Girls is HBO’s latest 30-minute dramedy, airing Sundays at 10:30pm EST. Starring 4 young women trying to navigate the post-college waters in New York City, at first glance it sounds like the prequel to Sex and the City. Not even close. This show is awkward, edgy, and even a little perverted. And it doesn’t give a scratch about shoes.
The most gripping tidbit about this new show is its creator, Lena Dunham. She’s only 26 and oh yeah, did I mention she’s also the star and [typically] the director? Judd Apatow, the show’s executive producer, discovered Dunham after watching her independent film, Tiny Furniture (2010), and was so impressed he emailed her. (Dunham claims she thought it was a prank, because the email was titled, “From Judd Apatow,” and, seriously, who does that?)
Apatow interviewed Dunham for a short feature on HBO, and mentioned one of the resounding lessons I’ve learned from starting this blog – humiliation makes the best comedy. (Apatow also offers another brilliant nugget: if you’re writing a script you’re going to star in, write yourself eating the food you want to eat. They have to bring it to you.)
It took me a few episodes to decide how I felt about Girls because, as I hinted, it’s a little twisted. Dunham is unabashed and -literally- bares it all. It’s not a show about geek-chic girls or career ladder-climbers, but it’s raw and funny. As Dunham has said, it’s a show about smart girls making stupid choices. It’s one of those rare gems that’s hyper-real; sadly, the kind that usually gets canceled after a single season (think My So-Called Life or Freaks and Geeks). I believe today’s viewers are much better equipped to handle a show like this, though, and am confident it will thrive.
Have you seen Girls? Do you think there’s such a thing as a fictional show that’s too real? Where do you stand on fiction vs. memoir/soaps vs. reality TV?
***SUPER IMPORTANT ALERT THAT YOUR HAPPINESS PROBABLY DEPENDS ON: I’m wrapping up the Go Guilty Pleasures slap bracelet extravaganza, so if you have any unseen slap bracelet pictures, I hope you’ll send them to me at Julie.Davidoski@yahoo.com. Oh and I think you’re swell. Even if you don’t have a slap bracelet.***
Photo Credits
- Photo #1 (cast) – hbo.com
- Photo #2 (Apatow and Dunham) – gq.com
Go Jules Go 
You know what I’m going to do with this picture, don’t you?
HA! How did I not think of that?!
I so wish I had HBO right now.
I think you’d like it, Renee! Although there’s really not much else we’re watching on HBO right now. True Blood is coming back, but we’re a little wary after the last season (which wasn’t great – they’ve broken too many of their own rules [in that world])!
I don’t have HBO up here,,,so I guess I will have to believe you and wait till the shows come out on DVD 🙂
I’m so glad there’s more than one way to catch up on shows now. I remember frantically setting up the VCR not too long ago…
haha you old fart!
Well, after that build up, and comparison to those other great underrated shows . . . set to record right now! Thanks for the rec. I need something to watch this summer now that everything else has ended.
I hope you like it, Misty! I wasn’t kidding when I said it was perverted, LOL But it’s amazing what you can get away with when you’re funny… 😉
I haven’t seen yet that series.
Tv series are made for a specific circle of people. that’s why possible not everybody found interesting some sh*t.
It’s funny you say that, actually, because I was just trying to think of a TV show I watch that’s similar to my life, but I don’t think there is one! So I don’t think people are necessarily drawn to shows where the characters are like them, but it’s true we’ve all got our niche! (We’re probably drawn to the characters we WANT to be like.)
of course not.
Sex in the City is all about fashion & sex
action tv shows, detective tv shows, drama tv shows, young schoolars that sings harmoniously tv shows….
each one of them has its owm public, circle.
Not gonna watch. ‘Game of Thrones’ is about as twisted as I can accept.
If you can handle Game of Thrones, you can DEFINITELY handle this one. But I shan’t WordPressure you 😉
Hung is gone, Boardwalk Empire is on hiatus, I forgot to watch Luck and it’s gone now anyway. Shameless on Showtime is incredible, but also on hiatus. Magic City on Showtime is good, in a 1959-Miami-not-Vegas-but-feels-like-Vegas kind of way. The Big C has changed from interesting to horrific. I’m wondering how Girls will look to an old man like me?
