critterdvd

While I thought the hype was a little too much as well - I just realized that most of the reviewers were able to watch the first 3 episodes at once.

I really liked what I watched and can't wait until next week!

bdshort

Recorded this but haven't watched yet. For whatever reason I don't usually follow the 30 minute shows on HBO though I did like Hung and Bored to Death.

DJariya

I liked it. Seemed more like a 30 minute drama than a comedy.

Hard to feel bad for Hannah though. She's 24 years old, living off her parents money in New York City and working a shit internship. BTW, I thought Internships were for college credit only. Who the fuck wants to work for free in their mid-20's? I think her parents were right to cut her off.

and we have a Peter Scolari sighting.

Shannon Nutt

I thought the pilot was very good...I can see this becoming a big hit for HBO.

Lena Dunham looks like a huge talent...creator, writer, director and star...all at just 25-years of age? I'm guessing by this time next year, she's a household name.

dolphinboy

Loved it (and that surprised me).

Red Dog

Is this supposed to be a comedy? I didn't laugh once. The lesson I took away is -- if you're an ugly chick right out of college and want to live on your own, you better either have rich parents who spoil you or you better have a marketable skill (I suppose maybe photoshot would be a nice start).

Easy delete.

Josh-da-man

I'm not sure what everyone is gushing about. It didn't really hold my interest.

Just came off like a bunch of smug, entitled, twentysomethings who think their boring lives are profound and deep.

It might have been better if that guy who went to get the lube actually penetrated his girfriend's ass...

MikahC

Her parents were both right and wrong. If you have the means to help your children, you do... That doesn't mean you relieve them of personal responsibliity. First of all, 2 years is an awful long time. But, "We're cutting you off effective today," is taking it way to the other extreme. They needed to have a serious talk that went something like this:

Parents: We can't continue supporting you financially and even if we could, we don't think we're doing you any favors by doing so.
Child: I'm finding myself.
Parents: We've no problem with you finding yourself as long as you do it while supporting yourself.
Child: The economy sucks. What do you expect me to do?
Parents: Well, your old room is still available. But if you want to stay on your own in New York City, you need to be able to support yourself. Given that's your responsiblity and not ours, let us know your plan before we leave. Otherwise, next month is the last month we'll pay your bills. Oh, and if you come home, you still have to get a job, even if it's that job at McDonalds you want to avoid.

As much as there are overly enabling parents, there are many parents who believe cutting a child off is the tough love solution to a dependent child, but in some cases that can set the adult child back considerably. I personally think it needs concrete discussion with finite goals, not rigid declarations, starting with the agreement that the parents have already lived up to the "responsibility" portion of being a parent and the onus is on the adult child.

But yeah, it's a comedy. It's just that whole premise rubbed me the wrong way, as did the daughter's seeming entitlement. Maybe you do 4 hours at McDonalds and 4 hours of internship. Or McDonalds on weekends. Something.

CKMorpheus

I worked an internship after college for a 20-dollar a day stipend. It sucked but it got me some nice places on my resume.

critterdvd

Same here. First two years out of college I worked a real job at bank if America 6-2:30 and interned from 4-12 getting paid $100 (week) at most. But the internship got me places.

dhmac

I've never done an internship but I do understand that the basic point of it is not making a lot of money, but getting a foot in the door (so to speak).

And I would think the girl's parents would understand that. Maybe meet her halfway or something, like pay 50% of her bills for a few more years.

TerryW

I would think most parents would give a warning before cutting a child completely off financially. Like, "in six months were cutting you off, so get a real job to supplement your internship."

critterdvd

This.

My parents could never afford to even send me to college so I knew I was on my own, but I had friends that weren't and just dropping them cold turkey would really have been devastating.

PopcornTreeCt

"When I look at both of you, a Coldplay song plays in my heart."

I thought that line was great.

sven

Where was all this hype people keep talking about? Outside of HBO's own previews I had seen nothing of this show going in.

TerryW

I only saw Judd on Ferguson.

Gunde

TV related podcasts and review sites.

lamphorn

I enjoyed it, but I'm not totally sold yet. It smacks of the precocious work of a very privileged kid being given a chance because her parents know "all the right people" who all remember how smart she was when they trotted her out at parties at the age of 11. It just reeks of it. It also feels designed to make middle-aged people feel like they understand the "millennials". The thing is a mumblecore sitcom. Groan.

The writing is interesting, but the directing drives me insane. With the exception of the put-the-camera-down-and-forget-it's-there sex scene, the show seemed to consist almost entirely of extreme-close-ups which makes it very hard to get any sense of the space the characters are in and makes the scenes feel like dialogues between floating heads.

As far as the parents/cutting off support thing goes... she's 24, and has been at that internship for I think it was 2 years?? It's time to shit or get off the pot with that career, or get a paying job of some sort while figuring out what she wants to do. That said, it's the parent's own damn fault she's so spoiled and they should at least give her a heads up and a little time to find something before cutting her off completely. They seem like idiots.

Tracer Bullet

I can see how middle-aged white guys who collect DVDs wouldn't enjoy this show.

pinata242

Lena was on Ferguson the next day and it was a great interview.

Raul3

It started fine but went bad really fast. Maybe this is oriented to females and that's why I don't get it. Sex in the City for the millenial girls?

Some of the dialogue reminded me of Diablo Cody...

I still will give it a chance. Maybe.

TerryW

That's right. I saw that too and totally forgot. D'oh!

DJariya

Maybe nothing in the middle of Central Illinois. But here in Southern California and in the LA area, I've seen billboards, posters on the side of buses promoting the show. Also as Gunde said, alot of review sites and magazines have been plugging it.

Going back to the parents cutting off Hannah. The Mom was kind of a bitch about it, but I think she realized how spoiled and entitled Hannah was and wanted to use this to teach her a lesson. If your at an internship for 2 years and haven't gotten paid or a job offer yet, they are fucking taking advantage of you. I did my 1st television internship by Senior Year of College and got offered a staff job 1 month after graduation.

$1,100 per month to help her get her life and book going.

spainlinx0

I didn't think we were supposed to sympathize with the main character. She came across as spoiled and entitled. Also, that wasn't her boyfriend. He's a guy who just uses her for sex, and she's trying to convince him that she's worth more than that.

I thought the parents were more than generous. I can't imagine my parents ever paying for my rent for that period of time. If I lost my job suddenly, I can imagine my dad helping me for a month or two if I was really desperate, but I wouldn't ever expect him to pay my bills if I have already moved out. I think I had enough help when I was living at home.

Despite that, I liked that show, and I will continue watching.

mdc3000

I fucking hate Lena Dunham - Tiny Furniture was boring and not nearly as witty as it seemed to think it was...the first episode of Girls was just a rehash of elements from that movie. This chick thinks she is a voice of a generation and fancies herself a female Woody Allen. Not in a million years bitch. I'm out.