Crushing the dreams of a few dozen fans, HBO announced on Tuesday that their largely ignored favorite "Enlightened" will not be returning for a third season.
Fans of the show, freaking out over the news, have already begun forming strategies to resurrect the show, which, in this age of streaming video original content providers like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, seems more likely now than ever before.
Comedian Patton Oswalt, who has been a vocal supporter of the show for awhile, has been calling on his Twitter followers to bombard Netflix’s Twitter account with messages demanding Netflix pick up the ball that HBO has dropped.
“Everyone Tweet @netflix RIGHT NOW. Ask them to pick up ENLIGHTENED. Followers...ASSEMBLE! At my signal, unleash hell! #Enlightened,” Oswalt tweeted.
And his followers are complying:
“Is there any chance of @netflix picking up #Enlightened? That would be a reason to subscribe, right there.” @owenweetch tweeted.
“I am #fullofhope that @netflix will #save #Enlightened. It's too great not to save. That is all. Peace.” @lolaandmanni tweeted.
“There seems to be a movement afoot to get @netflix to pick up #Enlightened a la #arresteddevelopment...Save Mike White!” @SpooningBlog tweeted.
"Arrested Development" was cancelled by Fox in 2013, but vocal fans complained for years and, with DVD sales that were more impressive than the show's initial ratings, convinced Netflix to resurrect the show, which will come back with new episodes on the video-streaming service later this year.
Netflix already had a major victory earlier this year with “House of Cards,” a very HBO-like show created by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey that has earned almost unanimously favorable reviews.
"Enlightened" was created in 2011 as a collaboration between stars Laura Dern and Mike White. The show revolves around Amy Jellicoe, who has a breakdown after a post-divorce fling and flees to a rehab facility in Hawaii. After feeling that she’s regained her sanity, she tries to return to work, to be an “agent of change,” but has trouble doing so.
