GIRLS on HBO...

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TCTTS
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AG
If you missed the pilot tonight, do yourself a favor and seek it out. This could easily be one of the best shows of the year, based on tonight's premiere (it'll apparently be offered for free online through various sources tomorrow). And just because it's called Girls doesn't mean it's only for girls. It feels like HBO (via series creator Lena Dunham) has honed this particular formula - starting with Sex and the City down to Entourage and then on to How to Make It In America - and finally filtered into something that feels incredibly authentic, relatable, and timely. Not to mention, Girls is pretty damn funny, but in a much more subtle way than its predecessors. If anything, I'm really looking forward to spending more time in the version of New York/Brooklyn as depicted in the pilot...

Anyone else catch it tonight?

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UPDATE: Here's the official link to the pilot in full:

HBO | Girls: Episode 1

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[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 4/16/2012 1:07p).]
Elliot P. Campbell
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AG
looked like a cheesy romcom from the previews so I didn't tune in, but I guess I might check it out
TCTTS
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AG
I mean, it's definitely told from the female perspective, but it's not romcomy by any stretch of the term. It's like the anti-Sex and the City. There's just something real about it, and I think anyone will be able to appreciate that aspect.
OlsenField
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AG
I enjoyed it tonight, I thought it was a good 30 minutes.
ORAggieFan
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Watched due to great reviews. Pretty depressing. Never really laughed. I'll give it a few more episodes to see if it improves.

[This message has been edited by oraggiefan (edited 4/16/2012 7:36a).]
Sex Panther
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AG
I dunno... the previews make me want to gouge my eyes and ears out with tampons.
Sex Panther
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AG
But Brian Williams daughter is hot.
howitzercannon
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AG
do any of them get nekid? Do they whine and complain the whole time?
Elliot P. Campbell
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AG
^^^that looks to be the premise to me. mostly seems like a more "realistic" sex and the city with average looking chicks. but again i'm judging without having watched it
Btron
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AG
I watched it. I personally did not find it relatable, and just plan sad. Sad that there is a whole generation of young adults that this applies to. That still live off their parents. Non masculine guys that these smart, lazy, insecure girls are attracted to. I'm not a hipster but for some reason I'm fascinated by them. They way they view themselves, the world, and how interact with each other. For me it was like I was watching a National Geographic series on Hipsters.
There is one hot chick in the whole series, so that was nice.
COOL LASER FALCON
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I thought it was a great pilot. Definitely some groundwork for good characters in a refreshing setting.
jtmoney03
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AG
I watched it with the wife and we both kind of walked away with a meh feeling about it. I will give it some more time to develop, but really was not impressed with the pilot.

+1 for Allison Williams, though.
tylercsbn9
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AG
Not sure what to think. Chick that lives with the main character is hot. I hate hipsters and want to ring their necks, but they weren't too bad on the show last night. Hopefully they don't get too annoying. I'm much more excited about Veep next week.

[This message has been edited by tylercsbn9 (edited 4/16/2012 12:29p).]
TCTTS
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AG
Here's the official link to the pilot in full:

HBO | Girls: Episode 1


As for the whole hipsters-living-off-their-parents thing, I really don't think the show is necessarily endorsing that way of life, but is rather simply depicting it. Girls is obviously a coming-of-age story for a certain generation, and for the characters to actually "come of age," they have to start out in a less-evolved state, i.e. somewhat entitled, living off their parents, in bad relationships, etc. In that sense, I thought the pilot did a great job of continually knocking Hanna (the lead) down in order to set her up for this new, tough, time-to-get-her-sh*t-together journey. And trust me, I get the whole "Debbie Downer" vibe that some people may not quite be warming to, but if that's the price for the authenticity and somewhat blunt realism the show looks to portray, I'd take this version over something like Entourage any day of the week. Even still, I found it charming and genuinely funny throughout. I think it'll definitely be interesting to see where this story and these characters go...
SuperAg05
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AG
Btron
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AG
I just hope the awkward sex scenes get a lot less awkward and uncomfortable and a whole lot sexier.
"This is my butt"
TomHaverford
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AG
I really liked it. It is a chick show, but it was still enjoyable for me in a way something like Sex and the City never could have been. It was kinda like a non-crappy version of How to Make it in America.

I guess there's quite a few people in my generation living that life- overpriced non-marketable degree from a fancy lib arts college that suddenly don't know what's going on. The Occupy, "college debt forgiveness" crowd. While I don't particularly sympathize with them, they do fascinate me. And this could kinda work at humanizing them I guess. Also cool to see NYC depicted so far away from the way it's always shown on me. The wife actually asked early on "where is this supposed to be set".

Kinda surprised they didn't hold it to run with the female-skewing True Blood as opposed to the male skewing GoT, but I guess the lineup was a little full with the epic looking The Newsroom set to go there, and they wanted to give that show the best shot at success behind TB.
tremble
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AG
Liked it quite a bit actually. HBO looks to have a pretty good season of shows on its hands
nai06
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AG
thought it was really funny. set it to dvr
birdman
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quote:
Do they whine and complain the whole time?
Yes, the name of the show is "Girls".
cr06gis
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AG
This show reminds me of the friends my SO makes me hang out with here in Vegas. All hipster types that deflect adult responsibility. The fawning over the uber-pretentious british chick makes my skin crawl.

