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The second-season finale of HBO’s Girls at 9 PM drew 632,000 viewers Sunday night, down from the 1 million who watched the show’s Season 1 finale June 17. It also was down from the 866,000 who tuned in for the Season 2 premiere January 13, the same night creator/star/executive producer Lena Dunham won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and Girls won Best TV Comedy. Over three airings of last night’s show — which was co-written by Dunham and executive producer Judd Apatow — at 9 PM, 10 PM and 11 PM, Girls drew 1.13 million viewers. The series has been averaging a gross viewership of the 4.6 million this season. Besides watching the show on HBO and on DVR, 27% of them watched on HBO Go and HBO On Demand. That makes Girls the most-watched show on the additional platforms of any current HBO series. Girls‘ first season premiere on April 15, 2012 pulled in 872,000 viewers.
Related: It’s Official: HBO’s ‘Girls’ Renewed For Third Season
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The entire second season has been down, from a less than stellar first season. “Luck” posted better numbers than this. That Girls was renewed for a third season is just embarrassing.
632k? How many people live in Brooklyn + Silver Lake? Seems like they could reach that elusive 632,001st person…
In a related story, Dunham is currently appearing on her 632,000th magazine cover/fawning TV appearance.
Emperor has no Clothes. But we knew this already.
Star Jonestown, your comment made me laugh, smile and nod my head in agreement all at the same time (see, men really can multi-task!). Thank you!
Very well said.
Lena Dunham is a talentless hack whose only virtue is an inextinguishable PR account.
How can we take the Hollywood press and the Emmys seriously after they continually hype someone so uninteresting?
You took a passing joke and turned it into solid gold. My hat’s off to you, Star.
I have always said the emperor has no clothes about Lena Dunham
She has massive connections and a HUGE PR machine but it still does not make her talented.
And when anyone says that we are called “Haters” or “jealous” just by refusing to say that the emperor’s clothes look lovely
Actually Luck’s ratings were even worse than this and that show was much more expensive.
It was a joke, James. With that sense of humor, I’m assuming you must work for HBO?
The ratings isn’t the news story from last night. It was all about the writing and acting.
Lena Dunham’s acting and writing are abysmal.
That’s why the ratings are equally abysmal.
You’re right, Rena, the sad lacking state of all three was the real story.
Can we agree that this show is overrated?
Here, here.
You mean, “Hear, Hear!”
And agreed.
I think most of the world would agree with this. HBO seems to think she’s bringing in new subscribers for some reason though.
I’m assuming someone at HBO confused Girls with Game of Thrones if they actually think that.
How can something be overrated when nearly every comment is “wah, Dunham sucks”, “wah, why aren’t I as successful as her”, “wah, why don’t I have a HBO show”? All I read are the rantings of whiners more interested in complaining about another person’s success than doing anything to improve their own situation.
it’s highschool all over again – hating on the ugly girl – i bet if lena was a hot babe, there would be far less chatter and zero awards
I don’t know if that’s entirely true. Whitney Cummings is considered hot by many and has received just as much backlash.
Basically you are saying that she only gets awards because she is ugly. If that in itself isn’t hating on the ugly girl…
Yes, life is easier for the DDG (drop dead gorgeous), but the vast majority of normal people deserve a better role model or banner than Lena Dunham. Who’s only claim to fame is exploring her own banality and capacity of exposing herself. A pretty girl would be called a slut, an exhibitionist, and traitor to feminism for using her body to sell a show.
You are spot on Anon! So spot on. Grow up wannabes.
I think that is EXACTLY what “overrated” means Alan B – when people say an artist making something sucky and still getting praise. It has nothing to do with jealousy, and everything to do with a mind that can discern talent and real art differentiating with blind devotion and envy disguised in standing up for “ugly girl” even if she’s full of BS.
What is “real art”, though? Is there a book that gives us a DEFINITIVE and COMPLETE definition of the term? If there is, please let us know. Silly me, I thought art could be subjective and based on any number of factors (relevance, originality, ambition, integrity, insight, amongst many others) that are susceptible to change and development, and that no one theory or approach could come close to explaining “real art”. Silly me, apparently there is an EQUATION that explains “real art” and fake art, and apparently Dunham’s work doesn’t fit into that model.
