HBO cancels Enlightenment

I'm sure Laura Dern is a lovely lady but she's never been able to connect with a wide audience. She's too odd looking.

http%3A//m.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/hbo-cancels-enlightened



• Yea that was the reason, she's odd looking. Moron.

• [quote]She's too odd looking. I agree!

  Rocky%20Dennis

• For sure!

  Steve%20Buscemi

• It was by far the best show this season.

• I love just about anything on HBO but I never garnered any interest in this show. I think you are right about Laura Dern. She's just not that interesting.

• One doesn't garner interest in something. Something garners interest.

• I think it was considered a woman's show and that's what hurt it. At least they kind of wrapped it up with the last episode. I will miss Levi and her mother.

• This thread will die a quick death so who cares r6?

• Thank you,Jesus! And HBO. I heard all these good things about it; watched one episode and it was HIDEOUS. I don't mean poorly done, but the characters - Dern's and that Mike White - were obnoxious beyond belief and description. I know there are people who f---ing love this show and I feel bad for them (as I will feel bad when Smash is cancelled, I suppose.) The previews were even obnoxious. Perhaps she can do something else with a character that you don't want to strangle within the first 3 minutes (IMHO.)

• That sucks, it was a great show.

• It was a great show. Loved it. The last episode wrapped things up nicely though.

  Amy%20Jelly

• I thought it was a great show too.

• I thought it was a decent show, i watched it when i had nothing to watch, all my shows were on hiatus etc.

• loved it. damn

• Loved it too! The finale was great.

• OK, smartasses, in projects she's been required to carry has Laura Dern scored a popular hit in ANYTHING? No, I didn't think so.

  OP

• It was my favorite show in years. And to call Laura Dern too odd-looking, when there far odder-looking actors out there, is just, well... odd.

• Yeah, OP. Odd people can never carry cable shows.

  Steve%20Buscemi%20of%20Boardwalk%20Empire

• Loved this show and will miss the characters but that Dougie guy deserves a sitcom of his own. I've heard a lot of criticism about Laura Dern's character. I bet HBO brings this show back but in a different format and they cast Jennifer Amiston.

• I loved it too r19 and on the last thread about it everyone seemed pretty happy with the last episode if it wasn't renewed, I guess it was a good finale but I do want it back. Dougie was hilarious and I would love to see him on his own show. Please be kidding about Jen doing this.

• You misspelled "old."

• This show was the reason I keep my hbo subscription alive. Well looks like I will cancel hbo for killing this show.

• This is really unfortunate. It was beautifully written and cleverly cast. It was one of my absolute favorites, and I will miss it.

  Lena%20Dunham

• ... and she's a homewrecker.

• Laura Dern has a very expressive face and is a real actress. I will miss her in this.

• Too bad she doesn't have famous parents to help. I heard that can be an advantage.

  Lena Dunham

• Oh don't even remind me r23. That crapfest is still on, but will it be watched without a lead in show? I stopped watching it a few weeks ago after the season finale of Enlightened.

• Add another one to the "brilliant but canceled" DVD shelf. This one earned a place of honor between "Freaks and Geeks" and "The Comeback."

• [quote]... and she's a homewrecker bitch made such a fuss when I took her boyfriend and then she turned around and did they same thing to someone else. Woman are such cunts, aren't we?

  Academy%20Award%20Winner%20and%20Saint%20to%20the%20needy%20Angelina%20Jolie

• Good!

  For%20not%20hiring%20me

• I am absolutely gutted. I was kind of expecting it--even Mike White was not hopeful--but I really wanted a third season. If White does another series for HBO, he really needs to have Molly Shannon as a lead. They were great together and she seemed to really get his material.

• Um, 31 posts and no one mentions that the show's title is actually ENLIGHTENED? No fucking wonder it was canceled.

• Sigh. It lacked the Vampires, Zombies, Bare saggy tits and random violence that are so necessary in shows geared towards intelligent adults.

• Why can't HBO cancel "Tremme"? THAT has to be THE lamest show on HBO!

  Ok--%22Eastbound%20And%20Down%22%20Is%20Pretty%20Lame%2C%20Too%21

• Tremme is still on? Is Melissa Leo still on it? They need to get that Oscar out of that foul mouthed woman's hands if so.

  M

• Comparing Dern to Buscemi is the best you can do? Pathetic.

  OP

• Laura Dern showed a hot bod in this series. The writing and acting were seriously next level. I think people who don't get into the show are essentially shallow people. This threat confirms this intuitive observation. The continuation of "Girls" and the cancellation of "Enlightened" is one of the justifications I stockpile for torrenting my hand picked television shows! I would, however, happily buy a two disc, nicely produced box set (with some interview-laden booklet) of "Enlightened".