Between this comment and what I wrote on The Byronic Man’s blog about insomniac movie choices, I feel like a regular media critic!
Well, we like media critics around these parts! I’ve been in a panic trying to plot out my summer TV routine so I don’t go into withdrawal 😉 Being the guilty pleasure enthusiast that I am, I’ve got The Glee Project and America’s Got Talent to start, Girls and True Blood… and I’m really hoping this MTV show called My Life as Liz comes back…
Nice ‘stache by the way.
I’m actually getting tired of my cable bill looking like a car payment. I’m thinking that it may be time to drop all those premium channels and just watch everything on Netflix a year or two later.
Although the violence and nudity on Magic City is somewhat addictive, plus all those cool old cars and the fashion.
Ulgh, I hear you! Between the cable bill and the cell phone bill, I feel like I could invest in a second property. But…but…vampires!
I hear you sister!
I gotta have my smart phone, so I can google “bloviating” and understand George Will’s opinion of Donald Trump a little better.
I think Bad News, I don’t have cable or a smart phone anymore, Good News, I’m driving a brand new Mercedes E- Class and I don’t have to brown bag my lunches now.
I LOVE this show! I have to admit it even shocks me at times and i ‘ve been to a live sex show at amsterdam so i like to think i’ve seen it all. Even though i love sex in the city (it’s the one show i can watch hours and hours of repeats of because i get to shut off my brain and enjoy the pretty things) I love that this is maybe a more realistic look at New York and I feel like i can relate to the main character in that she isn’t your usual tv babe. Other than that though i think she’s a character you can watch and laugh at but i think i would hate her in real life lol.
Yay Erin! Another vote for “Girls”! I wasn’t sure if anyone else was watching (yet). I love “Sex and the City” too, but I think this one is more relatable (even if some of the scenes are OUT THERE) – like you said, it’s much more realistic, i.e., NOT glamourous.
I haven’t seen it, and have heard really mixed things; mostly good. Something about it feels very “Daddy, can I have an edgy HBO series?” to me, and I’m not sure entirely why. That could be simply because the cast is entirely daughters of famous people. I am totally willing to check it out and be wrong, though.
Ha! You know, I would normally be swayed in a negative direction by something like that (daughters of famous kids), but they’re SO WILLING to make themselves look bad that it has the opposite effect. (By that I don’t just mean stripping down, but their characters actually show their worst sides in a way that’s realistic, so it makes you cringe to watch sometimes.)
No cable – no “Girls”. And HBO doesn’t seem to have a great relationship with Netflix. I don’t know that any HBO shows stream with Netflix. Thankfully, Showtime puts out some good shows – and I get to watch those via Netflix.
Hiya Lenore! Showtime DOES put on some good shows. I was SO sad that United States of Tara didn’t get renewed (that was Showtime, right??)!
Haven’t seen it and probably won’t. If it turns out to be Brillance-Itself, I’ll catch it on DVD but I doubt it. I’m quite mean with what I watch on TV (except MY guilty pleasures: True Blood–which isn’t good but I just look at the men! and Game of Thrones–which is the shiz).
It’s rare that I like a comedy but it turns out Nurse Jackie’s okay. I had the C word forced on me (people know that I like Laura Linney as an actor). Heck, I even dig Oliver Plath and can’t give an f for it. Too bad. I dunno. I bore easily probably because of my self-diagnosed ADHD. If there are a TON of HOT men on it, let me know (not too young, I’m old and feel bad about getting to bothered by the under 30 crowd…I’ll make exceptions!).
madtante! I am shocked that you rarely like comedy! You’re so funny!
True Blood is DEFINITELY tops for eye candy. I hope the plot is better this season; last season it was all over the place. As for other eye candy…90210 for sure! Now THAT is one of my top guilty pleasures. They might be playing college-aged kids, but you can ogle freely knowing they’re probably, like, 40. 😉
I don’t know. Do we need another edgy sitcom about young women in the big city chasing self-indulgence with single-minded purpose? And no great shoes? Boy, do I sound old. 😦
Peg that is a REALLY great description – “chasing self-indulgence with single-minded purpose”! So much so that it makes me doubt my choice in TV shows altogether, LOL That’s exactly what this is and Sex and the City was.
