Girls

Girls premiered on HBO on April 15, 2012, and ended on April 16, 2017, after six seasons. Lena Dunham created the series, played Hannah Horvath, and served as an executive producer alongside Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner. Its opening episode establishes Hannah’s predicament: two years after graduating from college, her parents announce that they will stop paying her expenses. Hannah wants to write, but sustaining herself in New York proves difficult. Dunham had previously written and directed the independent film Tiny Furniture, whose reception helped lead to HBO’s commission. Its first season comprised ten episodes set largely in Brooklyn.

Allison Williams plays Marnie Michaels, initially Hannah’s roommate and a gallery assistant who later pursues music. Jemima Kirke plays Jessa Johansson, whose impulsiveness shapes her work, relationships, and attempts at recovery. Zosia Mamet plays Shoshanna Shapiro, Jessa’s younger cousin, who starts the series as a college student. Adam Driver portrays Hannah’s on-and-off boyfriend Adam Sackler, an actor; Alex Karpovsky plays Ray Ploshansky, a coffee-shop manager who becomes involved with both Shoshanna and Marnie. Andrew Rannells plays Elijah Krantz, Hannah’s ex-boyfriend and eventual roommate. Their overlapping friendships and romances repeatedly change where they live and how they regard one another.

Specific episodes take striking detours from the group’s usual routines. In season two’s “One Man’s Trash,” Hannah spends time with Joshua, a doctor played by Patrick Wilson, after a dispute involving garbage at his home. Season three’s “Beach House” brings the four central women together for a weekend that exposes resentments beneath their friendship. In season five’s “The Panic in Central Park,” Marnie reconnects with her former boyfriend Charlie, played by Christopher Abbott. Season six’s “American Bitch” largely stages a conversation between Hannah and a celebrated writer accused of sexual misconduct, played by Matthew Rhys. The show frequently lets uncomfortable encounters remain unresolved.

Hannah’s career takes her to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and later into teaching, but neither path settles her ambitions. Marnie records music with Desi, marries him, and eventually divorces him. Jessa begins a relationship with Adam, badly damaging her friendship with Hannah. Near the end, Hannah learns she is pregnant and accepts a teaching job outside New York. The final episode, “Latching,” follows her struggles caring for her infant son, Grover, with Marnie and Hannah’s mother Loreen nearby. In 2013, Girls won the Golden Globe for best television comedy or musical series, while Dunham won the corresponding actress award.