HBO to End Comedy 'Looking' With Special

Posted by NALIP on March 26, 2015

By Lesley Goldberg

The low-rated comedy was a favorite with critics.

Courtesy of HBO

After two seasons, HBO's gay-themed comedy Looking has reached the end of its road.

Rather than renewing the critically praised Jonathan Groff comedy for a third season, the premium cable network will conclude the story with a special.

"After two years of following Patrick (Groff) and his tight-knit group of friends as they explored San Francisco in search of love and lasting relationships, HBO will present the final chapter of their journey as a special," HBO said in a statement. "We look forward to sharing this adventure with the shows' loyal fans."

Season two ended Sunday with a cliffhanger that saw Patrick struggling to choose between his current flame, Kevin (Russell Tovey) and his ex, Ritchie (Raul Castillo). The decision to close out the series with a special follows a similar move by the cable network with the Stephen Merchant comedy Hello Ladies.

Looking was never a ratings hit out of the gate, attracting a small but loyal audience over two seasons and 18 total episodes. HBO stuck with the comedy about a group of gay friends living in San Francisco and renewed the series for a second season, which was expanded from eight to 10 episodes. Sunday's season two finale drew just 298,000 total viewers. But the comedy, like others on HBO, had a strong afterlife in DVR, on-demand and HBO Go.

For HBO, the news comes as the cable network recently renewed niche comedy Getting Onfor a third and final season. The network's comedy lineup also includes the previously announced second season of Togetherness as well as Silicon Valley, Veep, Girls and upcoming entries The Brink, Ballers and Danny McBride's Vice Principals.

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