Enlightened (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Enlightened is an American television series starring Laura Dern
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...

. The first season, which premiered on October 10, 2011 on HBO, will consist of 10 episodes.

Plot

Enlightened follows the story of Amy Jellicoe, a self-destructive executive, who, after the implosion of her professional life and a subsequent philosophical awakening in rehabilitation, tries to get her life back together.

Main cast

  • Laura Dern
    Laura Dern
    Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...

     as Amy Jellicoe
  • Diane Ladd
    Diane Ladd
    Diane Ladd is an American actress, film director, producer and published author. She has appeared in over 120 roles, on television, and in miniseries and feature films, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , Wild at Heart , Rambling Rose , Ghosts of Mississippi, Primary Colors, 28 Days , and...

     as Helen Jellicoe, Amy's mother
  • Luke Wilson
    Luke Wilson
    Luke Cunningham Wilson is an American film actor known for his roles in Old School, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Idiocracy and Death at a Funeral.-Early life:...

     as Levi, Amy's ex-husband
  • Timm Sharp
    Timm Sharp
    Timm Sharp is an American actor known mainly for his TV roles, including a lead role in the 2001 comedy Undeclared, as well as recurring roles in Six Feet Under and Til Death. He appears with Laura Dern in the HBO comedy series Enlightened, which debuted on October 10, 2011. He also attended...

     as Dougie, Amy's boss
  • Amy Hill
    Amy Hill
    Amy Marie Hill is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Mrs. DePaulo in That's So Raven, Mrs. Kwan in The Cat in the Hat, the Kylie Minogue-inspired singer, Penny Candy from The Puzzle Place, and the voice of Jasmine Lee Amy Marie Hill (born May 9, 1953) is an American...

     as Judy
  • Sarah Burns
    Sarah Burns (actress)
    Sarah Burns is an American film and television actress; she is also a comedian.-Life and career:She was born on Long Island, New York, Nassau County....

     as Krista Jacobs
  • Mike White as Tyler

Recurring cast

  • Charles Esten as Damon Manning, Amy's former boss
  • Riki Lindhome
    Riki Lindhome
    Riki Lindhome is an American actress and musician. She is best known for television roles in shows including Gilmore Girls, House, The Big Bang Theory and United States of Tara and is also one half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel And Oates...

     as Harper

Production

The series appeared on HBO's development slate in August 2009 with Laura Dern
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...

 set to star as the lead, Amy Jellicoe. On September 9, 2009, HBO placed a pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 order. Mike White wrote and directed the pilot, as well as co stars in the series as Tyler. The series is executive produced by White and Dern and co-executive produced by Miguel Arteta
Miguel Arteta
Miguel Arteta is a Puerto Rican director of film and television, known for his independent film Chuck & Buck , for which he received the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award.-Early life:...

 and Edward Saxon
Edward Saxon
-Early life:Saxon was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and educated at Kirkwood High School from 1972 to 1976, and McGill University from 1976 to 1980. He then studied at The Peter Stark Producing Program at the USC School of Cinema-Television. While at McGill, he founded the Tuesday Night Cafe...

. David Bernad and Jason Weinberg are producers for the series.

Casting announcements began in November 2009, with Sarah Burns
Sarah Burns (actress)
Sarah Burns is an American film and television actress; she is also a comedian.-Life and career:She was born on Long Island, New York, Nassau County....

 cast as Krista Jacobs, Amy's workplace friend. Diane Ladd
Diane Ladd
Diane Ladd is an American actress, film director, producer and published author. She has appeared in over 120 roles, on television, and in miniseries and feature films, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , Wild at Heart , Rambling Rose , Ghosts of Mississippi, Primary Colors, 28 Days , and...

, Luke Wilson
Luke Wilson
Luke Cunningham Wilson is an American film actor known for his roles in Old School, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Idiocracy and Death at a Funeral.-Early life:...

 and Amy Hill
Amy Hill
Amy Marie Hill is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Mrs. DePaulo in That's So Raven, Mrs. Kwan in The Cat in the Hat, the Kylie Minogue-inspired singer, Penny Candy from The Puzzle Place, and the voice of Jasmine Lee Amy Marie Hill (born May 9, 1953) is an American...

 then joined the series, with Ladd (who is Laura Dern's mother) playing Helen Jellicoe, Amy's mother. Luke Wilson is cast in the role of Levi, Amy's ex-husband and Amy Hill plays Judy, the head of human resources at Amy's workplace. Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...

 was originally cast in the role of Dougie, Amy's boss; however, he subsequently withdrew from consideration due to a dispute regarding the deal, and the role was recast with Timm Sharp
Timm Sharp
Timm Sharp is an American actor known mainly for his TV roles, including a lead role in the 2001 comedy Undeclared, as well as recurring roles in Six Feet Under and Til Death. He appears with Laura Dern in the HBO comedy series Enlightened, which debuted on October 10, 2011. He also attended...

.

On April 10, 2010, HBO picked the pilot up to series, with a 10 episode order. The series premiered on October 10, 2011 at 9:30pm following Bored to Death
Bored to Death
Bored to Death is an American comedy series, which premiered on HBO on September 20, 2009. , three seasons have aired, each consisting of eight episodes. The show was created by author Jonathan Ames, and stars Jason Schwartzman as a fictional Jonathan Ames – a writer based in Brooklyn, New York...

.

International distribution

Country Channel Premiere date
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

Sky Atlantic
Sky Atlantic
Sky Atlantic is a television channel owned by British Sky Broadcasting, which launched on 1 February 2011 on Sky in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland....

6 December 2011
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