'I don't want to freak you out, but I think that I may be the voice of my generation – or at least a voice of a generation,' Hannah Horvath tells her parents in season one of Girls. A title that was later bestowed on the actress and show creator, Lena Dunham, herself.
The HBO show ran that between 2012 and 2017 became such a cultural touchstone for millennials that it needs no introduction. Between its original impact, the careers it launched off the back of its success and the Gen-Z rewatches that dominated social media during lockdown, fans have been eagerly anticipating Dunham's next move.
Luckily, they don't need to wait much longer. Too Much, Dunham's new romantic comedy series set in London, is coming to Netflix this year and it looks every bit as brilliant as we had hoped.
What is Too Much about?
The ten-episode series follows Jessica, a New Yorker who heads to London in the wake of a painful breakup.
When the relationship Jessica thought would last forever shatters, 'every block in New York tells a story of her own bad behaviour,' as the synopsis reads, and she’s left isolated from everyone she knows. She decides to quite her job and move to London, where she plans to live a solitary life like a Brontë sister, until Felix comes along. He’s 'less Hugh Grant in Notting Hill and more Hugh Grant’s drunken roommate', but the pair build a connection that is 'impossible to ignore'.
Who stars in Too Much?
Jessica is played by Hacks star and comedian, Megan Stalter, and Felix is portrayed by The White Lotus and A Real Pain actor Will Sharpe. They are also joined by an impressive spate of actors including, Andrew Rannells (who played Elijah in Girls), Emily Ratajkowski, Adwoa Aboah, Richard E Grant, Rhea Perlman, Rita Wilspn and Stephen Fry.
'I'm sure many of you have fallen in love with Megan from her work as Kayla in Hacks, the not very competent but utterly delightful assistant,' says Dunham, 'but I also fell in love with her work on Instagram during the pandemic, when all we needed was to be entertained.'
'What I love about her is she is truly an old fashioned physical comedian in the vein of Carol Burnett or Elaine May, but she also has something really modern and really sweet about her,' the writer continues. 'She can move between intense comedy and heavy drama with ease.'
Dunham was not shy to sing Sharpe's praises, either. 'My first exposure to him was on the Netflix show, Giri/Haji, and I thought "who is this person?" What's amazing is that, whether you're watching him on Giri/ Haji or The White Lotus or Flowers, everything he does, he completely transforms. This is no different.'
When is Too Much out on Netflix?
A release date for the new series has not been confirmed, but it is coming soon...
Is Too Much based on Lena Dunham's life?
'I think with all my work, whether it's an adaptation of a book, whether it's a period drama, whether it's even just directing someone else's show, like what I did with the pilot of Industry, I always have to find the kernel of what connects to me and then I can expand,' says Dunham.
'Jessica and Felix, as well as the people who surround them, definitely started out with these sort of glimmers of inspiration from my life. Once I cast them, it's almost like you create this baby and then hand it off to the actor to raise it,' she continues. 'The most exciting and inspiring part is seeing where they take the character to places that you never imagined.'
Who else worked on Too Much?
'This is a show that is very close to my heart — created with my husband Luis, cast with my favorite actors — the geniuses that are Meg and Will, along with a bevy of friends — and partnering again with Working Title, who are behind the romantic comedies that formed me,' Dunham told Netflix in December 2023. 'Netflix has been so deeply supportive of the vision, which is to create a romantic comedy that makes us root for love, brings joy but also has the jagged edges of life.'
She co-created the show with her husband Luis Felber and they also work as executive producers, along with Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Michael P. Cohen, Surian Fletcher-Jones, and Girls writer and executive producer Bruce Eric Kaplan.
Bevan and Fellner previously produced the touchstone British rom-com, Love Actually. Camilla Bray is also a Too Much producer. Original music is provided by Felber’s band, Attawalpa.
Will there be a season two of Too Much?
We can't be sure yet, but Dunham has just had her five year visa to stay in the UK approved... so our fingers are crossed.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).