But Sex & the City did have great clothes and shoes. That counts for a lot.
Is this the show where a girl gets cut off financially by her parents? I have about 500 channels, but cut the movie channels because , well, I had to draw the line somewhere…..hm, need to check this one out i guess!
Yes, that’s the one! I know, I often feel like we need to draw the line somewhere with how many shows we watch. HBO is the only premium channel we have. (We used to have Showtime, too.) Peppermeister needs his Game of Thrones, and I need my True Blood!
I’ve been on the fence about this one. It’s been hyped up since Day One, and I really want to love it. It’s funny and gritty and well written. But it’s almost a little too realistic for comfort. I sometimes shudder at the choices they make, because I know that once upon a time, I made similar ones. It grows on you though, and I plan to keep watching it. Maybe I just need a little more Manolo Blahnik in my TV shows 🙂
I was really on the fence, too! I think it was the 4th or 5th episode before I went, “Oh. I’m pretty into this.” It DEFINITELY makes me shudder sometimes; I think that, the raw humor, and the fact that they’re willing to make themselves look bad, have collectively won me over! Finding out it was written and directed by the 26-year-old star didn’t hurt, either!
My coworker today mentioned that I should watch Girls. And now this post. I think it’s a sign.
It would probably be pretty risky NOT to listen to everything your coworker and I tell you.
I’ve heard this is good but, once again Jules (sigh), I don’t have cable TV and will only get to see it in my dreams at night. (Along with a lovely guy from a Food network show I’ve never watched.) The actress on the far right is a reoccurring character on my favorite show on earth, Mad Men. I buy that show on iTunes and then I curl up in a ball and go to my happy place.
Angie, I can only begin to imagine how awesome your happy place is. That actress on the right is hilarious. Byronic Man indicated she might be the daughter of a famous person. I should really investigate that.
I haven’t seen this show or even heard of it until now, but I’d be giving a shot without hesitation if I had HBO! I actually remember hearing about the film that piqued Apatow’s interest; I wonder if it was in re: this show? In any case, between this and Game of Thrones, I am seriously reassessing my current cable package. ARRRRGH!
(I enjoy shows that are so awkward they’re hard to watch. It makes me feel less embarrassed about my own mishaps, mwahaha!)
Hiya, Deb!! 🙂 I’m sooo with you – what really won me over re: this show is the awkwardness / the willingness of the cast to make themselves look ‘bad.’
Have not seen it. Being a “guy,” I was not a fan of SATC. I do like fashion, but couldn’t get past the super-chick (not to be confused with ‘chic’) aspect of the show.
Sounds intriguing – if it’s NOT like watching a train wreck. I’m not the schadenfreude kind of person.
LOL I feel I must warn you, then, MJ, that it has a bit of a train wreck flavor. But it’s not nearly as girly as SATC, despite its name!
Never heard of it. I don’t have HBO. Who is this girl on the right? I don’t recognize her from Mad Men either. SATC: I actually watched it here and there but lost interest after awhile. I know, I know. I must be the only woman in the world to say that. Carrie Bradshaw just got so whiny and annoying always typing out her inner thoughts on her little laptop and ending it with some heavy question: Are men and women destined to be together? why do I call Mr. Big, Mr. Big?
I’m SURE I wouldn’t have heard of it if we didn’t have HBO, with their constant commercials after Game of Thrones!
I didn’t watch SATC when it was on, but my bestie got it in DVD and we’d watch it on Ladies Night, which made me get into it. But I never really felt like I could relate (even though I always thought I’d be a writer/cat lady living in NYC!). Maybe ’cause I’m not that into shoes? And Mr. Big is an a-hole. I much preferred…Aiden? Was that his name? (Whathisface from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and United States of Tara. John Corbin! There we go. Notice I have the power to delete my train of thought but have chosen not to.)
Oh yeah! Love that guy! Aiden! He was on Northern Exposure once upon a time. Loved that show!
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