Two years after its rebrand, HBO Max has officially returned. As it remains one of the best streaming services, the platform has gone through quite a few name changes over the years, and changed to Max in 2023 following WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery. Now, HBO Max is back in full force, but unfortunately, not every original show streaming with an HBO Max subscription has made the jump. It seems like one of the streamer’s first moves under its reclaimed name is to cancel a show that has an impressive rating.
Less than a week after its Season 1 finale, the J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan crime drama Duster has been axed, per Deadline. Duster has a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making the cancellation all the more puzzling. However, despite being the coolest show streaming right now, the series wasn’t able to produce a lot of interest. So, although it was able to stay in the Top 10 on HBO Max, it hasn’t cracked Nielsen’s Top 10 list for streaming originals. In a statement to Deadline, HBO Max said:
While HBO Max will not be moving forward with a second season of Duster, we are so grateful to have had the chance to work with the amazingly talented co-creators J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan, and our partners at Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television. We are tremendously proud of this series led by Josh Holloway and Rachel Hilson, and we thank them, along with our cast and crew, for their incredible collaboration and partnership.
This news is even more depressing knowing that fans have been waiting five years for Duster, and that’s not an exaggeration. The series was originally ordered in April 2020, and filming was completed a while ago. Sources say that the cast options had expired and were not extended, but it’s unknown if this played a part in the cancellation. Studios WBTV and Abrams’ Bad Robot reportedly quietly shopped the series around to other platforms but were unsuccessful in finding it a new home when it was clear that a cancellation was imminent.
Duster premiered on May 15 and stars Josh Holloway, Rachel Hilson, Asivak Koostachin, Sydney Elisabeth, Benjamin Charles Watson, Camille Guaty, Adriana Aluna Martinez, Greg Grunberg, and Keith David. Set in 1972, it centered on the FBI’s first Black female agent who recruits a getaway driver in the Southwest in an effort to take down a growing crime syndicate.
Duster is just one of many one-season shows to be canceled, and it's another tragic addition to the list of series ending in 2025. And since Warner Bros. has already tried to shop the show around, it seems like the chances for a comeback have greatly diminished. As of now, a definitive reason for the cancellation has not been given, but it can be assumed that the show didn’t get reach the level of popularity that HBO Max was hoping for.
At the very least, with HBO Max’s rebrand, there are bound to be more shows to look forward to. The hit medical drama The Pitt is currently in production for its second season, while the streamer has officially ordered a new Big Bang Theory spinoff to series. It may not be Duster, but it’s better than nothing.
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