The first season of the American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series '' Girls'' premiered on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

on April 15, 2012, and consisted on 10 episodes, concluding on June 17, 2012. The series was created by Lena Dunham, who portrays the lead character, who based the premise and central aspects of the show on her personal life. It was produced by Apatow Productions, I Am Jenni Konnor Productions and HBO productions. The season introduces Dunham's character Hannah Horvath, an immature aspiring writer from

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

who is in for a surprise when she is informed by her parents that they will no longer support her financially. Having received their support for two years, following her graduation from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

, Hannah struggles with her newly established independence as she is left to her own devices in

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn� ...

. Within Hannah's circle of friends they include Marnie Michaels ( Allison Williams), Jessa Johansson ( Jemima Kirke) and Shoshanna Shapiro ( Zosia Mamet).

Cast and characters

Main

* Lena Dunham as Hannah Helene Horvath, an aspiring writer living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, known for her narcissism and immaturity, who struggles to support herself and find a direction in her life. * Allison Williams as Marnie Michaels, Hannah's best friend, roommate and classmate of Hannah's at

. * Jemima Kirke as Jessa Johansson, one of Hannah's closest friends, Jessa is a global citizen of British origin, and is noted for her bohemian, unpredictable, and brash personality. * Zosia Mamet as Shoshanna Shapiro, Jessa's bubble-headed and innocent American cousin who's a Media, Culture, and Communications major at New York University. *

Adam Driver Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award; making him one of few performers nominated ...

as Adam Sackler. Hannah's casual boyfriend - an aloof, passionate young man, Adam works as a part-time carpenter and actor. He is an alcoholic who has been sober for years.

Recurring

Christopher Abbott Christopher Jacob Abbott (born February 1, 1986) is an American actor. Abbott made his feature film debut in ''Martha Marcy May Marlene'' (2011). Abbott's other notable films include '' Hello I Must Be Going'' (2012) '' The Sleepwalker'' (2014) ...

as Charlie Dattolo (episodes 1–5, 7, 10) * Alex Karpovsky as Raymond "Ray" Ploshansky (episodes 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10) *

Andrew Rannells Andrew Scott Rannells (born August 23, 1978) is an American film, stage, television and voice actor. Rannells is best known for originating the role of Elder Kevin Price in the 2011 Broadway musical ''The Book of Mormon'' for which he was nomin ...

as portrays Elijah Krantz (episode 3, 5, 7, 10) *

Becky Ann Baker Becky Ann Baker (née Gelke; born February 17, 1953) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles of Jean Weir on NBC comedy-drama series ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000) and Loreen Horvath on HBO comedy-drama series ''Girls'' (2012� ...

as portrays Loreen Horvath (episodes 1, 6) *

Peter Scolari Peter Thomas Scolari (September 12, 1955 – October 22, 2021) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Michael Harris on ''Newhart'' (1984–1990), Henry Desmond on ''Bosom Buddies'' (1980–1982) and Wayne Szalinski on ''Hone ...

as portrays Tad Horvath (episode 1, episode 6) * James LeGros as Jeff Lavoyt (episodes 3–5, 7) *

Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...

as Katherine Lavoyt (episodes 3–5, 9) * Clare Foley as Lola Lavoyt (episodes 3, 4) * Mackenzie Gray as Beatrix Lavoyt (episodes 3, 4) *

Richard Masur Richard Masur is an American character actor who has appeared in more than 80 films. From 1995 to 1999, he served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). He is best known for Nick Lobo on ''Rhoda'' (1974-1977), Stanley Uris in th ...

as Rich Glatter (episodes 4, 5) * Chris O'Dowd as Thomas-John (episodes 8, 10)

Guest

* Chris Eigeman as Alistair (episode 1) * Alexi Wasser as Alexi (episode 1) * Elaine Chun as Joy Lin (episode 1) * Mike Birbiglia as Brian (episode 2) * Morgan Krantz as Morgan (episode 2) * Sakina Jaffrey as Gynecologist (episode 2) *

Christina Kirk Christina Kirk (born November 10, 1970) in New York, New York, is an American actress. Career Kirk appeared in Woody Allen's ''Melinda and Melinda'' and Ira Sachs' ''Love Is Strange''. She also was in ''Clybourne Park'', a play by Bruce Nor ...

