Is noone else watching Girls on HBO? Pretty intriguing first ep, very nerve wracking to watch as a fellow scattered 20something tho

I liked it. It was a bit soft overall but I definitely chuckled a few times. Dunahm is very likable.

Great first episode.

Made this it's own thread.

On Firewall and Iceberg- Feinberg's review of this was basically that he liked it, but it had some elements that if they got any broader might be really bad, and that's kinda how I felt.

I liked this, but it was close to being a bit too coy and quirky. Like I might hate all the characters on the show, even if I can still enjoy the show.

Some people drew comparisons to Sex in the City- but I see this more as "How to Make it In America if You're a Girl".

Dids, MagicMurderBean's post is from the Mad Men thread, and coincidentally is actually about Mad Men, not Girls.

On topic, I liked it but I definitely agree that it seems to be walking a fine line between quirky and funny and annoyingly quirky.

Even if you don't subscribe to HBO they made the pilot available - http://www.hbo.com/girls

I loved the pilot and think Dunham is a pretty huge talent. It definitely seems to capture this age-group more accurately than any other show that has attempted to imo.

Heh- that was tagged to be deleted and I guess I forgot and dragged it in here. Gone now.

It was interesting as a drama, but apparently it was it really meant to be a comedy? I didnt laugh once.

I thought the show did a very good job at displaying realistic dysfunction. I also thought it was solid, but I wouldn't remotely consider it a comedy. I can't ever see laughing at anything in this show. I made a definition called "sarcama", which I call sarcastic drama (most of the humor is based on sarcastic interactions between characters, but it's still basically a drama). This doesn't even fit into that, very well, because no one is particularly sarcastic, and almost all of the situations are more sad than humorous. Nearly all of the "jokes" were bathroom related, and I could really have done without the extended Jessa sitting on the toilet.

I'm sure the scene that was supposed to be funniest was the Hannah getting fired scene. That just really ended up pissing me off, as an underemployed creative person. The reality she faced there is much more how those of us who are a little bit older in the industry are currently being treated. The difference for her is that her obligations are college related, while ours are life related. The industry is kind of in a mode of dumping out the high priced talent, which is mostly going to usher in an era of further mediocrity. So, I can certainly relate to the challenges Hannah's character is facing from the completely opposite end of the spectrum. I'm still paying for my college loans for about another 7 months, at the age of 40...lol.

For that generation, it's probably going to be a pretty interesting ride, which lets them know that they're not alone. Hopefully it can even begin to help them figure things out in the pretty crappy work world we live in today.

I liked it. Not at all what I thought it would be though.

It's a show that I could see marathoning the entire season in one setting and enjoying it, or never watching again and not missing it at all. That said, I'm in for the season.

If the goal was to make me hate one of the main characters, they accomplished that in the opening scene. I'll revise my opinion once I get through the episode.

I laughed quite a bit at the show, but it was more at the irony and awkwardness coming from the characters. There's not really any specific jokes or zingers, just good dialogue and character stuff.

I really hated the main character Hannah. I watched the whole show to give it a chance but it was just awful.

I had a very hard time finding anything to like about Hannah. If that is supposed to be the point, then well done, this is probably not a show I'm going to enjoy unless she grows a lot over the course of the first season.

I hated Tiny Furniture and found Dunham to be pretty much an awfully irritating person, but actually liked the Girls pilot. We'll see, jury's still out for me...

Yeah my issue is comparing it with something like Eastbound and Down, where you can pretty much hate Kenny and still find the show hilarious. This show doesn't seem to be pushing itself as a comedy so it's very difficult for me to watch someone be a whiny brat for an entire episode.

Yeah, I didn't find any characters to be endearing, I just thought it all fit together well. I actually hope it doesn't become the typically cheesy, "We're all effed up, but we'll somehow make it together", show like some kind of modern Mary Tyler Moore Show. I'd prefer it to be more about the mistakes that people make that turn them into real human beings.

