Peculiar Reviewer

HBO 's smart new series Enlightened scored this fall season, where Hung left viewers limp and unsatisfied (which is why it got chopped off). Never has the office workplace been so dead-on-screen as the numbing corporation Abaddon (which literally means in Hebrew: the depths of hell), that drives Laura Dern 's ( Wild At Heart , Jurassic Park ) character to seek enlightenment at a Hawaii retreat. Diane Ladd ( Chinatown ) limelight's as seasoned Inland Empire -er Laura Dern's real-life, and fake-life mother, who is aloof when her daughter hugs her. The series co-creator, and writer, Mike White ( Chuck & Buck , The School of Rock ) plays Dern's corporate confidant. Enlightened has been picked up for a second season and will return to HBO next fall. Higher calling coming soon.  

Alas, your one-stop candy shop for chills, thrills, wit, and spills, is American Horror Story on FX . What's refreshing about this modern horror story is that it has a comedic undertone that blends exquisitely with the scares that it produces. Everything that you were/are afraid of is thrown into the layered story lines of the new series that exposes the dark side of people, and the hush-hush taboos that your friendly neighbors likely partake in behind closed doors. Jessica Lange ( Grey Gardens, Cape Fear ) is back! With a lush role she can really sink her teeth into. Six Feet Under fans can revel in watching Frances Conroy steal every scene with her theatrical delight. So dust off that old Freud book from the shelf, light up some candles, and enjoy the enchanting house of American Horror Story !