Since Girls premiered on HBO in 2012, Lena Dunham has quickly risen to the top of, well, everything. She's got Girls (produced by Judd Apatow), she's got roles in movies, she's got a newsletter, she's become a t-shirt muse, a dog owner, a homeowner (twice), an author, and she's got a new HBO show coming out. What did you do with the last 4 years of your life? Complain about Girls in a comment section on the internet?
With all of that, Dunham is saying goodbye to Girls at exactly the correct time. At least, rumor has it.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show's sixth season, which will air in 2017, will be its last. We have reached out to HBO to confirm, as this is all coming from a THR source, and will update when we hear back (update below). However, last year series co-creator Jenni Konner discussed ending the series around season 6:
I would say season five will really inform how much further we want to go. Once we figure out what season five is, we’ll know whether it’s another year. Maybe it’s just one more year, maybe we wrap it up in six. It all depends. But also we’re not in the business of running it into the ground. We would like to end in a graceful place. And we’d like to tell a complete story. What that means is that we really have to start building towards an end soon, creatively.
Konner will also be on board for that new HBO series, called Max, which is set in 1963 and will star the delightful Zoe Kazan as a feminist magazine writer named Maxine Woodruff.
Season 5 of Girls will premiere on February 21st.
UPDATE: From HBO:
HBO has renewed Girls for a sixth and final season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. “Lena Dunham and her brilliant collaborators, including Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner, have given HBO a signature series of rare wit and intelligence,” said Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. “They are exceptional talents, and I can’t wait to see what Lena, Jenni and Judd have in store for the final seasons of this unique show, and look forward to working with them on future projects.”
Dunham released this statement: “I can’t imagine a more fulfilling creative experience than Girls. The freedom and support that HBO has given Jenni, Judd and me is something rare and beautiful. The commitment and originality of our actors has been stunning, and our crew is truly my family. I conceived of Girls when I was 23 and now I’m nearly 30—the show has quite perfectly spanned my 20s, the period of time that it’s about—and so it feels like the right time to wrap our story up. We look forward to creating a sixth season that will honor our amazing cast, crew and fans. And in the Girls universe, nothing ever ends too neatly.”
