Luck Ran Out

During the Banshee Blog Winter TV Review, I discussed the HBO drama, Luck.  Due to the bleak nature of some of the story lines, the show was at times hard to watch.  Nonetheless, it was different than anything else on TV, and it was clearly an artistic labor of love with big name actors.  Since HBO is not a slave to ratings in the same way that broadcast networks must be, it was announced in February that  Luck would return for a second season in 2013.

But, in the words of Lee Corso ... Not so fast, my friends.  Partway through the filming of Season 2, the production was brought to a halt ... for good.  One of the most noteworthy aspects of Luck was the dynamic and realistic filming of the racing sequences.  But, the cost of such realism was high.  During the filming of the racing sequences for the first season, two horses suffered injuries that required euthanization. Predictably, this drew sharp criticism from PETA.  Nonetheless, HBO pushed on and completed the first season.  However, when a third horse met its demise during the filming of Season 2, HBO pulled the plug on the project.  HBO released a statement explaining its decision.  It should be noted that the third horse was injured during a freak accident that was not related to the filming of any racing sequence.