The Girls are coming back and the online buzz is already building. But HBO’s announcement of a five-episode return for Lena Dunham‘s Emmy-winning comedy raises a familiar question: Can the series make the same awards splash a second time around?
Originally airing for six seasons, from 2012 to 2017, Girls was a zeitgeist hit for its candid portrayal of four women in their 20s navigating relationships, careers, and adulthood in New York.
The series earned 19 Emmy nominations and two wins during its original run, along with two Golden Globes in 2013, for Best Comedy Series and Dunham for lead actress. A decade after its finale, the show has another chance to recapture that awards-season magic. But will Emmy voters welcome its return?
In an awards landscape dominated by streaming hits, it has been a challenge for older IP to break through. At the 2026 Emmys, for example, Widow’s Bay made history with a comedy-series record 14 wins, one more than The Studio the year prior. On the drama side, The Pitt continued its winning streak.
While Girls is fondly remembered, nostalgia hasn’t translated into awards success in recent years. A look at previous comedy-series continuations suggests it might not be a smooth road back to contention.
And Just Like That…
The Sex and the City reboot is a clear example of a sequel that failed to match its predecessor’s Emmy success. When the show with the original cast minus Kim Cattrall, returned it received no Emmy nominations, in stark contrast to the original series, which earned 54 nominations and seven wins. Those victories included Comedy Series and Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Sarah Jessica Parker, who won for her portrayal of Carrie Bradshaw in 2004.
Murphy Brown
Courtesy of CBS
When Murphy Brown returned to television, its revival proved less successful than the original. Created by Diane English, the CBS sitcom premiered in 1988 and ran for 10 seasons through 1998. It starred Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown, a sharp-witted television journalist, alongside Faith Ford, Joe Regalbuto, Grant Shaud and Charles Kimbrough. In 2018, CBS revived the series for a 13-episode season, bringing back Bergen and several original cast members. But while the original series earned 62 Emmy nominations and 18 wins, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 1992, the 2018 revival received no Emmy nominations.
Arrested Development
Created by Mitchell Hurwitz, the satirical comedy, that debuted on Fox in 2003 and ran for three seasons, followed the wealthy but dysfunctional Bluth family after Michael Bluth, played by Jason Bateman, was forced to take responsibility for the family business. The ensemble included Michael Cera, Will Arnett, Portia de Rossi, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter and Alia Shawkat. Netflix picked up the show years later to create new episodes, releasing Season 4 in 2013 and a two-part Season 5 in 2018 and 2019. Although the revival retained much of the original cast and creative team, it did not match the acclaim or awards success of the first three seasons. The original series won six Emmys and a Golden Globe, while the revival earned three nominations and no wins.
Frasier
Kelsey Grammer returned as his psychiatrist character decades after the original classic wrapped. While the original series, which aired on NBC for 11 seasons, premiering on Sept. 16, 1993, pulled in an astonishing 37 Emmy wins (breaking records at the time), the revival failed to recapture major major-category traction or replicate that awards dominance with television academy voters.
Will & Grace
Will & Grace appears to offer a small beacon of hope for revivals. The beloved sitcom followed the lives of a gay lawyer, Will Truman (Eric McCormack), and interior designer, Grace Adler (Debra Messing), alongside their eccentric friends Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) and Karen Walker (Megan Mullally). The show originally aired on NBC from 1998 to 2006 and won 16 Emmys, before returning to the network for three more seasons from 2017 to 2020. After more than a decade off the air, the revival earned 13 Emmy nominations and two wins. Proof that, sometimes, a second run can still pay off.
