This is a community dedicated to the HBO series "Enlightened" which stars Laura Dern.



'Enlightened' is the new offbeat HBO series written by Mike White and starring Laura Dern as Amy, a self-destructive health and beauty executive who has a very public workplace meltdown. After three months of contemplation and meditation at a treatment center in Hawaii, Amy returns rested and ready to pick up the pieces of her old life and reshape the world she left behind. That includes delivering well-meaning, but generally unwanted advice to her mother Helen (Diane Ladd), with whom Amy is now living; her slacker ex-husband Levi (Luke Wilson) whose only solace comes from recreational drugs; and the crew of awkward co-workers Amy finds herself reassigned to.  The series follows Amy as she navigates an unconventional path between who she is, who she wants to be...and what everyone is willing to tolerate from her.

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Last week we reported about Enlightened - The Complete 2nd Season, the final season of the show starring Laura Dern. HBO has now formally announced the title, scheduling a DVD version on August 13th. Our previous report mentioned a pair of Amazon listings for this title, passing on that one of them was a Blu-ray listing showing a December date. As we said, that apparently was a placeholder listing, and the finalized studio announcement only included DVD format, with the August date. Cost is $39.98 for a 2-disc set that includes Audio Commentaries as extras.

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OMG, yay.

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.”

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The second season of Enlightened seemed to pursue almost opposite fates with critics and viewers. The eight episodes aired to massive critical acclaim in a cozy Sunday-night slot on HBO, telling a story about a divisive woman using her quest for change to become a whistleblower against her own company. However, only a handful more people watched the season than had watched the horribly rated first season. Over protests from a surprisingly large movement for a show with such low numbers, HBO ultimately canceled the series last week. The A.V. Club recently sat down with series creator Mike White to talk over every episode of the second season and the philosophies that brought them into existence. The conversation took place before HBO announced the show’s cancellation.

Read it all here at the source

Mike White's noble effort was TV as art, and the bold experimentation at the network should be applauded.

I remember watching the first episode of Enlightened -- the Mike White-created series starring Laura Dern as a woman who breaks down (badly), goes to rehab and comes back all sunshine and rainbows trying to be a positive influence on the rest of the world -- and thinking: "Hmmm. That was interesting. Whatever that was."

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I am still depressed over the cancellation....it's like losing a cute puppy that you loved to play with.

Mike White has been tapped by DreamWorks to adapt Matthew Quick’s latest work, “The Good Luck of Right Now.” DreamWorks acquired feature rights to “Good Luck” in mid-January.



The story follows the intertwined lives of four outsiders who, amid grieving over pain and loss in their lives, come together to form a most unlikely family. HarperCollins is planning to publish the book in spring 2014.

Quick’s “The Silver Linings Playbook” was published in 2008. The feature version was adapted by director David O. Russell.

White was the co-creator, co-executive producer, writer and actor for HBO’s “Enlightened,” which recently completed a two-season run. He directed 2007′s “Year of the Dog” from his own script.

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Enlightened may be cancelled, but that doesn't mean this comm is. I figured it might be fun to still keep up-to-date on the projects of those involved with Enlightened? Idk. but this is such a perf fit for Mike.

this isn't a v ~professional~ post, sorry... but look: https://twitter.com/mikewhiteMW it's gone. yesterday he posted a "twit" about not receiving the Game of Thrones "Celebrity Box" from HBO, which I mean.. was quite the unsubtle hint about Enlightened's future imo. I replied to him that I'd send him a nt4m celebrity box if there was one and he faved it (shameless gloat, idc) I read some of the other replies and there was one that replied with "):" and Mike replied "yup" so Obviously something wasn't v good. And then he made a "twit" about peeing on rice??? Idk. but now his twitter is gone ): Given the intense campaigning for Enlightened's third season on twitter.. if he found out bad news but couldn't say anything... constantly seeing "#Renew #Enlightened" would be pretty horrendous. Idk. Maybe I'm over thinking it~

again, sorry for the unofficial/possibly depressing post. I just thought it was worth taking note of. We must be strong.