HBO Max rescinds season 2 renewal for Minx, will remove season 1 as well

It’s getting to the point where someone could make a reasonably well-stocked streaming service just by looting the dumpster that Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav has been tossing his tax write-offs into, with the Ophelia Lovibond and Jake Johnson-starring HBO Max comedy series Minx getting a double-dose of bad news today: Not only has its second season been canceled, despite having already wrapped production after being ordered in May, but the first season is set to be removed from HBO Max as well. This comes from Deadline, which notes that, “The timing of the latest move is likely tied to the end of 2022 calendar year for financial reasons.”

Minx starred Lovibond as a woman in the ‘70s who teams up with Johnson’s character to create the first erotic magazine targeted toward women. Elizabeth Perkins apparently had a recurring role in season two. Deadline says that Lionsgate TV, which produced the show, is going to shop around both seasons in hopes of getting them onto some other platform, with the company saying in a statement that it is “working closely to find a new opportunity for Minx, so current, and new viewers, can continue this journey with us.”

This is the latest in a long line of HBO and HBO Max projects that have been unceremoniously canceled (or renewed and then canceled anyway) over the last few years, and it’s also the latest in a long line of HBO and HBO Max projects that have been completely erased from the streaming service in some confusing attempt to make money.

And for those keeping score at home, this is also the second time in two years that a show starring Jake Johnson has been canceled after a new season was ordered—it previously happened with Stumptown in 2020. That was an ABC show and its second season was canceled because of COVID, but we wouldn’t be surprised if David Zaslav saw that and thought it was pretty cool. Very few people love to not make TV shows and movies as much as he seems to.