Season 4 of Girls is arguably the most anticipated yet, with the likes of Natasha Lyonne, Gillian Jacobs, Zachary Quinto and director Spike Jonze all set to make cameos, though HBO are looking even further ahead and have renewed Lena Dunham's brainchild for a fifth outing.

GirlsLena Dunham [center] has created a hipster behemoth in Girls

President of programming Michael Lombardo announced the news at the season 4 premiere in New York.

The news comes as little surprise given the critical acclaim the show has garnered over the past couple of years. Despite being a modest ratings winner, Girls is a perennial awards representative for HBO and has won Emmy nominations as well as Golden Globe wins for best series and best actress. 

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Season 4 could well pull in the biggest numbers yet, with several of its stars in the news lately for high profile projects. Dunham released her controversial best-selling memoir Not That Kind of Girl, while Alison Williams starred in NBC's Peter Pan musical. Adam Driver is about to take one of the lead roles - rumored to be the villain - in J.J Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens. 

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Judd Apatow and Jennifer Konner are expected to return to co-executive produce season 5 with Dunham, while Williams, Zosia Mamet and Jemima Kirke are likely to return.

Girls season 4 returns on HBO on January 11 and on Sky Atlantic in the UK on January 12 at 10pm.

Meanwhile, HBO is going big on original scripted comedies and recently completed the second season of The Comeback and Getting On. Togetherness premiered this past Sunday, while Veep and Silcon Valley are going strong.  

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