HBO Is Bringing ‘Girls’ Back for Five New Episodes

Girls is returning to HBO for a five-episode limited run, nearly a decade after the comedy ended its original six-season stretch. Lena Dunham will again lead the series as Hannah Horvath, with production scheduled to begin in 2027.

Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke and Zosia Mamet are set to return as Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna. Andrew Rannells will also reprise his role as Elijah. Dunham remains the project’s creator and showrunner and will write and direct the new episodes, while Judd Apatow returns as an executive producer.

The revival moves the characters into their forties

HBO is positioning the limited series around a clear passage of time rather than simply recreating the original show. Amy Gravitt, the network’s head of comedy programming, said the story will shift its attention from the turbulence of the characters’ twenties to the milestone of turning 40.

Dunham said she had long maintained that the series should return only if there were a specific story worth telling. She began imagining the group in the present day around her own 40th birthday, opening a way to revisit characters whose friendships, ambitions and mistakes defined the show’s original run.

A defining 2010s series gets an update

Girls premiered in 2012 and concluded in 2017. Across six seasons, it earned 19 Emmy nominations and two wins, while generating sustained debate about friendship, work, class and representation in New York. Its cast went on to major film, television and stage careers.

The announcement confirms the core ensemble, but HBO has not yet disclosed a new title, detailed plot or additional casting. Adam Driver, who played Hannah’s on-and-off partner Adam, was not included among the announced returnees.

That leaves the revival’s central question intact: what happens when characters known for the instability of their twenties meet the responsibilities and compromises of middle age? With only five episodes planned, the reunion is being framed as a focused new chapter rather than a full reset.