The Idol

Rather than being over the top, explicit or hard to watch it ends up being dull and cringy.

The writing feels straight out of a WattPad fanfic, in fact, I've read better fanfic.

The show tries really hard to act like they know what they're doing with the cringe, but it ends up falling flat as nothing becomes of it. Just bad writing, boring story and terrible messages.

The 10 star reviews on here are very obviously faked to boost scores. There isn't one aspect about it, writing, acting, cinematography, controversy that would give it even a 5, let alone a 10.

Boring. Dull. Don't bother. Waste.

I'm shocked at the number of reviewers claiming this show reflects real life. This was like watching a large budget porno. It was so unnecessarily saturated in sex, I found a coherent story hard to tease out of the sleaze. I simply couldn't keep watching it. In retrospect, my final impression of the show reminded me of a line from the old movie, Butterflies Are Free, when Mrs. Baker declaims degeneracy, obscenity and nudity as a part of life, "I know [it's real life], Mr. Santori. So is diarrhea, but I wouldn't classify it as entertainment." If this show is like real life, you can keep it. I need some fresh air.

I gave this the benefit of the doubt and sat through 2 episodes, and it is truly awful. This show depends heavily on it's use of shock value and smut. It is essentially the equivalent to taking A Star is Born and adding multiple sleazy sex scenes with graphic nudity and substance abuse. Not only do they feel the need to have these sex scenes but they make them very graphic to push the envelope and be edgy (strangulation, masturbation, graphic nudity, voyeurism etc). This show basically borders on pornography and there's even a warning before each episode that tells you as much. I am not sure what the writers/directors of this show are trying to accomplish but this show is incredibly trashy.

I love so many actors in this series - but man oh man oh man....it's not good. And I really REALLY wanted to like it. It has heavy inferences that lead you to acknowledge the tragedies that have befallen the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Amanda Bynes, etc etc etc. It gives the viewer a snapshot into why so many of them have suffered mental breakdowns and self-medicated. But there's no depth in this series. I feel like all they wanted to do was continue to glorify the savage treatment of young female artists by those who they should have been able to trust the most. They could have really made this into something - but they squandered the opportunity. If you want to see a lot of scantily clad, seemingly young (minor?) women being taken advantage of by everyone around them - then I guess this is the show for you. Personally, my time is worth more then what this show deserves.

Ok so it looks good and Lily-Rose Depp is fine in her starring role, but other than that you have to wonder what is the point. What could have been an intriguing examination of how the entertainment business gobbles up and exploits young women becomes just another ugly example of creepy exploitation. Read the Rolling Stone expose to understand how it completely pivoted from its initial premise and got Euphoria-ised by Sam Levinson. What a disappointment. A funny review in the UK Telegraph about Idol, said Levison makes Showgirls look like a masterpiece. No wonder it was decried at Cannes as "luxury sleaze." Two thumbs down.