‘The Idol’ raunch is nothing we haven’t seen before

Social media is in a tizzy about the tawdry, sex-filled HBO series “The Idol,”co-created by Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”) and Abel Tesfaye — aka The Weeknd — who also co-stars. 

The show follows a troubled pop princess, Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), as she gets into a relationship with self-help guru, club owner and cult leader Tedros (Tesfaye). 

The rumors are true: there’s a lot of sex and nudity in “The Idol.” Jocelyn is frequently sans clothing. Tedros talks to her in a “nasty” way that “gives me the ick,” as one viewer tweeted. 

But, to see all the pearl-clutching on social media, you’d think that “The Idol” was the most salacious material to ever air on a TV drama. 

In reality, this is the same song and dance that we’ve seen many times before. And, at least when other shows featured this kind of material, they were less boring than “The Idol.”

When the steamy historical romance “Bridgerton” became a Netflix sensation in 2021 – and launched Rege-Jean Page into stardom – social media was also abuzz about that show’s steamy scenes.

Pirated footage even ended up on porn sites.

“The Idol” hasn’t reached that level of notoriety, even though one critic called it “50 Shades of Tesfaye.” 

When Season 5 of “Game of Thrones” aired the infamous scene in which Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) got raped by Ramsey Bolton (Iwan Rheon), audiences were outraged. One outlet even responded by announcing that they would no longer cover the show. 

“The Idol” hasn’t made that kind of splash, either. Linear viewership fell from 232,000 for the premiere to just 135,000 tuning into the second episode. Call it a wannabe edgy show … without the edge.

Co-creator Sam Levinson has claimed that “The Idol” is “revolutionary,” but it’s trite material has impacted only a small audience that isn’t exactly staggering beneath its brilliance, considering the way it was panned at Cannes. 

As far as the contents of its steamy scenes, “The Idol” is also tame compared to the vampire sage “True Blood,” which on HBO a decade ago and regularly featured sex scenes that were far more bonkers and outlandish than anything this show has displayed (and that includes orgies).

In one “True Blood” bedroom scene, for instance, a woman’s head spun all the way around, “The Exorcist” style. “The Idol” is a big snooze, by comparison.

Even in terms of shows that depict sexual violence, “Outlander” has “The Idol” beat, too – and at least that series delivers a story alongside everything else.

“House of the Dragon” also had cringeworthy salacious scenes; it doesn’t get much worse than an uncle seducing his young niece in a brothel. But at least it also offers viewers pulpy political antics and battles, so there’s that.

Is “The Idol” distasteful and poorly done? Yes. It’s hard to claim that it’s making any kind of subversive statement about how female celebrities get exploited when the show itself is doing just that.

Jocelyn doesn’t have any depth or sense of self. She’s onscreen just as a hollow doll for Tedros – and the cameras – to play with.

It’s hard to see any artistic merit to the endless scenes of her nudity, or to the cringeworthy sex scenes. 

For all the social media outrage about “The Idol,” it isn’t doing a single thing that plenty of other shows haven’t done before — in ways that were better, more outrageous or more provocative.