  Anonymous

• god, Laura Dern is so amazingly talented, and she's only been nominated for an Oscar once? wtf??? She deserved to win for Inland Empire and Wild at Heart could was nomination-worthy at least.

• Did she ever graduate from USC? I swear she took classes there for like 20 years.

• The episode where Mel White hooks up with Molly Shannon is possibly the most moving 30 minutes I have ever seen on TV. The episode about Luke Wilson in rehab is also sublime, as was the finale.

• R29 attempt at humor was historically innacurate first came Laura's affair with Billy Bob while he was still married to wife number 2 (or 3?) .Then came Angie Jo and Laura's hypocritical hissy fit. After that came Laura Dern's affair with Ben Harper-and the birth of two children one from wife #1 and one from Dern only a month or two apart. She is still a better actress than Angelina so who gives a fuck.

• I think that both The Comeback and Enlightened were fantastic series that benefitted from their limited number of episodes. Both wrapped up perfectly.

• [quote] I would, however, happily buy a two disc, nicely produced box set (with some interview-laden booklet) of "Enlightened". Mike White is DEADLY in interviews. & Laura Dern is a manic bore. Loved the show though, it's just that they're not interesting when they talk about it. I much preferred the first season. It was more character driven. Loved the ep when her girlfriend from rehab came to stay and the one about her mother. All of them, actually. I think it's OK it's ending. I thought the girl who played her ex-assistant was excellent. You never knew what she was thinking.

• I never saw one episode. Is that regrettable?

• Laura Dern is an excellent actress and the entire cast was perfection. I will miss it but it did end really well.

• I find it hilarious that just because people didn't love Laura Dern's character they hated the entire show - she was not a character that you were supposed to love, she was flawed just like everyone in reality, that was the whole point.

• I loved it, and it had a perfect ending.

• I loved it too and was looking forward to another season.

• The finale was perfect

• Americans generally don't like flawed lead characters, or ones who are outsiders. That's the reason they didn't like "The Comeback" as well. I started hating HBO after they canceled the Kudrow series and don't have it anymore, so I'm looking forward to them releasing the second season on dvd.

• [quote]Americans generally don't like flawed lead characters, or ones who are outsiders. This is true. I recently read a very strange and fascinating autobiography and on amazon a lot of people were saying how they didn't like the book because they found the writer unlikable and my feeling was, why do you need to like her?

• [quote] Yeah, OP. Odd people can never carry cable shows Exactly

  Jason%20Schwartzman

• [quote] Yeah, OP. Odd people can never carry cable shows Especially when they are children of famous people.

  Jason%20Schwartzman%2C%20Lena%20Dunham%2C%20Laura%20Dern

• It was a great show and I glad it ended the way it did. White knew it wasn't coming back and tied things up nicely for us in a positive way. I hated Dern's character, too, but it was a real character - as noted above people are complex.

• I didn't hate her, I admired her courage, I agree she had issues and wasn't in the right line of work, but many of us end up at office jobs because we didn't get the breaks to enable us to do other things in life that we had a true passion for. For me it was music.

• It's the same reason Hollywood keeps drawing stories from World War II and never digs into the Civil War. There are so many stories that could be told using the CW as a back drop but Americans (White people) need to be able to envision themselves as heroes. Although you do have the popularity of Breaking Bad and Sopranos with characters that are despicable but people like them because 1) they are bad ass male characters 2) they are both giving the finger to authority, so people watch. But women being less than likable is too far a stretch and totally unacceptable. It is working with Girls so far but I loved Enlightenment and want to punch Hanna Horvath in the face.

• [quote]I think people who don't get into the show are essentially shallow people. Ding ding ding! It's was a perfect indictment of corporate culture and corruption. My favorite thing about it is that after two seasons, we still have no idea what, exactly, she found out about Abaddonn. I love that Mike White doesn't make whatever corporate malfeasance Amy uncovered a part of the story. It's assumed that the audience is cynical and informed enough to fill in the blanks (environmental harm, government bribes, kickbacks, unfair labor practices, etc). Ultimately it doesn't matter, we just know that it's bad and, given the world we live in, hardly a stretch to imagine.

• [quote]My favorite thing about it is that after two seasons, we still have no idea what, exactly, she found out about Abaddonn In the first series there was a lot about what she thought they were doing.

• it was sort of defined what Abbadon did in the scene where she is allowed to make her statement before a small group in an office, they pollute the environment and also give huge profits to the bigwigs and spy on the loading dock people and fire them when they don't perform up to their ultra stringent standards.

• "Girls" has sex & nudity and also was promoted more. Also, it has a youth audience and something more profound with a political message and deeper meaning like "Enlightened" appeals more to baby boomers. "Enlightened's print ad campaign with the crying mascara running eyes was a turn-off, too. It could've used a softer image.

