via press release:
HBO RENEWS COMEDY SERIES GIRLS AND VEEP FOR SECOND SEASONS
GIRLS SECOND SEASON RENEWAL
HBO Entertainment
Second-season commitment is for ten episodes.
Gross audience to date: 3.8 million viewers.
LOG LINE:
Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna are trying to figure life out. They’ve been living in New York for a couple of years, but they’re still not sure what they want – from boys, from each other, from themselves. And things aren’t getting any clearer. Created by and starring Lena Dunham (“Tiny Furniture”), GIRLS takes a comic look at the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of girls in their early 20s.
FIRST SEASON CREDITS
CREATED BY: Lena Dunham
EXECUTIVE
PRODUCERS: Lena Dunham, Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner
CO-EXECUTIVE
PRODUCERS: Bruce Eric Kaplan and Ilene S. Landress
CAST: Hannah: Lena Dunham
Marnie: Allison Williams
Jessa: Jemima Kirke
Shoshanna: Zosia Mamet
Adam: Adam Driver
***
VEEP SECOND SEASON RENEWAL
HBO Entertainment
Second-season commitment is for ten episodes.
Gross audience to date: 3.7 million viewers.
LOG LINE:
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Emmy® winner for “Seinfeld” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine”) stars as Selina Meyer, who becomes vice president, only to discover The Job is nothing like she expected, but everything she was warned about. The comedy series was created by Armando Iannucci (Oscar®nominee for co-writing “In the Loop”).
FIRST SEASON CREDITS
CREATED BY: Armando Iannucci
EXECUTIVE
PRODUCERS: Armando Iannucci, Christopher Godsick and Frank Rich
CO-EXECUTIVE
PRODUCERS: Simon Blackwell and Tony Roche
PRODUCERS: Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Stephanie Laing
CONSULTING
PRODUCERS: Roger Drew, Sean Gray, Ian Martin and William Smith
CAST: Selina Meyer: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Sue: Sufe Bradshaw
Amy: Anna Chlumsky
Gary: Tony Hale
Dan: Reid Scott
Jonah: TimothyC. Simons
Mike: Matt Walsh
While HBO has suffered from losing Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, The Wire, and Oz, I think that it is still stronger than Showtime which really only has Dexter, followed distantly Nurse Jackie and The Big C. In contrast, HBO has a stable of strong shows; Game of Thrones, Treme, True Blood and Broadwalk Empire.
Girls is amazing. Really surprised. I guess people don’t “get” it. Complaints that the characters are unlikable, etc… that’s kind of the point. They’re sort of supposed to be. The show is meant to be something of a somber look at a certain kind of individual — the kind of people I know very well. It’s not for everyone but thankfully the critics see what a gem it is.
Veep is good too but in a very different way. I am digging both.
LOVE Veep! So glad it’s sticking around!
Showtime is a better network then HBO for original programs. Gone are the good old days of “The Sopranos”, “Sex and The City” and “Six Feet Under”. Not very impressed with VEEP so far.
Sarah, I disagree with you. Nurse Jackie and The Big C are the best, and Homeland when it returns should be great. HBO had it’s time in the sun, now it is Showtimes!
HBO has Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones and Showtime has Dexter and Homeland. They’re both good.
Sarah…WTH are you talking about? Showtime also has Homeland, which won Best drama and actress (Claire Danes) at the Golden Globes and will be a front runner at the Emmy’s later this year. Homeland IMO has surpassed Dexter as the #1 show on their network. They also have Shameless with Bill Macy and Emmy Rossum, which is also critically acclaimed.
Showtime’s only great show is Homeland, with everything else ranging from good to really bad. I agree with SarahL on HBO still being on top. Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Tremè, True Blood, Luck (despite the fact that it was prematurely cancelled, it was still an amazing show and it aired this year) and the upcoming The Newsroom are all on the 2012 schedule, helping it easily win out in that regard. And that’s to say nothing of their comedies/dramedies (Veep, Girls, Eastbound & Down, The Life & Times of Tim, and Enlightened), their documentaries, or their mini-series/films (Game Change, Hemingway & Gellhorn).
Make no mistake, Showtime has definitely stepped up their game, but they’ve got a long way to go before we can start talking about them being “better” than HBO when it comes to original content.
I can’t fathom how people like girls. one of the worse shows I’ve seen… ever. Then again millions of people watch the jersey shore, so how can I be surprised by anything people like.
“Girls” is horrible; my DVR was sitting in the corner, sobbing and trying to cut itself with razor blades after recording it.
“Veep” shows promise so far but still hasn’t wowed me.
Girls is in the top 5 worst pilots I’ve ever seen. Maybe it got better, but I don’t know what kind of sick masochist would have stuck around to see the subsequent episodes.
Veep is terrible, but Girls is excellent
“Veep” was a veritable breath of fresh air after sitting through the show about the fat ugly loser hipster troll who spends half of each episode pontificating if her grotesque boyfriend should plow her in the cooch or in the butt.
Granted, having my testicles inserted into a garbage disposal while sulfuric acid is poured into my eyeballs would also be a veritable breath of fresh air compared to that. Come back, “How to Make It in America”! All is forgiven!
Showtime is better than HBO. Showtime has Dexter, Weeds, Californication, The Big C. HBO has Boardwalk Empire, True Blood and now Girls. Starz has Magic City.
I forgot my favorite show Shameless also on Showtime
@DonJ1973
No need to have a cow. I completely forgot about Homeland. Regardless, I still think that HBO remains the superior paid cable network.
@Weez
Exactly. For the moment, HBO still produces much better and more interesting shows as whole. I think Showtime is much better than it used to be, but needs to produce much better quality shows to surpass HBO.
The Jersey Shore crowd cant take in Girls, apparently takes too much brain power to compute. Excellent show
If I was in charge of a network I would wait more than 2-3 episodes before renewing shows because lots of people give a new show a 2-3 episode trial period before deciding if they will keep watching.
Luck is a prime example of a show people abandoned in droves after a few episodes just like John from Cincinnati.
I like Girls. The cast is pretty awkward, which I think is the point they are trying to get across. No interest in Veep, so I didn’t watch it.
In order of my favourite shows from the big cable networks.
HBO (Too bad about Luck, Eastbound and Down, Hung and Bored to Death)
1. Game of Thones
2. Boardwalk Empire
3. True Blood
4. Girls
Showtime
1. Dexter
2. Shameless
3. The Borgias
4. Californication
5. Episodes
6. Weeds
7. House of Lies
Starz
1. Spartacus
2. Boss
3. Magic City
AMC
1. Walking Dead
2. Breaking Bad
3. Mad Men
4. Hell on Wheels
5. The Killing
6. Comic Book Men
So, I guess for me Showtime is the best. I also like a few shows from USA and TNT.