Enlightened

[trikc]

So weird how they had luke out campaigning so hard for the last episode. I mean no one was going to start watching with the last episode. You know? I didn't understand that to begin with but even less now that its cancelled.

[nana]

i agree with you trikc, they started campaining too late in the season.

[iluvtexas]

Just a thought maybe it's been tried before I don't know but nana you know how to do the twitter stuff right, well is there a way to contact mike white and see about how to bring it back?

I figure he probably stated his case to HBO already along with Luke and the rest of the cast but maybe fan input could add to it....seems to work wonders for other worthy causes why not this one....

[nana]

hello iluvtexas, mike white twitter is @mikewhitemw

there was for about 2 weeks a campaign to save Enlightened by writing to @hbo to ask to renew the show for a 3rd season
there were many many tweets sent to hbo and it didnt work....

[trikc]

I know comedian Patton oswalt is a huge fan (HUGE) and immediately after hearing started a twitter call to Netflix, showtime and others to pick it up. Look and see if he's doing anything.

[iluvtexas]

Thanks trikc and nana...trikc do you think your friend will be successful I hope he is and please tell him thanks for trying.

[iluvtexas]

I will miss this show a bunch wish another station would pick it up. Anywho interesting read.... #unsure#

MARCH 29 2013

"Laura Dern on Enlightened’s Cancellation: “We’re All a Little Stunned to Say Goodbye”

Last Tuesday, HBO cancelled the comedy-drama Enlightened, cutting short lead character Amy Jellicoe’s path to enlightenment after two critically acclaimed seasons. Knowing that the March 3rd season closer could be the series finale, Mike White—who created the show with Laura Dern, has written every episode, and co-stars alongside Luke Wilson, Dern, and the actress’s real-life mother, Diane Ladd—made sure that the episode ended on a triumphant note. After a mental breakdown at the start of the series, and a subsequent philosophical awakening, Jellicoe blows the whistle on the morally corrupt C.E.O. at her longtime employer, Abbadon Industries. Although her character had succeeded in becoming an “agent of change,” as had been her goal in the series premiere, fan were still disappointed to hear of the show’s fate.

While speaking to Dern this afternoon about Jurassic Park’s 20th anniversary, we sneaked in our condolences about the series and told the actress how much we had appreciated her character, a socially awkward idealist and activist. “Thank you so much,” Dern said. “You saying that is like telling me that you love my sister. I love her so much.”

Less than two weeks after HBO announced what it called “a very difficult decision,” Dern revealed that she is still trying to process the news after embodying the character, who earned her a Golden Globe last year, for two years: “I think we are trying to figure it out. I think we are all a little stunned to say goodbye. As much opportunity as there is to sort of close a door to anything you’ve made. . . . I kept the door open wide for Amy. Because I’ve had to live with her a few years now. And I’ve never felt more attached to a character, more protective, or more defensive of a character. You know, there’s grief in saying goodbye to someone like that.”

As Jellicoe would, Dern is trying to find the silver lining in the decision. “But the great news is—and the difficult news, for all of the people that love us—is that we, those of us who relate to Amy, can keep her alive inside of us forever,” she told us. “Maybe not the most complicated parts, but hopefully the part that demands an honest voice whether people like it or not.”

Although she would not go into detail, Dern confirmed that she and White had mapped out a third, post-Abaddon season for the characters. After we suggested a Kickstarter initiative, Dern said, “Yeah! But the fans have been amazing. . . . The critics, the journalists, it’s been unparalleled. I’ve never seen anything like this level of support so that’s been amazing for us, and we are really grateful.”...."

[iluvtexas]

I vote bring back Enlightened!

Huffpost TV Blog Posted: 03/03/2014

One Year After 'Enlightened' Was Unjustly Canceled, Why Netflix Should Revive The Beloved Comedy

Enlightened Netflix Mike White Laura Dern Enlightened Laura Dern Enlightened Enlightened Hbo Netflix Original Programming Mike White Enlightened TV News
One year ago today, we lost a dear friend in Amy Jellicoe. Amy was 40 when she returned from a California holistic-treatment facility that provided a vital spiritual awakening after the mega-meltdown she'd had at work. A few of us invited Amy into our homes, watching her newfound fulfillment grow even as she struggled to shed lingering resentment toward the cards life dealt her. Then, just as we applauded her for blowing the whistle on corporate abuse within her decidedly unenlightened company, Abaddon Industries, she became homeless. An inevitable demise followed.

