HBO is giving a quick thumbs up to Succession, renewing the freshman drama after just two episodes.
The series, which premiered June 3, follows the Murdoch-esque family behind one of the world’s biggest media conglomerates. Succession has garnered a generally strong reaction from critics, averaging a 70 out of 100 on review aggregate Metacritic. The show was created by Jesse Armstrong and is executive produced by Armstrong, Adam McKay, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick, Will Ferrell, Jane Tranter and Mark Mylod.
HBO has yet to report gross viewership, with HBO Go and HBO Now plays factored in, but the early linear returns for Succession have been modest. With live-plus-3 tallies, the first episode averaged 785,000 viewers.
Chalking Succession up as a win this early is in stark contrast to 2018’s other HBO drama launch. Here and Now quietly aired in the spring before getting canceled. Succession joins a returning drama slate that includes The Deuce, Big Little Lies, Westworld and the final season of Game of Thrones.
Succession stars Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Hiam Abbass, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, Alan Ruck, Nicholas Braun, Matthew Macfadyen, Natalie Gold, Peter Friedman and Rob Yang.
