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'Girls' ending at HBO. Series exemplifies female-led hit TV show

Reports say the HBO comedy directed by Lena Dunham will end after its sixth season ('Girls' will debut its fifth next month). The lack of women TV and film directors continues to stir discussion.

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HBO
'Girls' stars Lena Dunham.

The HBO program “Girls” will be coming to an end soon. 

The show, which stars actors including Lena Dunham and Allison Williams, is set to air its fifth season beginning on Feb. 21. Variety reported that the show will air a sixth season as well and that the sixth season will be its last. 

HBO confirmed Wednesday that the show will end its run with a sixth and final season.

“Girls” follows various young adults living in New York and their struggles with their careers and personal lives. 

The program has been nominated for various Emmy Awards, including best comedy series, best actress in a comedy series (Dunham), and best directing for a comedy series (also Dunham). “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” actor Adam Driver has been nominated multiple times for his role on the show. 

While Dunham may be leaving "Girls," her success with the HBO program means she will no doubt quickly move on to other projects. She is already set to direct a new pilot for HBO titled "Max."

And while the lack of women directors in TV has come to the forefront recently, with women recently estimated to secure only 16 percent of the jobs directing TV episodes, there are women like Dunham who have broken through and have taken directing jobs on high-profile current shows.

Dunham has directed 15 episodes of “Girls” and has been nominated multiple times for the directing Emmy for a comedy series.

Among other women who have gotten attention for their TV directing, Lesli Linka Glatter has directed episodes of current hit TV shows such as “Homeland," “The Leftovers,” and “The Walking Dead,” while Gail Mancuso has directed episodes of “Modern Family” and "Fresh Off the Boat" and Michelle MacLaren has directed episodes of “Game of Thrones,” “The Leftovers,” and “Better Call Saul,” among others.

As for other prominent behind-the-scenes roles, there are some women who have taken on creator roles for current acclaimed TV shows. Mindy Kaling of “The Mindy Project” created the program, which was on Fox and now airs on Hulu. Kaling directed two episodes of the NBC sitcom “The Office” during her time there. 

Tina Fey of Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” co-created the program with Robert Carlock, while Jenji Kohan created the series “Orange Is the New Black,” also for Netflix. 

And Shonda Rhimes created the ABC TV series “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal,” while Jill Soloway created and has directed installments of the Amazon show “Transparent.”

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