that died on set. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals accused the producers of the show of not taking proper care of their horses.

After a 3rd horse died throughout the production of the second season, the drama of the show became so big that needed to be canceled.

In an interview with Fox News, ostensibly to sell his directorial debut Quartet, Hoffman recalled the heartbreak of hearing that the display, on which he starred as a horse betting baron, is coming to an end. 

He additionally blamed PETA and the tabloid website online TMZ for spreading misconceptions about the remedy of the horses.

In canceling its hobbled race-track drama “Luck”, HBO contained a scandal that threatened to not effectively overtake one of its maximum high-profile TV series, but also put an end to a brand that took decades to build.

Three horses died while making the second series in a course of fewer than three months — killed at a higher rate than the sport that the TV Series luck represents. This gave the community a compelling motive to go out with a series that disenchanted regardless of an all-star pedigree.

Euthanizing the show become a radical decision that HBO made with unexpected swiftness. It also scored the network public members of the family points for displaying difficulty with the welfare of animals.

But the decision become definitely less complicated given the show’s unremarkable scores. A December preview of “Luck” drew 1.1 million visitors, with an additional 1.1 million tuning in for the respectable most advantageous in January.

The December airing shed almost two-thirds of its lead-in, the second-season finale of “Boardwalk Empire,” which drew 3 million views.

Ratings are nowhere near as important to a subscriber-based totally community like HBO as they may be to an ad-supported one. But ratings are, of the route, a demonstration of what the subscribers like.

The presence of Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, and executive producers David Milch and Michael Mann helped cover the fact that the situation with “Luck,” the so-called Sport of Kings, turned into a hard promotion from the beginning.

Horse racing has been on the decline for a decade, and has struggled to capture a more mainstream target audience. The consulting corporation McKinsey & Company stated as a good deal, noting that most effective 35 percent of Thoroughbred racing lovers considered themselves “proud” fanatics, compared to 66 percent for different sports.

Final Words

We still don’t know whether or not horses weren’t properly taken care of when filming the show, or if it was only an accident. However, HBO didn’t want to get involved in something that gathered so many negative comments on how they treat animals.

Like it or not, Luck was one of the best horse racing TV shows ever made, and it would have been incredible to see it in a couple of seasons. With that said, it is safe to say that the “Luck” example showed big production companies the importance of taking care of animals on set.

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