Despite having already secured a second season, HBO’s ‘70s rock drama Vinyl suffered a blow last week when showrunner Terence Winter announced his exit; the series promising to revamp creatively in Season 2. Now, Winter has already gone on record wondering if the ‘70s setting might have been “too soon” for the series to generate much hype.

The February premiere of Vinyl found only a disappointing 760,000 viewers, having dwindled ever since, though Winter offered a more direct explanation of his exit during a keynote address at Wednesday’s Winston Baker TV + Film Finance Forum (via THR). “I’m still learning,” said Winter, who went on to wonder if period pieces need a certain distance from the present:

Period pieces are really tough … It’s tough to depict reality that’s still fresh in someone’s mind. Maybe it’s too soon? I don’t know.

Per the initial announcement, Scott Z. Burns will take over as executive producer and showrunner alongside Max Borenstein. The change also comes at a time when HBO has seemingly struggled to launch new hits, issuing a final season order to The Leftovers, while Westworld has only just resumed production from a plethora of controversies, both the only active dramas beside Vinyl and Game of Thrones.

Vinyl will air its first season finale this coming Sunday, but does Winter have a point about period pieces? Will the second year turn things around for the Scorsese-Jagger drama?

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