An earnest Twitter campaign couldn’t bring back one of the best current television shows for a third season. The economics of HBO’s “Enlightened” had more cons than pros, but quality doesn’t always equal quantity.
“Me so sad. Me going to cry. Or stick it to the man.”
An HBO joint destined for its third season, and it hasn’t been cancelled? It’s true! Premiering March 31, the show succeeds not just because of stellar source material, an Emmy Award winning cast, and more good-looking folks getting naked than in Downton Abbey. Plus, there’s some story happening there. And a few dragons; they’re pretty good-looking too.
It’s an uncommon thing for me to actually catch the very first episode of a new television show when it first airs. I think it has to do with the fear of falling in love too quickly, only to have my hopes dashed on the rocks when my beloved is cancelled mid-season. When it came to Game of Thrones on HBO, it was an accident that I actually caught its debut almost two years ago. Maybe it was slick marketing campaign promos that caught my eye, or word that the novels that it was based on kicked ass. But probably more banal, it just happened to be on.
The Good:
The Bad:
Stephen Bowie’s The Classic TV History Blog is one of the interweb’s greatest pleasures for television buffs, giving us in-depth reportage and, very often, startling new facts about shows we all know and love. This recent post is the best overview we’ve ever seen of a remarkable and greatly underrated series.
Without further ado:
…And lemme tell you, there’s a reason the first, return episode after a cast and attitude change had the worst ratings of its run.
The good: