LITTLE ROCK — What is it? Girls, Season 1, 10 half-hour episodes from HBO Home Entertainment
How much? DVD $39.98, Blu-ray/DVD combo pack $49.99
When? Now (Season 2 starts Jan. 13)
Girls? Aren’t these grown women? Well, strictly in a biological sense, maybe. Emotionally, not quite.
Two years after graduating from college, Hannah Horvath’s (Lena Dunham, who also created the series) life has been pretty good. She lives in New York while working on writing a book (though “working” might be a generous term) and has hook-ups with her pseudo-boyfriend Adam (Adam Driver). All this is possible thanks to the financial support of her parents.
Her world comes crashing down when her parents visit and inform her that from this point on, they’re no longer supporting her. At all. That means she has to find a job right away.
She gets emotional support from her best friend and roommate, Marnie Michaels (Allison Williams). Disciplined, somewhat rigid Marnie is far more “together” and responsible than Hannah, at least superficially.
They’re joined by Jessa Johansson (Jemima Kirke), their world-traveling English friend who has no direction or drive and has just returned to New York for an indefinite stay.
Jessa’s cousin Shoshanna Shapiro (Zosia Mamet) is a student at New York University. Naive and emotional, she’s also eager to be cool. She invariably fails.
All four girls are in that period of life when they’re trying to figure out what they want and how to get it. They are not only dealing with complicated relationship issues, but they’re facing an inhospitable job market. It doesn’t help that these are not people who make good choices.
Hannah, in particular, hasn’t quite figured out that in order for things to happen, some sort of action must be taken on her part. She’s hoping for success (to be “a voice of a generation”), but her efforts are half-hearted. She’s an expert in self-sabotage.
What is it like? It is funny in a hip sort of way. Though the humor and the frank discussions and depictions of sex may be uncomfortable for some.
Comparisons to Sex and the City are inevitable: a story of four friends living in New York with lots of humor and sex. But the characters here are in such a different phase of life that it automatically makes for a fresh experience.
Frankly, this is a polarizing series. These characters might speak to you. Or they’ll annoy or disgust you.
What are the extras? Well, the Blu-ray and DVD include two informative and informal conversations, one with Dunham and producer Judd Apatow and one with the four leading ladies. There are also short “Inside the Episodes” features for each episode and five audio commentaries.
On the Blu-ray only, you’ll find segments from the table readings for five episodes, four audition tapes, two gag reels, a 37-minute radio interview with Dunham and “The Making of Girls” - with Dunham discussing the filming of a few specific scenes. There’s also a booklet with a collection of Dunham’s Tweets and photos.
New this week: Being Human, Season 2; Charlie’s Angels, Season 5; I Dream of Jeannie, 15 Years Later; Trial & Retribution, Set 6.
Next week: 3rd Rock From the Sun, Seasons 5-6; An Idiot Abroad, Season 2; Anger Management, Season 1; Archer, Season 3; Dallas, Season 1; Episodes, Seasons 1-2; The Goode Family, Complete Series; Hearts Afire, Complete Series; The Hour, Season 2; Smash, Season 1; Tiny Toon Adventures, Volume 3.
Style, Pages 44 on 12/30/2012