Overall, I like the show because it allows me to point at my gf and say "see, I told you so".
Elliot P. Campbell
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just watched the premiere on hbogo to see what the fuss was about

maybe i just don't "get it" but i'm a 22 year old about to graduate and i can't relate to any of the characters. the only one i liked at any point was the guy who was talking about what a good business mcdonalds is and how there's no shame in working where you can, and i'm not even sure he wasn't being sarcastic.

idk. it wasn't really bad but it just seemed very artificial and fake. maybe it's my texas, capitalistic, "earn what you get" upbringing, but i don't really associate with anyone like any of the characters on this show. i might try it again next week but overall, meh
TCTTS
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AG
I know I used the word "relatable" in my original post - and I stand by that - but I've never really understood why, for a lot of people, "relatable" has to be a prerequisite for liking something. Of course, I can obviously understand wanting to find common themes in a movie/show/song between your life and said piece of entertainment, but I can be just as easily bent on liking something because it's completely un-relatable, foreign, different, etc. It's almost as if some people believe if they're caught liking something like Girls, that means they're also endorsing what it apparently portrays. But again, I see this show as taking somewhat of a comeuppance attitude toward this group of characters, in that many of them are in for a rude awakening and a imminent dose of the real world. The character traits some of you guys seem to be complaining about are obviously being portrayed as flaws, and not something to necessarily be celebrated. I'm confused as to how people are missing that point. And look, if some of you just straight up don't like the show, that's totally fine. I can understand it not being everyone's thing. I just hope it's clear that the show isn't celebrating these characters (as they are right now) or their lifestyles.
zgood10
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AG
quote:
Yes, the name of the show is "Girls".


Cooking show?




jk
MookieBlaylock
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AG
i thought it was pretty entertaining
Doug Christie
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quote:
I know I used the word "relatable" in my original post - and I stand by that - but I've never really understood why, for a lot of people, "relatable" has to be a prerequisite for liking something. Of course, I can obviously understand wanting to find common themes in a movie/show/song between your life and said piece of entertainment, but I can be just as easily bent on liking something because it's completely un-relatable, foreign, different, etc. It's almost as if some people believe if they're caught liking something like Girls, that means they're also endorsing what it apparently portrays. But again, I see this show as taking somewhat of a comeuppance attitude toward this group of characters, in that many of them are in for a rude awakening and a imminent dose of the real world. The character traits some of you guys seem to be complaining about are obviously being portrayed as flaws, and not something to necessarily be celebrated. I'm confused as to how people are missing that point. And look, if some of you just straight up don't like the show, that's totally fine. I can understand it not being everyone's thing. I just hope it's clear that the show isn't celebrating these characters (as they are right now) or their lifestyles.


I think some of the posters are afraid they'll grow a vagina from watching the show.

I do agree with your point about whether it needs to be "relatable". I watch Sons of Anarchy and I can honestly say there is nothing on that show that I can personally relate to, but it's still interesting. It's also a sub-culture that I rarely get to see. At the same time, a show written by a young woman, about young women that more closely resembles reality (at least more so than the staid romcoms) is interesting because we don't have nearly enough of them.
aggie93
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AG
I watched it last night and was disappointed. The girls are just too stupid. None of them seem to be able to plan toward the future and they just aren't very interesting. The main character is an incredible idiot. Two years out of school working as an unpaid intern and she hasn't even thought about getting paid at some point. She is a tool to her parents who have been supporting her. She has a nasty boyfriend that doesn't care about her. She's has tattoos all over her because of her admitted low self esteem.

It's basically a group of 24 year olds with the maturity of 14 year olds.

The preview made it look like it was a little funnier and more interesting but so far color me unimpressed. I will probably give it one more shot.
Elliot P. Campbell
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AG
the characters don't need to be relatable in the sense that i sympathize with them and have gone through what they went through. i've never stood on a corner slingin' dope but i can still find myself understanding the choices that characters in The Wire make, for example. my financial status is closer to that of Hannah than to Bodie, and yet i root for the latter more than the former

there's just no reason to like any of the main characters of Girls. they're all completely delusional

[This message has been edited by unicyclist_ag (edited 4/17/2012 8:53a).]
Aggs4life
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quote:
quote:
Do they whine and complain the whole time?
Yes, the name of the show is "Girls".
DannyDuberstein
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AG
Both my wife and I have this one in the "meh" category right now, but we'll give it another episode or two. I can understand the hipster millenial angle, but much of that just came off as more irritating than entertaining. Another issue is that the premise just seemed a little extreme; for instance, the writing for the parents was a friggin joke.

[This message has been edited by DannyDuberstein (edited 4/17/2012 9:13a).]
aggie93
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AG
BTW, the show kind of reminded me of an updated and lesser version of "Reality Bites", minus the great acting. Even though that was supposed to be closer to my generation I never got that movie. My guess is the only way "Girls" can make it is to go for some shock value, they started to go down that road with the "lube" scene. The story has got to be more than "let's put a few spoiled rotten kids that don't appreciate anything, care only about themselves, and aren't even very attractive and have them talk about how hard their lives are."
Elliot P. Campbell
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AG
quote:
"let's put a few spoiled rotten kids that don't appreciate anything, care only about themselves, and aren't even very attractive and have them talk about how hard their lives are."


Good summary of the first episode

I'm realizing that I'm probably being a bit harsh comparing a 30 minute pilot to 60+ hours of the best writing ever on tv, so I'll likely give this show a couple more chances
Diggity
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AG
well I liked i. Thought the writing was great.
Bunk Moreland
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Easily enjoyed it enough to give it some more time to grow and develop

[This message has been edited by Bunk Moreland (edited 4/17/2012 11:07a).]
Doug Christie
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quote:
the characters don't need to be relatable in the sense that i sympathize with them and have gone through what they went through. i've never stood on a corner slingin' dope but i can still find myself understanding the choices that characters in The Wire make, for example. my financial status is closer to that of Hannah than to Bodie, and yet i root for the latter more than the former

there's just no reason to like any of the main characters of Girls. they're all completely delusional


did you like bodie after the first episode? how about prez? carver?
 
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