‘Mediocre’ - what have fans thought of the first episode of HBO’s The Idol on social media; how to watch in UK

We’ve heard all the salacious pre-screening reviews of the new The Weeknd (or Abel Tesfaye as he likes to go by now) and Sam Levinson HBO series, The Idol, and have been regaled with tales of Lily-Rose Depp spending almost all of the first episode topless. But as the premiere screened on the cable television network overnight, and is now available to screen in the UK on demand, what were some of the sentiments from viewers rather than reviewers?

Polarising; a word that has been used continuously during the run-up to the season premiere, including a divisive screening at Cannes Film Festival last month. There are some who are happy to see Jennie Kim, a member of the K-Pop group BLACKPINK, get a substantial amount of screen time, but for all the bluster about full frontal nudity and “gross-out” moments, it’s left some fans wonder what the hubbub was all about.

“The Weeknd’s rattail was horrendous along with his acting, and dressing him up like Eddie Murphy in Vampire from Brooklyn for the house sequence??? That was certainly a choice. #THEIDOL” wrote one viewer on Twitter, while another chimed in to write “Just watched #TheIdol and Jesus Christ it’s like a student film with a big budget. Sam Levinson is trying to be deep but his writing is just f*****g weird. Also The Weeknd’s character is f*****g creepy as f**k and makes me hate the actual Weeknd.” Good job it was Abel Tesfaye rather than The Weeknd then…

One fan in particular posted a video to Twitter given a TL;DR recap on what the general idea about the show was all about - no spoilers, but you get the idea from this video alone what to expect from some of the young characters in the series, including Australian singer-songwriter Troye Sivan, who coincidentally is celebrating his birthday today.

But there is still a strong section of Twitter who are either looking forward to the series, or are going to continue watching the programme despite the mocking it has received online. “I see a lot of people say the idol isn't as bad as the media made it out to be, I'll probably watch this episode later when i get back home cuz i'm curious,” one Twitter follower wrote, while another defended the criticisms: “Ok, now why were all the critics ragging on #THEIDOL pre-launch? Like I don't get it... at all. The first episode had promise, the music choices were good, the acting was solid. I'm interested in where it goes.”

How can I watch HBO’s The Idol in the United Kingdom?

Those with Sky Entertainment packages can watch the series episodically every Monday night on Sky Atlantic, however the show is available on demand with Sky and NOW TV every Monday morning after the latest episode has screened in the US.