It went a bit under-the-radar, but J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan’s new series, Duster, just finished airing on HBO Max. Its eight-episode first season wrapped up on July 3. Duster is a 70s crime drama starring Josh Holloway, Rachel Hilson, Keith David, and Corbin Bersen. Mr. Rosie and I watched it and liked it a lot. The storyline was intriguing, the acting was great, the wardrobes were fabulous, and Holloway’s hair showed up in all of its shiny shoulder-length glory. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive and it eventually garnered late-season buzz via word-of-mouth. Sadly, none of that mattered because Duster was cancelled this week.
After a five-year build-up, it was a short run for Bad Robot’s 1970s crime drama Duster as HBO Max is not proceeding with a second season of the series from J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan. The news comes less than a week after the Season 1 finale debuted on the platform.
It is not entirely surprising because Duster, starring Josh Holloway and Rachel Hilson, wasn’t able to generate a lot of buzz and viewer interest. Those who tuned in, largely liked what they saw — Duster is averaging 92% among critics and 83% among general viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. The series from Warner Bros. and Abrams’ studio-based Bad Robot also remains in the daily Top 10 on HBO Max but it has not been able to get into the Nielsen Top 10 for streaming originals and barely cracked Luminate’s list of Top 50 streaming originals in its fourth week at the last #50 spot.
“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,” HBO Max said in a statement to Deadline. “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.”
Duster, which reunited Lost co-creator/executive producer Abrams and star Holloway, was originally ordered in April 2020. It filmed awhile ago, so the options on the cast already had expired and were not extended (which is not highly unusual for HBO Max), sources said.
Seeing the writing on the wall, I hear WBTV and Bad Robot quietly shopped Duster to other platforms where the adrenaline-heavy series could’ve been a better fit but the effort was unsuccessful.
The cancellation leaves The Pitt as the only current HBO Max original series.
As HBO Max canceled Duster, the streamer today picked up The Big Bang Theory spinoff series Stuart Fails To Save The Universe, also from WBTV.
Well, this news bums me out. While Duster didn’t reinvent the TV-wheel by any means, it was a fun watch. I thought it was odd that it had such a low-profile, especially because it aired during TV’s “off-season.” I know several hardcore Lost fans that did not even hear about it until mid-way through season one. They definitely would have been there from the beginning if they had known about it. Duster even ended on a cliffhanger that perfectly set up a second season. (I totally called half of that cliffhanger, but did NOT guess a certain character’s true involvement in it. I was really looking forward to where the story went from there!)
I know HBO Max is going through some things right now, but I wish networks wouldn’t quit on so many series so quickly. The Office and Breaking Bad weren’t smash hits after their first seasons aired, either. I think a big part of why some shows, particularly dramas, don’t do well out of the gate is because viewers are hesitant to invest their time into a series that could easily get canceled for a variety of reasons. Why do we need yet another Big Bang Theory spin-off instead of investing in new properties?
In happier Duster cast news, Keith David found out last week that he’s getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His family must have had a head’s up that he had been selected because they filmed his reaction to the news. It is absolutely delightful. If you need a smile today, here’s the video:
Keith David reacting to the announcement that he will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. pic.twitter.com/D5XpaCpgmh
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 3, 2025
Photos credit: Nicky Nelson/Wenn/Avalon, Getty and via Instagram