Martin Scorsese's long and illustrious career in film requires no introduction. But has the legendary director ever dabbled in television? The answer is yes. From overseeing a few episodes of the HBO period drama "Boardwalk Empire" to helming the Netflix docuseries "Pretend It's a City," Scorsese has worked in the medium a few times over the years. In 2016, he was even involved in a rather ambitious television project: another HBO period drama titled "Vinyl," which he created in collaboration with Mick Jagger, Rich Cohen, and Terence Winter. The core idea was to capture the glamor and nostalgia of the record industry in the 1970s, complete with raucous spectacle and, maybe, a sprinkle of hedonistic excess.

However, the problem with "Vinyl" — which starts off strong thanks to its Scorsese-directed pilot — is precisely this desperate celebration of excess. Without something powerful or substantial to ground it, "Vinyl" fell into its genre...