With just three days to go before the start of Girls' third season, HBO has made official its plans to produce a fourth season.
A network spokesperson announced at the top of its Television Critics Association winter press tour pannel that it has already renewed Girls for another round. It will film in New York later this year, with a 2015 premiere planned.
Girls' renewal comes as little surprise. Created by and starring Lena Dunham, it has never been far from the cultural dialogue. With the exception of maybe Game of Thrones, it is the network's most-dissected series.
It has also been a critical darling. An Emmy nominee, Girls also took home two Golden Globes in 2013 for best comedy and for star Dunham. It competes for best comedy again at Sunday's kudos.
A modest ratings performer in same-day viewership, Girls ranks as one of HBO's biggest DVR growers. The most recent season netted more than 6 million weekly viewers with time-shifting and additional plays.
In addition to Dunham, Girls is executive produced by Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner -- the latter of whom shares showing duties with Dunham.
The first two season ran for 10 episodes. In its third season the show adopts a 12-episode format. It is the only current comedy on the network that has gotten an order for another season. Veep returns in April, and the word is still out on Getting On, Hello Ladies and Family Tree. Meanwhile, HBO will debut two new comedies -- Jonathan Groff comedy Looking and Mike Judge's Silicon Valley, which premiere this month and in the spring, respectively.