And, wow, if some of these comments count as “praise” (“Just PLEASE put some clothes on Lena Dunham!!” ), I’d hate to read criticism of her.
The show has become hard to watch, just utter drivel. I couldn’t give a damn about any of them anymore, really. Shark jump was the naked ping-pong scene a few episodes back. No season four, you heard it here first.
I thought the show jumped the shark with the OCD thing.
Let’s count everything eight times!
Uh…yes, it’s “become hard to watch,” b/c these self-centered, hateful characters, who get &/or take everything they please were just a JOY to watch previously.
If we all sat back and evaluated this as a show, and not with any feelings towards the creator, or with any of the hype, or pr, etc…we’d see this show is pretty awful. The story lines have gone nowhere, and it’s obvious Lena doesn’t have any more stories to tell in this space — as it relates to the world she created for Girls. This was a decent first season at best, and a horrendous second season…nobody I know watches this anymore. Her world should have been limited to the movie it set out to be — Tiny Furniture. Nothing more, nothing less. I went into this show with an open mind, wanting to like it, and she brought nothing new, funny, or interesting to the table, save for introducing us to Adam Driver who is a talented actor to say the least.
No, the show is pure garbage. The only way you could improve it is if you replaced Dunham’s character with Pam from Archer, who she’s been trying to ripoff all season anyway.
Evidently jizzing on a girl’s chest just doesn’t draw as many viewers as it used to.
Shocker after a wildly uneven season with a super cheesy Meg Ryan movie finale. What was Lena thinking letting Apatow ruin her finale?
That was exactly my feelings on the finale’s ending. Verbatim. It was so out of place. Also… this whole introduction of OCD felt forced… the only reason it made any sense to me was because I read an article about Dunham where she described her own battle with OCD. Which again, fine, but maybe lay some groundwork?
How many people are watching just because Sunday HBO is a habit? I think almost everyone is waiting for Game of Thrones to return. HBO has seasons one and two on demand and it’s all I use my HBO subscription for.
I can’t believe that both Hung and Luck were canceled and that Girls gets multi-season deals right out of the gate. Pathetic. Treme gets a shortened season but Girls gets full season orders? What?
I watched Hung purely for Rebecca Creskoff. Put her in Girls and I’m interested.
Fact is, as much as the ratings may be down, and the show may be drivel, people are still talking about it. Nobody talked about HUNG. It wasn’t a punchline on the late-night shows, it wasn’t referenced by other shows on the air or by comics in their stand-up. Girls is talked about.
And talked about TV is what gets HBO new subscribers…it’s not until everyone starts cancelling their HBO subscription after actually watching the show that it’ll make a difference.
Are people REALLY ‘talking about Girls,’ though, or has the media just given us the illusion that people are talking about Girls? I don’t know anyone who talks about or watches Girls, and a lot of my friends are well within the target audience of the show. The concept of the ‘water cooler show’ has always been exaggerated by the very media that needs such shows to thrive, but I’d be surprised to hear that anyone at your office has asked, ‘Did you watch Girls last night?’ or even mentioned the show at all. Of course, to analyze your comment a little, it probably doesn’t matter if anyone is talking about a show, it just matters if people are talking about talking about a show, which explains the ‘success’ of an unsuccessful show like Girls.
Aside from niche sites like Jezebel and Salon, NO ONE is talking about Girls. Despite the old saying “any news is good news,” after awhile, negative press takes it’s toll, and that is all Girls has been receiving in what little coverage it does manage.
That’s nothing to crow about or offer as a defense for low ratings.
I agree with Brian. Let’s ALL agree this show, and LENA, are OVERRATED. Early prediction, it won’t be renewed for a fourth season and the idiot who wrote the check for her nearly $4 mil book deal will be fired when she’s unable to deliver fans to buy into her folly of a world.
It doesn’t matter if Lena is overrated or not. She NOW has experience as an actor, a showrunner, and a director.
Let’s assume that you’re right and Girls is not renewed for a fourth season. A network will swoop in and offer her a healthy overall deal. And with Apatow behind her – a feature isn’t too far behind.
So we should all stop complaining because if you’re really paying attention to the way the system is working these days – Lena is a “defend-able decision” for development executives. And in the end their culture of fear is ALL that matters.
Lena will be here for a while, so let’s find something else to B**ch about. We’ve debated this long enough.
At this point – We all know how talented she is or isn’t.
