HBO’s debuting a new comedy series on April 15th called Girls, created by and starring Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture). Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) executive produces the series with Dunham and Jenni Konner; Bruce Eric Kaplan and Ilene S. Landress co-executive produce. The first season is made up of 10 half-hour episodes which will air on Sunday nights from 10:30-11:00 p.m. ET/PT.
In addition to Dunham (who also directed five of the 10 episodes), the cast includes Jemima Kirke, Allison Williams, Zosia Mamet, and Adam Driver. Guest stars include Becky Ann Baker, Peter Scolari, Mike Birbiglia, Kathryn Hahn, Michael Imperioli, James LeGros, Richard Masur, Bobby Moynihan, Chris O’Dowd, Lou Taylor Pucci, Andrew Rannells, Jenny Slate, and Jorma Taccone.
The Plot: Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna are trying to figure life out. They’ve been living in New York for a couple of years, but they’re still not sure what they want – from boys, from each other, from themselves. And things aren’t getting any clearer.
Hannah (Lena Dunham) is a unique mixture of self-entitlement and self-loathing. She believes she has the talent to be a successful writer but forgets she has to write first. She wants to have a boyfriend without the obligations of a relationship and a job without having to work. She’s ultimately good-natured, with a spirited sense of humor. But every time Hannah is about to improve her circumstances, her cluelessness undercuts her.
Marnie (Allison Williams), Hannah’s roommate and best friend, is a Type A personality with strict rules about friendship. She seems like Hannah’s opposite because she’s got an actual job and a serious boyfriend. But while she’s more together on the surface, her unwillingness to admit how lost she is may mean that she’s the most lost.
Jessa (Jemima Kirke) is a live-and-let-live bohemian who’s allergic to anything she views as bourgeois. She wants a life less ordinary and has traveled extensively. She’s had lots of different jobs and lots of different boyfriends, but her apparent lack of fear belies her own kind of insecurity. Jessa is apt to put crazy ideas in Hannah’s head that are easier for a gorgeous British girl to pull off than they are for anxious, rumpled Hannah.
Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet), Jessa’s roommate and cousin, aspires to the Sex and the City lifestyle. She’s an NYU student obsessed with “women’s issues,” gluten-free foods and sexcentric self-help. The others tend to underestimate her because she’s suburban and innocent, but Shoshanna can be a surprisingly incisive source of wisdom.
Girls April Episode Guide:
Episode #1: “Pilot”
Debut: SUNDAY, APRIL 15 (10:30-11:05 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: April 15 (12:35 a.m.), 16 (9:00 p.m.), 18 (9:30 p.m.) and 19 (midnight)
HBO2 playdates: April 16 (9:00 p.m., 9:35 p.m., 10:10 p.m.), 17 (11:00 p.m.) and 21 (9:00 p.m., 1:05 a.m.)
Hannah (Lena Dunham), a 24-year-old aspiring writer living in New York City, is blindsided when her parents (Becky Ann Baker, Peter Scolari) cut her off financially. Subsequently fired from her unpaid internship, she seeks comfort in Adam (Adam Driver), the eccentric actor she sometimes sleeps with when she can get him to respond to her texts. Meanwhile, Hannah’s best friend and Type-A roommate, Marnie (Allison Williams), hosts a dinner party for their bohemian British friend Jessa (Jemima Kirke), who’s returned from god-knows-where to move in with Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet), Jessa’s younger, “Sex and the City”-obsessed cousin.
Written and directed by Lena Dunham.
Episode #2: “Vagina Panic”
Debut: SUNDAY, APRIL 22 (10:30-11:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: April 22 (12:30 a.m.), 25 (9:30 p.m.) and 26 (midnight)
HBO2 playdates: April 23 (10:30 p.m.), 24 (11:00 p.m.) and 28 (9:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m.)
Hannah reveals her “Forest Gump”-induced AIDS phobia when she realizes Adam might not be practicing monogamy. Marnie lives in denial of her growing boredom with (and sexual repulsion by) her long-term boyfriend, Charlie (Chris Abbott); Jessa avoids Marnie’s meticulously planned day at a women’s health clinic, where Shoshanna confesses a humiliating secret.
Written and directed by Lena Dunham.
Episode #3: “All Adventurous Women Do”
Debut: SUNDAY, APRIL 29 (10:30-11:00 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: April 29 (12:30 a.m.) and May 2 (9:30 p.m.) and 3 (midnight)
HBO2 playdate: April 30 (8:30 p.m.)
Hannah meets up with her erstwhile college flame to find out how she contracted HPV, uncovering much more in the process. Marnie’s art-gallery boss introduces her to a cocky artist who piques her interest, while Jessa gets a babysitting gig.
Written and directed by Lena Dunham.
More on Girls: May Episode Guide / June Episode Guide
