What's it about?
Created by and starring Lena Dunham (TINY FURNITURE), the show is a comic look at the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of girls in their early 20s. Dunham wrote and directed the pilot of the series, which she executive produces along with Judd Apatow.
You should watch if...
• you have ever lived in New York City during your 20s.
• you like extremely understated, often depressing humor.
• you have been waiting for HBO's down-to-earth, realistic answer to their other group-of-four-girlfriends-in-NYC sitcom.
So, how was it?
Though technically considered a "comedy," as it clocks in at thirty minutes instead of an hour, Lena Dunham's GIRLS will not exactly have you rolling in the aisles. However, if you've ever struggled with money and/or relationships and/or identity during your 20s while living in a big city, you will find yourself occasionally smirking cynically or chuckling in a very knowing way. Created, written, directed, produced and starred in by Lena Dunham, herself a 25-year-old actress living in NYC, the show is a hyper-smart, frequently depressing, yet totally engrossing experience for someone also in his early 20s living in NYC still struggling to find his own "identity" or "career" or "life" or what-have-you. In fact, I believe this super-specific-ness is both GIRLS' strong point and its weakness: anyone who has lived it will be hooked; anyone who hasn't will feel excluded or turned off by the overwhelming bleakness and its focus on "white people problems."
It's easy to dismiss the struggles of finding your creative path or dealing with the suffocating affections of a too-perfect boyfriend or even an accidental pregnancy as "white people problems," and it's true that there are much worse things happening in the world at any given moment. But the truth about "white people problems" is that they still feel like "problems" to the person experiencing them. It's fascinating, at least in this first half hour, to watch these "girls" (young women, really) who are simultaneously so sure of what they want ("to be the voice of my generation"), yet constantly hedging their bets ("or at least a voice of a generation") and self-sabotaging with their lack of confidence.
These struggles are brought to vivid life by all four of the main young women. There's Lena Dunham herself as Hannah, the artistically ambitious yet massively insecure protagonist. Allison Williams is Marnie, Hannah's gorgeous best friend and roommate who can't stand the affections of her worshipful boyfriend. Then there's Jemima Kirke as Jessa, Hannah and Marnie's British frenemy, returned from her travels abroad full of faux-wisdom and terrible advice. And finally there's Zosia Mamet (David Mamet's daughter and MAD MEN guest star) as Shoshanna, Jessa's American cousin who speaks in the snappy "abbrevs" and wannabe-wit endemic of her generation. Mamet as Shoshanna gets a stand-out scene where she effectively highlights in a short monologue exactly what sets GIRLS apart from SEX AND THE CITY (also from HBO) by trying desperately (and failing) to compare her life to Carrie and Co's.
Lena Dunham (and HBO) want you to know that this is NOT the next SEX AND THE CITY. GIRLS is its own thing; a realistic, smart, funny, sad, wholly entertaining look at the everyday lives of a generation known for its entitlement, struggling to find its feet when that privilege is taken away. As Hannah's mom scoffs in disbelief: "You're so spoiled!" And as Hannah herself snaps back, "Whose fault is that?!"
Rating:
*** Solid. I'm interested and will definitely keep watching.
Outwardly, this show may see like nothing more than the inevitable climax of a very female-centric TV season (2 BROKE GIRLS, NEW GIRL, REVENGE, DON'T TRUST THE B---- IN APARTMENT 23, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER). But its location on cable rather than network lets GIRLS be something more than all of those: honest. The sex, drugs and profanity in these girls' lives are neither ignored nor overplayed. They are merely present, as they would be in any 20-somethings life. Girls have sex, sometimes they dabble in homemade opium tea, and they speak in casual profanity-laden colloquialisms. Unlike the massive and chic loft that Zooey Deschanel and Co. live their white-washed lives in, Hannah and her friends live in small, somewhat dingy NYC apartments and do things that normal human beings do. (Nothing against NEW GIRL, it's just a different beast.) I found the honesty refreshing. Some people may find it depressing. To each his own.
Your turn, Fellow Addicts! Did you catch the premiere of GIRLS? If so, were you drawn in by its big-city characters? Or turned off by its big-city specificity? Did you find it refreshing? Or depressing? Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments!
(For the complete rundown of when all the new shows are premiering, check out my 2012 Midseason TV Preview.)
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