Respectfully,
Turn the page
and in 2 weeks Game of Thrones will blow all these numbers off the map.
I must say, the more episodes I’ve seen this season the more I have LOVED it. Too bad others don’t feel the same.
My wife is a fan so we watch it…but ever since I saw the youtube satire of an actress imitating Dunham and “auditioning” for ZERO DARK THIRTY it became increasingly more painful to even listen to her voice. Finger nails on a chalk board. My wife agrees but is still a fan…
You’re all wrong. GIRLS is DAMN GOOD. Season finale was very subtlety the most interesting commentary on maturation/ recurring mistakes/ fallibility/ female friendship tv has seen in a VERY long time. Like any great hbo show you have to look at GIRLS’ character arcs and story arcs through seasons, over individual episodes (which, still, for my money are more entertaining than almost anything on tv).
I agree!
TO: FAN, PETE,SMARTENUP,
Yes, yes, yes. You’re right. I wonder if age has anything to do with this. I’m no where near “Girls” demographic. I’m oldish. And I look at these girls/women, and I just love them. They as characters and as actresses don’t threaten me in the least. Maybe that’s why I can appreciate their success. I don’t know if Lena Dunham will get a fourth season, but I’m looking forward to her third.
HBO doesn’t care about live viewers. They care about cumulative viewership. Those claiming the show is not a hit need to be reminded that the ratings increase dramatically to about 4 million when OnDemand is figured in.
Yes, and Live viewers of the initial airing are a good indicator of how many will tune in to subsequent viewings and OnDemand, Jack. I know you think you have a point, but you don’t.
Go back to your job at CBS. Live ratings mean absolutely nothing to HBO. Young viewers don’t watch TV live. Why do you think Girls ends up with 4.5 million viewers after HBOgo and on demand?
Just PLEASE put some clothes on Lena Dunham!! I get it, you’re OK with your body, you’re brave and unafraid. Good for you. But that is the ONLY reason why I am no longer watching. Your naked body. Took one look at this season’s premiere and said: “Nope”.
There’s a simple solution to the ennui so many of you experience as you gaze unwillingly at GIRLS: Don’t watch. As far as the men who must go on and on about Hannah’s nakedness, are you so godlike that you cannot gaze on imperfection? Can you not love anyone not made in your image–or is the problem that your body is, like Hannah’s, fleshy? My favorite thing about this show is that it makes me uncomfortable and obliges me to examine my discomfort. My other favorite thing is that I recognize my 20s-something self, which I can still visualize down the 40-year tunnel of time that I’ve passed through.
All this character does is whine and moon the camera. Just tried of all the quirky lameness.
Didn’t the Season 1 finale air after a new True Blood episode?
Girls is great. Game of Thrones is the show that never delivers.
Hopefully this will deflate Dunham’s out-of-control ego.
How do they afford iPhones and iPhone plans? Don’t they know that FaceTime doesn’t work without wifi? How do they afford wifi? Are they sucking off the internet teat of someone else? I don’t know. It’s getting goofy.
i feel like only the haters comment. girls is great. get over yourselves….lena is a modern day woody allen – she’s self indulgent, casts herself against hot guys and girls, and just like woody allen creates scenes that seem random and like “they’re going no where” but that’s the beauty of the show.
Yes, because Annie Hall was full of scenes that “went nowhere and seemed random.”
You lulu, should get back to the coffee machine.
I used to be fan and defender of hers. She absoultely has talent. But this season has been a disaster. Like “Luck”, HBO needs to shoot “Girls” and send them off to the glue factory…
This the same channel that cancelled Bored to Death when I think it was getting pretty good ratings and was also one of the best shows on TV. I’m not sure I’ll ever understand how they make the decisions that they do…
There isn’t a likable character on the show. The characters are lazy, narcissistic, judgmental, and entitled. This show panders to the lowest denominator of human behavior — recreational sex and drugs, violence, and some of the meanest behaviors on television.
If the actors on the show had not all had such influential and wealthy parents, I doubt this junk food for the soul drivel would have seen the light of day.
the worst show – the biggest buzz. just dont get it.
Girls is the only show that gets the ‘gross viewership’ tag added to it. I’m beginning to think it’s a manufactured term created by Girls apologists. What do you think the Walking Dead’s ‘gross viewership’ is? 30 million?