So it went with HBO's "Enlightened," the Laura Dern-fronted dramedy that concluded its second season on March 3, 2013. The show should have had a long shelf life, but two weeks later, it joined the accumulation of prematurely canceled series. The show's small but passionate viewership was devastated. It first premiered to much acclaim, but Season 2's reception was even more magnanimous. Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker wrote called it "extraordinarily good: funny and moving and constantly surprising." The Huffington Post's Maureen Ryan labeled it "a work of precision craftsmanship." And it was TIME's James Poniewozik who perhaps framed it most fittingly: "HBO has the best thing TV is doing right now --a show no other network would probably make, telling a story that the movies couldn't tell, not at such length and depth. ... HBO doesn't owe it to us to keep 'Enlightened' on the air; HBO owes it to itself."

How can a show with reviews this flattering bite the dust after a measly two seasons? Dern won a Golden Globe for the first season and garnered an Emmy nomination for the second, but that wasn't enough to amplify the show's viewership, which averaged 200,000 to 300,000 per episode. Those figures are paltry, even for a premium cable channel that relies on subscriptions. (The show's second season retained only a third of its lead-in audience from "Girls.") But its fan base remains voracious -- many suggested a Kickstarter campaign to revive "Enlightened" when news of the cancellation first broke -- and we know there's life yet to be had for the show. We may never know how many more eyeballs have discovered it through DVDs and HBO GO, but that's no matter: It's time for Netflix to give some serious consideration to breathing the soul back into Amy Jellicoe.

Creator and co-star Mike White has said the third season would center on Amy's legal battles with Abaddon now that she's brought the company's hierarchical corruption to light via a Los Angeles Times exposé. Considering how riveting Season 2 was -- the perfect blend of human drama and workplace hilarity -- imagine watching Amy cross swords with the corporate miscreants who once mocked her environmental crusade. Considering how frequently Amy misjudges her own words, watching her go to battle with a group of wealthy executives who abhor her (and possibly win the lawsuit) would be enchanting television as well as the conclusion long-standing fans deserve.

So what's Netflix's stake here? In addition to having been a bastion for last year's splashy "Arrested Development" revival and the upcoming final season it ordered for AMC's "The Killing," the streaming service, by never revealing ratings, has developed the first landscape that doesn't equate success with numbers. Almost every major piece of Netflix original content -- "House of Cards," "Orange is the New Black," "Hemlock Grove," "Aziz Ansari: Buried Alive," "Mitt," etc. -- becomes event television because the buzz behind it feels so fresh. As of a mid-February, Netflix reported 5 million more subscribers than the 42-year-old HBO. Resuscitating a show with A-list stars (Dern is joined by Luke Wilson, Diane Ladd, Molly Shannon, Dermot Mulroney and Michaela Watkins) and a half-hour format that's easy to engage with is no tall order given Netflix's glossy programming, and because the Internet buzz surrounding the service's entities gives everything the impression of popularity, Netflix can bridge a gap with its ostensible competitor and attract a legion of fans who will tune in to see the the beloved dramedy's continuation.

Of course, that would all require Netflix and HBO to put aside the jabs its executives have thrown at each other recently. It would also require HBO to lease its content to an external service -- something it's notoriously reluctant to do. (While we're at it, don't "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos" seem like mandatory additions to the Netflix library?) But this would set a new precedent: out -- more or less -- with the fatuous wars and in with the subscription services' amplified presence across platforms. It's a healthy brand choice for HBO, and one that needs to happen pronto, while the "Enlightened" actors are young enough to rekindle the storylines.

With this, I beseech the Netflix gods: Please shed at least one more light on Amy as she bungles her way through the corporate bloodshed we desperately wanted to witness. Like many critics have asserted, "Enlightened" was further proof of the great television apex we've been applauding for a few years. Don't squander something that advances the cause. Like Amy Jellicoe, we're on a crusade for television enlightenment. Bring this show back.