Revisiting Girls, Your Golden Globe Winner For Best Comedy Series

Show: Girls.

Premiered: Spring 2012.

Why Was It Made? Off the success of Tiny Furniture, a 2010 film Lena Dunham wrote and directed, comedy impresario Judd Apatow became Dunham's champion and helped to speed up the development process for Girls, her somewhat autobiographical sitcom.

Why Did I Stop Watching? In the series pilot, Dunham's character, Hannah, tells her parents that she's trying to become a writer, and thinks she may be "a voice of a generation," so therefore they should not cut her off financially even though she graduated from college several years earlier. Though I don't think the show entirely approves of Hannah's attitude and believe that her parents (the great Becky Ann Baker and Peter Scolari) are the norm of the satire, because the show is not really about them being fed up with her bullshit, I felt pretty sure by the end of the pilot that the show was not made for me.

Why Give It Another Shot? The show was lavishly praised for its first season, and nominated for many Emmys and Golden Globes (two of which it won, just last night). And I heard from people who also found Hannah annoying in the pilot that the show got better from there.

What Aspects Of The Latest Episode Would Seem To Invite Further Viewing? Donald Glover, who I adore, joins the show this season as Sandy, a new love interest for Hannah (and as a response to critics who complained, during Season 1, that Dunham's New York was remarkably white). Andrew Rannells of The Book Of Mormon will probably have a bigger role this season now that he's Hannah's new roommate.

What Aspects Of The Latest Episode Discourage Further Viewing? What forced me to turn off Tiny Furniture after twenty minutes was how painful it can be to watch non-actors trying to act. And yes, I know Dunham just won the Comedy Best Actress Golden Globe last night, over Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. But those voters are on crack. She's just not that good -- even at playing what is essentially herself! She is uncharismatic and unnatural onscreen...and yet, she's Bea fucking Arthur compared to Zosia Mamet. And the self-destructive decisions of entitled twentysomethings are still just not that interesting to me.

Final Verdict: I heard that Sandy tells Hannah some shit in the next episode, so I will probably hang in for that. But even though I recognize that the show is sharp and edgy and pretty well made, my God, it is still REALLY not for me.