Still, I'm pretty impressed at Dunham's level of involvement in the show, though I doubt she's "really" doing everything herself. There has to be a lot of shepherding going on, as there certainly has to be some level of risk, for a show like this, for HBO. I'm actually really curious about the ratings, even though they don't really matter, to see how competitive they are with shows like Luck.

I found Dunham's reluctance to paint herself as the typical likable TV character refreshing and real, which in turn made me like her character.

Why?

The only thing that struck me as at all Apatow influenced was the horrible closing music. That guy has the ****ing worst taste in music possible.

FWIW Eastbound and Down lost me this season basically because Kenny became too hateable, and I think the nature of that show actually made that worse. A slightly more serious, grounded show like Girls to me has more room for the exploration of unsympathetic characters. I hit a point where the degree to which they played Kenny's cruelty towards others for laughs become really uncomfortable.

Kenny Powers was never more likable than he was during the last two episodes of this season, so I'm not sure what you're talking about.

If was the eps prior to that where it lost me (although I'm not sure I'd agree with you on the last ones anyway- but I do see your point of view). But just to be clear, that's not really a criticism of the show as much as my own reflection on what I enjoy watching and how I view people in general (I just have a point of no return for *******s, and once you cross that line, however silly or fictional, your redemption doesn't mean much to me). For me, I loved the Kenny Powers joke for a while, and then at some point it just felt a bit stale.

Dunham was given more credit after they started working on it bumped to exec producer (which i assume is mostly meaningless but its a good indicator of their faith in her). Unless you know something we dont its safe to assume its her baby start to finish given that is what everyone is saying and its a pretty unique show.

+1 This isn't a show I want to watch.

It's pretty much almost unheard of for a premium channel to throw money at a show that is being done by a 26 year old, and that she would nearly be an auteur, based on her having Creator, Executive Producer (given as Creator, most likely), Writing, Directing, and Lead Actress credits. The only other person doing this on TV (he's doing more than her, as he also does the editing and has an Executive Producer credit, obviously) is Louis C.K., for Louie. The stuff I'll list below is really only partial credits, because I'm noticing names, when going through the Pilot credits, I didn't see in the imdb credits, as it's new.

1. Apatow would certainly be story mentoring her, and also will probably be helping her with the diplomatic needs she'll have when needing to deal with HBO, along with all of the other HBO veterans I'm listing below.

2. Here is the credit list for the top billed Editor on the Pilot (the second billed Editor appears to have relatively recently made the transition to Editor, with her most notable credits being several episodes of New Girl):

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0292482/

3. She appears to have had a very experienced comedy Editor join after the Pilot. The Editor will often help shepherd someone from the small time to the big time. They didn't take any real chances there, even though the show is framed more like how an arty college film is done, in a lot of ways (very high quality, but still reminds me of that kind of style). Here are his credits:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003533/

4. Here is the credit list for Co-Executive Producer 1:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484992/

5. Here is the credit list for Co-Producer:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484992/

6. Here is the credit list for Co-Producer 2:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0680050/

7. Here is the credit list for the Casting Director:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0262417/

8. Just for me, the Re-Recording Mixer, here are the Re-Recording Mixer credits:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0591441/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0139396/

Art Direction is really the only "unproven" talent on the show, that I could see. There are people with tons of credits, and good ones, for Production Design, Set Decoration, Makeup, 1st Assistant Director, Boom Operators, Supervising Sound Editor, Dialog Editor, and Sound Effects Editor. I'm sure the list goes on and on of the heavy hitters.

She would basically have to be a complete moron to fail with the support she's been given for this show, and she clearly is not a moron. HBO obviously has very high hopes for the show, and they spent a lot of money, most likely, to get the Pilot to have the right tone. It felt much more like a movie than a TV show, to me. When you start breaking down all the pieces, it begins to make sense why.

As for the Director or whatever with the worst music taste ever, yeah, that would be Michael Mann. It's not close.