HBO's 10-Part Crime Drama From Martin Scorsese Is The Sopranos Meets Daisy Jones & The Six
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Though many Martin Scorsese titles are classics, the director had a one-season crime drama on HBO that combines the best of The Sopranos and Daisy Jones & The Six. With such a prolific filmography, it's easy to forget that Scorsese has several TV credits to his name, from Boardwalk Empire, which he executive produced and won an Emmy for directing the pilot, to Pretend It's a City, his irreverent Netflix docuseries centered on his close friend, the writer Fran Lebowitz.
On the other hand, Scorsese's best movies are some of the most iconic films in Hollywood, from Taxi Driver and Goodfellas to 21st-century hits like The Departed and The Wolf of Wall Street. It's hard to think of a director more synonymous with the crime genre, but Scorsese fans also know that he is a die-hard music enthusiast, having helmed several documentaries on his favorite recording artists, from the Rolling Stones in 2008's Shine a Light to Bob Dylan in 2019's Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese.
Scorsese may keep his love of crime sagas and music separate in his projects, but he brought them together for Vinyl, a series he co-created with Mick Jagger, Rich Cohen, and Terence Winter that premiered on HBO in 2016. Set in New York City's burgeoning 1970s music scene, Vinyl follows Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale), a record executive trying to rediscover his passion for music, and getting his hands dirty along the way. Vinyl was ultimately canceled after one season, but its best elements make it a worthwhile binge-watch.
Vinyl Is The Perfect Blend Of The Sopranos & Daisy Jones & The Six
Vinyl's Richie Finestra fits right in with the dark male antihero protagonists that defined prestige TV of the 2010s, an archetype that exists because of Tony Soprano. Like HBO's iconic mafia drama series, Vinyl's approach to crime drama storytelling is about two-thirds grittiness and one-third glamorizing, making its storytelling raw, visceral, and propulsive.
However, while Richie is heavily involved in crime, whether it's using payola or being directly involved in a murder in the show's pilot episode, he differs from his fellow antiheroes like Tony or Walter White because criminal activity isn't Richie's driving passion; it's music.
How interested are you in watching more 1970s gangster films after reading this article?
Very interested — I want to seek out several of these movies soon
Very interested — I want to seek out several of these movies soon 75.0%When you choose a gangster movie, what usually matters most to you?
Complex characters and moral ambiguity
Complex characters and moral ambiguity 42.9%multi-answer If you were browsing a streaming service, which of these would most encourage you to click on a 1970s gangster film?
Seeing big-name directors or stars like Coppola, Scorsese, Pacino, or Caine featured
Seeing big-name directors or stars like Coppola, Scorsese, Pacino, or Caine featured 36.4%Like Scorsese himself, Richie is a full-blown music nerd, and Vinyl is the director's love letter to the music scene of 1970s New York. In this regard, the show serves as the spiritual predecessor to Prime Video's Daisy Jones & The Six, which takes place in the same era of music history, albeit on the West Coast in Los Angeles. Like Daisy Jones, Vinyl has so much affection for the art form, and it's an earnestness not often seen in crime dramas.
Why Vinyl Was Canceled After One Season
With a pedigree that includes Scorsese and Jagger, it seemed like Vinyl would be a sure-fire hit, and indeed, HBO announced the confirmation of Vinyl season 2 shortly after the series premiered. However, in June 2016, the renewal was reversed in one of the first cuts by HBO head of programming Casey Bloys.
"It didn't land," Bloys said (via Deadline). "With limited resources, we didn’t think the retooling was worth the producers’ time if it would only move the needle a little bit."
Despite the prestige attached, THR reported that only 764,000 viewers tuned in for Vinyl's two-hour pilot, a small number for an HBO premiere. As a starry period series, Vinyl was also incredibly expensive to produce, with a season 1 budget of $100 million, a lot of money for HBO to spend on a series with limited viewership. Both Scorsese and Cannavale expressed intense disappointment over Vinyl's cancellation, with the director questioning if things would have turned out differently had he been more hands-on and directed every episode.
Though plenty of think pieces were published about the fate of Vinyl, and Cannavale has his own theories, like a poor timeslot — 10 PM on a Sunday for a two-hour pilot — sometimes the TV gods don't smile upon certain shows. After all, Boardwalk Empire was a success without Scorsese overseeing every step. Ultimately, the passion of Vinyl's cast and crew shines throughout all 10 of its episodes, and it's a must-watch for both music and crime drama fans.
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