HBO Sets a Date for Looking: The Movie

By Reuben Levine | May 17, 2016

Looking: The Movie will wrap up the storylines from the canceled HBO series.

When a show is canceled that’s the end, more often than not. If there happened to be an ongoing storyline, too bad. Some series get revived, though more often than not they end abruptly, never to return. That was once the fate of Looking, HBO’s series about gay friends living in San Francisco.

In leu of a standard third season, HBO canceled Looking and instead ordered a movie to wrap everything up. Even though Looking had a fairly strong critical reception according to Metacritic, it had trouble attracting viewers. According to an article from Variety from when the series first premiered in 2014, it had a bit of trouble getting a foot-hold.

Watch a trailer for Looking’s second season:

More from HBO

Even though ratings eventually increased, it was never a major hit for HBO. The series was more in line with shows like Togetherness, which was also canceled by HBO. The unfortunate reality seems to be that slower, more grounded series (which Girls is not) don’t really have a place with HBO. Or perhaps on standard television at all.

Girls has had a rough time of it over the course of its five seasons, and its ratings have never been ground-breaking. Still, Hannah’s exploits — and Lena Dunham in general — have managed to garner enough interest to keep the show going. Looking did not have such luck.

Next: Ramsay Bolton is not a good Game of Thrones villain.

The movie, simply titled Looking: The Movie, will premiere on HBO on Saturday, July 23rd. Hopefully it will give fans the true ending that the show deserves, which, again, is more than most series ever get. At least Looking was cut-down in its prime instead of going on for too long.

If something like Looking can get a proper ending, there is aways still hope for Deadwood.