as Reese (episode 3) *

Jorma Taccone Jorma Christopher Taccone (; born March 19, 1977) is an American comedian, director, actor, and writer. He is one-third of the sketch comedy troupe The Lonely Island, with childhood friends Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer. In 2010, Taccone co-wro ...

as Booth Jonathan (episode 3) * Horatio Sanz as Terry Lavoyt (episode 4) * Skylar Astin as Matt Kornstein (episode 4) * Lesley Arfin as Lesley (episode 4) *

Daniel Eric Gold Daniel Eric Gold (born September 19, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor. He attended Lee Strasberg's Theater Institute as a teenager, and went on to graduate from Penn State in 1996, with a degree in Theater Arts. Career ...

as Jessa's Ex-Boyfriend (episode 5) * Lou Taylor Pucci as Eric (episode 6) * Philip Ettinger as Zach (episode 6) *

Roberta Colindrez Roberta Colindrez is a Mexican-American actor and writer known for originating the role of Joan in the musical ''Fun Home.'' Colindrez is also known for roles in the TV shows ''I Love Dick,'' '' Vida, and'' Amazon Prime's ''A League of Their Own' ...

as Tako (episode 7) *

Audrey Gelman Audrey Gelman (born June 2, 1987) is an American businessperson and political staffer. She is the founder of The Wing, a women's co-working space and social club founded in New York City in 2016. She was the inspiration for Allison Williams's ...

as Audrey (episode 7) * Henry Zebrowski as Gavin (episode 8) * Michael Imperioli as Powell Goldman (episode 9) * Jenny Slate as Tally Schifrin (episode 9) * Billy Morrissette as George (episode 10)

Episodes

Release

Critical reception

The first season of ''Girls'' received universal acclaim from television critics. On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

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 ...

, the first season of the series holds an average of 87 based on 29 reviews. The website also lists the show as the highest-rated fictional series debut of 2012. James Poniewozik from ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' reserved high praise for the series, calling it "raw, audacious, nuanced and richly, often excruciatingly funny". Tim Goodman of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called ''Girls'' "one of the most original, spot-on, no-missed-steps series in recent memory". Reviewing the first three episodes at the 2012 SXSW Festival, he said the series conveys "real female friendships, the angst of emerging adulthood, nuanced relationships, sexuality, self-esteem, body image, intimacy in a tech-savvy world that promotes distance, the bloodlust of surviving New York on very little money and the modern parenting of entitled children, among many other things—all laced together with humor and poignancy". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' also applauded the series and said: "''Girls'' may be the

millennial generation Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western world, Western demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as start ...

's rebuttal to '' Sex and the City'', but the first season was at times as cruelly insightful and bleakly funny as ''

Louie Louie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Louie'' (American TV series), by comedian Louis C.K. * ''Louie'' (French TV series), animated series about a young rabbit who draws pictures which come to life * "Louie" (song), by Blood Raw * ''L ...

'' on FX or ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

'' on HBO.""The Edges Are Still Sharp in Brooklyn"
''

''. January 10, 2013.

Accolades

* Nominated: Critics' Choice Award for Best Comedy Series — ''Girls'' * Nominated: Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series — Lena Dunham * Nominated: TCA Award for Outstanding New Program — ''Girls'' * Nominated: TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy — Lena Dunham * Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series — ''Girls'' * Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series — Lena Dunham * Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series — Lena Dunham * Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series — Lena Dunham * Win:

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series This is a list of the winners and nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series. Winners and nominations 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins ;5 wins * Jennifer McNamara (2 consecutive, twice) ;3 wins ...

— Jennifer Euston * Nominated: Satellite Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy — ''Girls'' * Nominated: Satellite Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy — Lena Dunham * Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series — ''Girls'' * Win: Writers Guild of America Award for New Series — ''Girls'' * Nominated: Women's Image Network Award for Outstanding Film / Show Written by A Woman — Lena Dunham * Nominated: Women's Image Network Award for Outstanding Film / Show Directed by A Woman — Lena Dunham * Win: Peabody Award for Area of Excellence — ''Girls'' * Win: Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical — ''Girls'' * Win: Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical — Lena Dunham * Win: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series — Lena Dunham * Win: Art Directors Guild Award for Episode of a Half Hour Single-Camera Television Series — Judy Becker * Win: British Academy Television Awards – International Prize — ''Girls''

Ratings

Home media

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girls (season 1) 2012 American television seasons Girls (TV series)