GIRLS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
(2012, Blu-ray released December 11, 2012 – MSRP $49.99)
THE SERIES:
- “From writer/director/actor Lena Dunham and comedy veterans Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner, this scripted half-hour series focuses on a group of 20-something women in New York and their adventures in post-collegiate floundering. Two years out of liberal arts school, Hannah (Dunham) believes she has the talent to be a successful writer, and though she has yet to complete her memoir (she has to live it first), her parents cut her off financially without warning. Further complicating things for Hannah is her unrequited passion for eccentric actor Adam, with whom she occasionally has sex (when he can be bothered to respond to her text messages). As the harsh reality of rent and bills looms, Hannah leans on her very-put-together best friend and roommate Marnie, who has a real job at an art gallery and an even realer boyfriend (neither of which she can admit she might not love). Meanwhile, their gorgeous British friend Jessa, who has travelled to as many different countries as she’s had boyfriends, appears in the city and moves in with Shoshanna, her naïve younger cousin with Sex and the City lifestyle aspirations. Over the course of Season 1’s ten episodes, the four girls try to figure out what they want – from life, from boys, from themselves and each other. The answers aren’t always clear or easy, but the search is profoundly relatable and infinitely amusing.“
WHO SHOULD BUY:
What can I possibly say about Lena Dunham’s Girls that hasn’t already been said by five million other media critical dorks online and in print? Not a whole hell of a lot. So let’s just run with pure opinion here, okay?
I really wanted to pop in the first of the couple of Blu-ray discs in this pack and fall immediately in love with the show and I didn’t. It was a much slower burn than I expected to get to the point with the series where I’d unequivocally recommend it to peers. But I did get there over the course of the ten episodes. This is a great little show with a whole lot of potential.
Girls opens the series in a fairly predictable manner with a host of characters slightly more annoying than appealing (note: my annoyance, most likely, has a lot to do with my advanced age and, most likely, less to do with my gender.) But as Dunham finds her rhythm in the director’s chair and locks on to the voices of her characters the show comes to life, feeling more genuine than manufactured. Every now and then, there are hints of the show transcending TV as we know it. I have a feeling, after watching her unorthodox rise to digital directorial stardom, that if anyone can turn series television on its head it’s going to be Dunham. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
THE BLU-RAY DISC:
HBO. That’s all I need to say here, right? This is an HBO Blu-ray release so, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that it’s practically perfect. Shot on digital, Girls makes the transition to Blu almost untouched. It can be soft at times but my bet is that’s a choice, not a result of a poor transfer or sloppy encode. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is its equal in every way, busting out to properly represent the occasionally thumping soundtrack while remaining clean and clear at all times.
HBO pulls out all the stops with bonus goodies in the Girls Blu-ray box. If you’re a fan you’re going to go bonkers for nearly all of the half-hours worth of deleted scenes and 11-minutes worth of gag reel outtakes. It’s all great stuff. Fans keen on getting a bit deeper into the creation and production will appreciate the insightful and chatty commentary tracks and the sit-downs with the girls and producer Judd Apatow. There’s so much more to explore over the couple of Blu-ray discs, including an NPR interview with Dunham and ‘Inside the Episode’ featurettes, that you might overlook the fun little booklet full of Dunham’s Twitter wisdom slipped inside the box beside the DVD and Digital Copy code. It’s the element of the package that really proves HBO went the distance for this release.
Highly recommended!
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Inside the Episodes
- A Conversation with the Girls
- A Conversation with Judd Apatow and Lena Dunham
- Five Audio Commentaries with Judd Apatow, Lena Dunham and more
- Deleted & Extended Scenes
- Cast Auditions
- Gag Reel, Parts 1 & 2
- Extended Audio Commentary on Episode 6
- The Making of Girls
- Table Reads
- Fresh Air Interview
- Booklet containing on-site twitter entries and images from Lena Dunham
- Digital Copy through participating partners including iTunes
