''Girlboss'' is an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series created by

Kay Cannon Kay Cannon (born August 22, 1974) is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actress. She is best known for writing and producing the ''Pitch Perfect'' film series (2012–2017). She made her directorial debut with the comedy film '' ...

. The series was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on April 21, 2017. The show was cancelled after one season.

Synopsis

The show is based on

Sophia Amoruso Sophia Christina Amoruso (born April 20, 1984) is an American businesswoman. Amoruso was born in San Diego, California, and moved to Sacramento, California, after High school, soon after relocating to San Francisco. Amoruso founded Nasty Gal, a wo ...

's 2014

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

''#Girlboss'', which tells the story of how Amoruso started the company

Nasty Gal Nasty Gal is an American retailer that specializes in fashion for young women. The company has customers in over 60 countries. Founded by Sophia Amoruso in 2006, Nasty Gal was named "Fastest Growing Retailer" in 2012 by '' Inc.'' magazine. Nasty ...

while working as a campus safety host for San Francisco's

Academy of Art University The Academy of Art University (AAU or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. S ...

Cast

Main

Britt Robertson Brittany Leanna Robertson (born April 18, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for her lead role in '' The First Time'' (2012), and has appeared in the films ''Tomorrowland'' (2015), '' The Space Between Us'' (2017), ''A Dog's Purpose'' ...

as Sophia Marlowe * Ellie Reed as Annie, Sophia's best friend *

Johnny Simmons Johnny Simmons (born November 28, 1986) is an American former actor. He is known for his roles as Dylan Baxter in ''Evan Almighty'' (2007), Chip Dove in ''Jennifer's Body'' (2009), "Young Neil" Nordegraf in '' Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'' (2010) ...

as Shane, Sophia's love interest *

Alphonso McAuley Alphonso McAuley (born April 21, 1979) is an American actor and social media personality. McAuley played Cassius Sparks on Fox's comedy television series '' Breaking In'' and played Hutch in ABC's '' The Middle''. Early life and education McA ...

as Dax, a bartender studying business and Annie's boyfriend

Recurring

Dean Norris Dean Joseph Norris (born April 8, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for playing DEA agent Hank Schrader on the AMC series '' Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2020). He also portrayed town councilm ...

as Jay Marlowe, Sophia's father *

RuPaul Charles RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

as Lionel, Sophia's neighbor *

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...

as Gail, the owner of Rememberences and a vintage clothing seller *

Jim Rash James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Bes ...

as Mobias, the owner of a consignment shop *

Cole Escola Cole Escola (born November 25, 1986) is an American comedian, actor, and singer. They are best known for their cabaret work and their appearances on the television series '' Jeffery & Cole Casserole'' (2009–2010), ''Difficult People'' (2015– ...

as Nathan *

Nicole Sullivan Nicole Sullivan (born April 21, 1970) is an American actress and comedian best known for her six seasons (1995–2001) on the sketch comedy series ''MADtv''. She also played Holly Shumpert in five seasons (2001–2005, 2007) of the CBS sitcom '' ...

as Teresa *

Louise Fletcher Estelle Louise Fletcher (July 22, 1934 – September 23, 2022) was an American actress who portrayed the antagonist Nurse Ratched in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975), which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award, ...

as Rosie, a bitter old lady *

Norm Macdonald Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...

as Rick, Sophia's best and last boss * Amanda Rea as Bettina * Macedo (Michelle and Melissa) as members of Shane's band * Alice Ripley as Kathleen, Sophia's mom

Production

In February 2016, it was announced that

had ordered a series based on Amoruso's autobiography ''#Girlboss''. It was announced that the first season received an order of 13 episodes. In June 2016,

joined the cast of the series. That same month,

and Ellie Reed joined the cast. In July 2016,

joined the cast in a recurring role.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Episodes

Reception

Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives the first season a 32 percent rating based on 25 reviews and an average rating of 5.94/10.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

gives the series a score of 53 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Some critics criticized the main character's unlikeability, but praised Robertson's portrayal. Critics were divided as to whether the show presented a feminist message. Jennifer Wright from ''New York Post'' called the show a "feminist fraud" because of Sophia's selfishness. On April 18, 2018, Zimbio criticized the show saying it was "like the weird forgotten cousin of

Degrassi ''Degrassi'' is a Canadian television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler in 1979. It is centred on a multigenerational teen drama about an ensemble cast of teenagers attending the namesake Toronto school as they navigate their ad ...

References

External links

*
Girlboss
' on

* {{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018), state=collapsed 2010s American workplace comedy television series 2017 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings Fashion-themed television series English-language Netflix original programming Television shows based on American novels Television series based on actual events Television series set in 2006 Television series set in 2008 Television shows filmed in Los Angeles Television shows set in San Francisco