• I agree that it has a lot to do with the combination of being female and considered "unlikable" (although I personally didn't dislike Dern's character). People will readily accept flawed male characters but are not nearly so tolerant when it comes to female characters, who need to be both pretty and likable. The complaints about Enlightened mirror the complaints I hear about Girls (Oh no, Hannah's not pretty, she's unlikable, all the girls are unlikable). She's not supposed to be pretty or likable. They're all supposed to be deeply flawed.

• r61 exists in her own bubble.

• The thought of enjoying a series with Laura Dern in it was something I would have never believed but I was blown away by Enlightened. I am going to miss it.

• I know how you feel, r63, I hated "Rambling Rose", didn't really like her in anything else either, until this! She's really good. And so's her mom.

• Watched a couple of episodes and thought that, despite some possibilities and points in its favor, it was poorly conceived from start to finish. And the Laura Dern character would not fucking shut up, just endless crap about how explosive some corporate something or another something was. So two hours wasted with bad writing and bad plots and overacting and off tone all to be told at length that I am about to be shocked. After two hours of being told how I should react, I didn't care to stick around to see if I fell for the bait.

• I enjoyed it and feel the show was just getting started. Big mistake HBO

• [quote] Although you do have the popularity of Breaking Bad and Sopranos with characters that are despicable but people like them because 1) they are bad ass male characters 2) they are both giving the finger to authority, so people watch. [quote] But women being less than likable is too far a stretch and totally unacceptable I'll say. for years I've watched message boards skewer Walter White's 'bitch' wife Skylar. All the while, Walt has been killing people. He is responsible for his brother-in-law's near death. Skylar's sister Marie has also been roasted by posters on BB message boards. She steals. She makes up stories. She's a horror, a bitch. Walt and Jesse steal, make up stories and kill people. But its cool because they're Walt and Jesse. It's not until the final season that people finally said, "Walt's not so cool after all." They still think Jesse is cool, because he is somehow "redeeming himself" -- even though he's still living off of the proceeds of the meth business.

• I loved it. They could've done a lot more with it but I'm glad Mike White had the smarts to read the writing on the wall and write a satisfying finale.

• How long before they put season 2 on disc do you think?

• I'm on Episode 6. Loved the last episode with Molly Shannon, I hope it works out for those two.

• I agree with r56, r61, and r67. I'm just glad the show lasted as long as it did. I fell in love with it (and with Amy) from the very first episode, but I worried her character would be considered too difficult to draw a large fanbase. At least the show got a proper send-off.

• Laura Dern said that she and Mike saw the series as a story to be told through three TV seasons, so we will never know how they planned to end it. What a shame.

• I give HBO props for renewing the show after Season 1 when it averaged only 200K viewers a week. Those of you who gave up on the show during Season 1 should give Season 2 a try. Even the critics who gave Season 1 mixed reviews offered universal praise for Season 2. Mike White himself has said that he realized Season 1 was difficult to watch because there is not much of a plot and the lead character is too annoying for the series to function purely as a character study.

• I just don't ever find her compelling to watch. She doesn't have to be a beauty. I can watch Margo Martindale in anything every day. I never found Laura Dern compelling to watch in anything although technically she's a good actress.

• I didn't make it through two episodes -- and I'm a lesbian!

• Well r72 maybe they ended it the way they wanted to but just expedited it. I would have loved to have seen more Levi in rehab scenes and Tyler and whats her name and even more Krista and of course Dougie. They were possibly just going to expand those characters omore but end it the same. I was really thinking that the Levi in rehab stuff would maybe have the drunk girl who goes off the guy end up missing and Levi being questioned.

• Laura Dern looks likes a tranny. There. I said it.

  OP

• lesbians have notoriously bad taste in everything, it's gay males who are the trendsetters and tastemakers!

• r67 I turned a guy at work on to Breaking Bad and when he would come into work and want to talk about the episodes he'd seen he would go on and on about what a bitch Skylar is. I just kept my mouth shut because he is so adamant I realize I could never get this straight guy to consider even for a moment everything that Skylar is having to put up with and process regarding Walt's strange behavior. As far as perceptions go, women do not have it easy.

  those%20poor%20stubenville%20guys

• [quote] it's gay males who are the trendsetters and tastemakers! This is absolutely true. Look what happened to The Beatles after Brian Epstein died. (Just an example, but a good one).

• Dougie was a douche but I secretly lust for the actor who played him.

• I watched the first season straight through- couldn't stop. Awesome. Who knew that dippy Mike White could put something like this together?

• Dippy Mike White has a very impressive resume and this is just the cherry on top (boo yah!) - "Chuck & Buck", "Year of the Dog", "School of Rock" -