Girls

[Note: I posted this last weekend, but it for some reason isn't showing up on RSS feeds. Hopefully it'll post this time. Also, I watched the second episode on Sunday, and yes, this show still rocks.]

 

Have you seen HBO's new show Girls? I'd read a lot about it before its premiere last Sunday but honestly had no interest seeing it. The thing is, I'm the kind of person that can become easily obsessed with a TV show, and, as much as I love television, I'll admit that there's only one show that I continually keep up with. The bulk of my television watching occurs during the 12:30 am half-hour. Pretty much all I watch these days is the fourth hour of the Today Show (no shame), Chelsea Lately (don't judge), Friends re-runs, and Beverly Hills 90210 re-runs (this is shameful, I know, but it's the definition of a guilty pleasure and I can't get enough of the 90's-era wardrobe and plotlines that would make those on The OC seem Oscar-worthy by comparison).

So when I found myself, surprisingly, watching TV this past Sunday at normal hours (i.e., times when normal programming actually runs), I stumbled upon Girls and remained transfixed for the next half-hour. (I think the lack of commercials on HBO is the single greatest thing about it.) I wasn't really sure what to expect and was a little lost the entire time, but the show is funny. It's a different sort of humor, similar to comedies like Parks and Rec and The Office (although this isn't a mockumentary) - awk. And I kind of love Lena Dunham, the lead/creator/director/producer of the whole shebang.

The tone of the show is really ironic; a lot of people throw around the word "hipster" when describing it, but I was more convinced that these girls (the show centers around four female friends), especially Dunham's Hannah, were actually very uncool. But they lead very urban, modern, hip lives and live in Manhattan, so they all have a certain sense of entitlement. The show has been described as a real, unglamorous take on Sex and the City, and I think that's probably pretty accurate, based on my first impressions.

Of course, the backlash is already setting in; this sense of humor is certainly not for everyone, and the characters are mutlilayered and decidedly unperfect, but that's what I love about it. 

You can watch the first episode on YouTube. And be sure to check out Dunham's gem of an interview with Chelsea Handler earlier this week. I want to be friends with her and send prank emails. 

Have you seen Girls yet? What did you think?


[Image by Mark Seliger/HBO]