HBO Renews Enlightened, Cancels Bored To Death, Hung, How To Make It In America

Good news for fans of freshman HBO program Enlightened. The show follows Amy Jellico (Laura Dern) as a strung-out executive who takes some time off after a breakdown at her office and avidly works to get her act in gear. Just a little over a week after the Season 1 finale of the show premiered, HBO has decided to give the show another round, renewing Enlightened for a second season. The news also comes just days after Enlightened was nominated for a Golden Globe in “Best TV Series, Comedy.” Dern’s performance also won her a “Best Actress, Comedy” bid.

Unfortunately, HBO likes to break some good news with some bad news. If you have been avid watchers of HBO’s Bored To Death with Jason Schwartzman, Hung with Thomas Jane, or How To Make It In America, the time has come to bid those programs farewell. According to Deadline, HBO has officially cancelled both Bored To Death and Hung after three seasons, and How To Make It In America after two. All three programs were underwhelming performers in the ratings – despite Bored To Death being awesome – so it’s really no surprise HBO gave any of them the boot.

It’s tough when any well-written program gets cancelled, but it really sucks when three go out in one fell swoop. At the end of the day, cancelling three programs should give HBO some budget room to create some new original programs that will hopefully do better in the ratings, and stick around for a little while. Maybe it will even leave some room for a couple of extra Enlightened episodes in Season 2. TV Blend will keep you posted as soon as we have more information on Enlightened’s second season.