There’s a new “Girls” in town, as HBO has dropped the official trailer for its upcoming series, “I Love LA.” Like that Lena Dunham series but with a decidedly more hedonistic spin given this first footage, the series centers on a friend group navigating relationships, career, success, and party-going. It comes from comedian turned creator/star Rachel Sennott, best known onscreen for her performances in “Bottoms” and “Shiva Baby.” The new series also draws comparisons to Issa Rae’s Los Angeles-set “Insecure.”
The logline — “an ambitious friend group navigates life and love in LA” — tells us little, but based on the trailer, Sennott is bringing her vocal-fried, Gen Z signature stamp to the eight-episode first season. Set to premiere November 2 on HBO and HBO Max, the series also stars Odessa A’zion (poised to break out big with a role in Josh Safdie’s upcoming “Marty Supreme“), Jordan Firstman, True Whitaker, and Josh Hutcherson. In the “I Love LA” trailer, Sennott’s working a dead-end office job, up for a promotion that gets botched, and has a wild friend group wriggling their way through their own personal and professional struggles.
Guest stars on the series (and we get a glimpse of a few of them here) include Leighton Meester, Moses Ingram, Lauren Holt, Elijah Wood, Quenlin Blackwell, Josh Brener, Tim Baltz, Froy Gutierrez, and Colin Woodell. There’s no promise of a Season 2 yet, though “I Love LA” isn’t billed as a limited series.
Emma Barrie, Aida Rodgers, Max Silvestri, and Lorene Scafaria also executive produce, with episodic directors on the series including Sennott herself, plus Lorene Scafaria, Bill Benz, and Kevin Bray.
Sennott earned a 2024 Best Screenplay nomination at the Film Independent Spirit Awards for the lesbian high school comedy “Bottoms,” co-written and directed by “Shiva Baby” filmmaker Emma Seligman. “I Love LA” isn’t exactly Sennott’s HBO debut, as she had a supporting role as Lily-Rose Depp’s assistant and BFF in the critically derided one-off series “The Idol.” She also recently starred in Sony’s 2024 film “Saturday Night” as “SNL” writer Rosie Shuster.