Lena Dunham's Girls to return for limited HBO run
Ten years after the series finale, the "Girls" are getting back together to explore the "milestone of turning forty", HBO says.
Key points
- HBO's Girls will return for a five-episode limited run, with production set to begin in 2027.
- Lena Dunham announced the revival with original cast members Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet and Andrew Rannells.
- Judd Apatow will return as executive producer, but Adam Driver and Jenni Konner are not mentioned in HBO's statement.
HBO's award-winning series Girls will return for a limited run, ten years after its finale aired. The show's creator, writer and star, Lena Dunham, announced the revival in a mock Zoom call with original cast members Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet and Andrew Rannells.
All five actors will appear in the five-episode revival, with production scheduled to begin in 2027. Judd Apatow, who helped get the show greenlit at HBO, will also return as executive producer.
Dunham explains the return
Dunham said in a statement that they had always agreed to return only if there was a specific story they were burning to tell. She added that she had missed the characters but for a long time could not picture them in the present day.
She said that around her 40th birthday, the characters began talking to her in the shower, and once the fivesome starts talking it is hard to get them to stop. The title of the limited run has not been announced, but Dunham asked the cast on the mock call, “can we still call it Girls?”, before joking “because we’re old as”.
We always said we would only return to 'Girls' if there was a specific story we were burning to tell
— Lena Dunham
Background and omissions
Girls ran for six seasons from 2012 to 2017 and was nominated for 19 Emmys, winning two including best casting. It follows four friends in New York City during their 20s and was created by Dunham when she was 23. The BBC ranked it number 30 on its 100 Greatest TV Shows of the 21st Century.
HBO's statement did not mention actor Adam Driver, who played Dunham's on-and-off love interest, or co-showrunner and executive producer Jenni Konner. In her 2026 memoir Famesick, Dunham alleged Driver's on-set behaviour was at times verbally aggressive and physically imposing; Driver has not publicly commented. Dunham also wrote about the breakdown of her working relationship and friendship with Konner.
