‘Amazing’ Mike to pen HBO comedy

If you’re watching the current series of The Amazing Race you are probably familiar with screenwriter Mike White, who is racing with his father, Mel.

White wrote the film School of Rock in which he also appeared, plus Year of the Dog. Now he has a new TV series, Enlightened, picked up by HBO. Laura Dern will play a formerly self-destructive woman who, after having a spiritual awakening, becomes determined to live an enlightened life, creating havoc at home and work.

“There are so many dysfunctional types of characters populating cable television, and she is equally as dysfunctional as any of them,” White said, “but her impulse is to get healthy, to make the world a better place even though it creates havoc.”

At first, White was OK with just helping her navigate her way into a TV series — but that quickly changed.

“I’m such a huge fan of hers as an actress and a person, I realised I was going to be jealous of anyone doing (a show with her), so I just had to do it myself,” he said.

Source: Hollywood Reporter