Of Course

In March of this year, HBO canceled Enlightened, which was a show I liked a whole lot, starring Laura Dern and helmed by Mike White. So I was pretty excited to read that Mike White was inking a new development deal with HBO. Except:

[Girls co-executive producer Murray Miller] will team with Enlightened's Mike White to develop Mr. Romance, a comedy project set up at the cabler.

Based on Joshuah Bearman's 2010 McSweeney's article The Only Muscle I Can't Control: In Search of the Next Romance Novel Cover Man, the nonfiction story recounts the 14th annual Mr. Romance Cover Model Competition and the quest to find the next Fabio.

...For White, Mr. Romance comes eight months after HBO canceled Enlightened, which he created, wrote and starred in. During its two-season run, the dramedy was nominated for two Emmys (for guest actress Molly Shannon and star Laura Dern) and earned Dern a Golden Globe. It was also nominated for best comedy or musical series at the Golden Globes.

So, instead of giving White a little more time with Enlightened, a show with a terrific, award-nominated female lead, HBO cancels it, and instead hires White to work on a project about a dude competing to be a romance novel cover model.

Sounds about par for the course.