TCA: Why HBO Canceled ‘Enlightened’

Laura Dern earned Emmy nomination after cancellation

HBO executives were asked to ponder Thursday whether they regretted cancelling "Enlightened" in light of Laura Dern's Emmy nomination for the show last week.

HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo said the network was disappointed that the show didn't improve on its ratings in its second season, but also felt that the lead character, Dern's Amy Jellicoe, had completed her journey in a satisfying way.

"The most important element to us in not going forward is that we felt that creatively that the story of Amy Jellicoe had come to a natural resting place, and we thought it was best to end it where we did, so it wasn't a financial decision, per se. It was really about choices and a creative decision," Lombardo said in a Television Critics Association panel.

"It worked beautifully and we felt we should end where we ended it."

Even if the show didn't improve in its ratings in Season 2, it did improve in its Emmy nominations. Though Dern won a Golden Globe for her work in the first season, the Emmys passed her over.

That wasn't the case last week, when Dern was nominated for lead actress in a comedy. She also has four other nominations for past roles.

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