This is per Deadline, which reports that the series did get the minor consolation prize of its home streamer giving a statement to press about how sorry they were to shitcan the whole production. “While HBO Max will not be moving forward with a second season of Duster” the public statement read, in that very careful “We would still like to be in business with you” language, “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. 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.”
Co-created by Morgan (previously of Into The Badlands and Turn), Duster starred Hilson as an FBI agent who recruits a veteran getaway driver (Holloway) to take down a crime syndicate, the latter lent a little extra gravitas by dint of being headed up by the always-great Keith David. The series got strong reviews from pretty much everybody who watched—which was kind of the problem, because “everybody who watched it” turned out to be an amount of people that fell far short of HBO Max’s hopes. (After all, these new sci-fi multiverse Big Bang Theory spin-offs aren’t going to fund themselves.)
Abrams and WBTV reportedly tried to shop the series around for a second season, unsuccessfully. The series was a rare remaining original drama for the streamer, which has put more of its focus on comedy in recent years; the only other ongoing drama currently on Max’s books is breakout hit The Pitt, recently renewed for a second season.
