Yesterday, HBO programming president Casey Bloys got a bunch of reporters together to talk about the looming mergeer between AT&T and its parent company, Time Warner, and its potentially monolithic impact on the television landscape. But—given that you can’t get a bunch of TV executives and TV journalists in a room together for more than a minute without the conversation turning to the medium itself—Variety also managed to snag a quick interview with Bloys about the network’s current block of shows.
Unsurprisingly, that chat included Westworld, which is currently the big name on the network’s roster. Bloys says he actually tracks fan theories on the series’ big overriding mysteries, and that at least a few commenters are “getting close” about the intentions and goals of characters like Ed Harris’ Man In Black. (So keep guessing, we guess, because apparently Bloys is watching.) He also noted that, despite the show’s initial popularity, he’s waiting to see more ratings before giving the J.J. Abrams-produced epic a second-season renewal.
Meanwhile, the executive also discussed his decision to cancel Vinyl (calling it, “Hard, because it means 250 jobs”), and his hopes for a second season of The Night Of (praising the series, while also noting that all those shots of John Turturro’s feet “did do a lot for psoriasis sufferers”) and the ongoing fear of the media boogeyman known as Peak TV.