HBO Greenlights Enlightened, From School Of Rock Writer Mike White

About a month ago, we told you that Columbia had picked up a spec script by Mike White, actor and writer on School of Rock and Freaks and Geeks. Now, with White also appearing soon in Zombieland (you can see him briefly in the trailer), comes more good news for the guy: HBO has greenlit the pilot for his show Enlightened.

THR reports that the show will re-team White with Laura Dern, who also starred in his directorial effort Year of the Dog. The plot puts Dern as "a self-destructive woman who has a spiritual awakening and becomes determined to live an enlightened life, creating havoc at home and work." Sounds like a premise that could so easily be mined for both drama and comedy, and a perfect fit for Dern. I don't think there's a lot she can't do, but capturing the spirit of that friend we've all had who gets too enamored of their own enlightening experience should be something at which she excels.

After not hearing much from him for a couple years, this is  only the latest project for White, who also produced and appears in Gentlemen Broncos, is still working on another School of Rock film, and is working with Scott Rudin to adapt Sean Wilsey's memoir Oh the Glory of it All; White wrote and is producing.

White and Dern are both exceptionally talented, and hopefully the show will only add to HBO's new slate. After a couple of years losing ground to Showtime and AMC, HBO may be on the verge of become a home of great content again. The network has Hung and Bored to Death, as well as How to Make it in America, The Pacific and the upcoming Boardwalk Empire, the Terence Winter / Martin Scorsese show I talked about yesterday.