The Nature of Things

Well, HBO did it. They canceled the best show on television . I can't say that I was really surprised. When no immediate announcement was made following the finale of the second season of "Enlightened" two weeks ago, the handwriting on the wall was pretty clear for all to see. Still, I am deeply disappointed in HBO. Somehow, I had expected better from them. The only hope for us devoted fans of the show now is that some other provider of quality television will give writer/director Mike White a call and make him an offer he can't refuse. (Come on, Netflix. You've started something with "House of Cards." "Enlightened" could be your next big venture.) At the very least, we have two perfect seasons "in the can," so to speak, and we can watch them over and over again. I would actually love to watch the entire series from the beginning once again. There are so many moments there that were meaningful to me, as I identified so strongly with...

Tomorrow night will be the first Sunday night in several weeks when we won't be able to sit down in front of our televisions and be "Enlightened." Even more sadly, we face the prospect that we may never again be able to get our Sunday "Enlightened" fix. The withdrawal pains will be intense. The HBO series, created by and starring Laura Dern and Mike White, ended its second season last Sunday. Its continuing survival in the cutthroat world of television, where ratings are everything, is not at all ensured. The series never earned the ratings that it would have in a just world, but I've written here before that I thought it was the best thing on TV - even though I admitted that I haven't seen everything that's on TV. It was not a series that was easy to categorize. It was sometimes a drama and sometimes a comedy. It was a dramedy, but that just confused some viewers who didn't want the challenge of having to figure that out every week. Also, it ...

Sunday night is my big television viewing night. For the last several weeks, of course, there's been "Downton Abbey" on PBS to provide us with enough angst to last until the series returns next winter. Then there is HBO's "Girls," the hot show these days, the one that gets all the critics slavering. "Girls" is sort of a non-airbrushed version of "Sex in the City," four twenty-something friends shown with all all their warts, freckles, anxieties, and cellulite intact. It is in many ways a maddening show, but I can't seem to stop watching it. But the best half hour on Sunday night is HBO's "Enlightened," the creation of Laura Dern and Mike White, who also star in it. This is "Enlightened's" second season, like "Girls" which it follows in the Sunday lineup. It may have suffered from its association with "Girls" which seems to sort of suck all the air out of the room. But for those of us who...