Apparently, the existential crises of your twenties don’t just disappear when you hit forty. Who knew? HBO has announced that ‘Girls‘ is officially returning for a five-episode limited run, bringing Lena Dunham (Too Much) and much of the original cast back together almost a decade after the comedy ended.
Production is set to begin in 2027, ten years after the sixth and final season aired. That gives Hannah and her friends plenty of time to have made a whole new collection of questionable life decisions, although hopefully they’ve picked up a little wisdom along the way. Hopefully.
The gang is getting back together
Dunham will reprise her role as Hannah Horvath, alongside Allison Williams (M3GAN) as Marnie Michaels, Jemima Kirke (Sex Education) as Jessa Johansson, Zosia Mamet (The Flight Attendant) as Shoshanna Shapiro, and Andrew Rannells (Black Monday) as Elijah Krantz.
That’s the central group reunited, which should be excellent news for anyone who spent six seasons watching these characters make a spectacular mess of relationships, careers and friendships, sometimes all within the same conversation.
One familiar face not mentioned in HBO’s announcement is Adam Driver (Star Wars), who played Hannah’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Adam Sackler. That doesn’t rule out an appearance, but his involvement hasn’t been confirmed. For the moment, the five returning stars are the only cast members officially announced.
From twenty-something problems to life at forty
Originally airing between 2012 and 2017, ‘Girls’ followed a group of young New Yorkers attempting to navigate adulthood, frequently with more confidence than common sense. Created by Dunham, it became one of HBO’s most talked-about comedies, attracting praise, criticism and plenty of arguments about whether its characters were meant to be likeable in the first place.
The revival won’t simply be a nostalgia trip back to their twenties. HBO is positioning the five episodes around the characters reaching a very different stage of life, with Dunham explaining that she had long resisted returning until the right idea came along.
As Dunham explained, inspiration struck in a rather wonderfully appropriate location:
“Then, right around my fortieth birthday, they started talking to me in the shower. And, as you may remember, once this fivesome starts talking it’s pretty hard to get them to stop…”
Amy Gravitt, Executive Vice President and Head of HBO & HBO Max Comedy Programming, added: “We’re thrilled to have Lena turn her gaze from the tumult of one’s twenties to the milestone of turning forty.”
HBO hasn’t revealed a detailed plot synopsis, so we don’t yet know where Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, Shoshanna and Elijah have ended up. But exploring how these particular people cope with middle age could be fertile comedy territory. It’s one thing to have absolutely no idea what you’re doing at twenty-five. At forty, you’re supposed to have figured at least some of it out. Allegedly.
The original creative team returns
Dunham will write, direct and executive produce the new episodes, with Judd Apatow also returning as executive producer. Ilene S. Landress and Michael P. Cohen are executive producing for Good Thing Going, while the four returning co-stars will serve as co-executive producers.
Across its original six seasons, ‘Girls’ earned 19 Emmy nominations and two wins, including Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series. The series helped launch several of its stars into much bigger careers, but it was the combination of awkward humour, messy friendships and occasionally spectacular self-sabotage that made it stand out.
Importantly, HBO is calling this a five-episode limited run, rather than announcing a permanent return or a full seventh season. Whether the characters will finally have their lives together by the end of those five episodes is another matter entirely. It would, admittedly, be a fairly dramatic change of format.
Production on the ‘Girls‘ revival is scheduled to begin in 2027, with no premiere date announced for the US or UK. HBO Max is now available in the UK, making it the likely home for the new episodes here, although a UK release has not yet been formally confirmed.
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