Though HBO’s Lena Dunham-led comedy series Girls won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series for its first season, the show has largely faded in the eyes of critics over time. Though the show’s third season was a marked improvement over its decidedly unfunny second, Girls hasn’t been seen as an awards darling since its premiere. Perhaps that will change next season, when Dunham and company are joined by some extremely talented guest stars. We previously reported that Community alum Gillian Jacobs would appear, and now Parenthood‘s Jason Ritter has booked a guest spot as well.
Details about Ritter’s character are being kept largely under wraps, as was the way with Jacobs’ character, but we do know that his character is named Scott and will appear on the currently unnamed sixth episode of Girls‘ fourth season. Unlike Jacobs’ character, named Mimi-Rose Howard, Ritter will not be appearing on multiple episodes, if initial reports are to be believed.
Still, Ritter is an extremely strong actor, as any viewers of NBC’s Parenthood know well. He’s actually been nominated for an Emmy before for his role as Mark Cyr on that show. His past small-screen projects include the television series The Event, Joan of Arcadia, Drunk History and Gravity Falls. Ritter has also been successful on the big screen, appearing in Freddy v. Jason, W., Good Dick and About Alex (which premiered to strong reviews at Tribeca this year). His presence will certainly elevate Girls, no matter how long he stays in the show’s version of Brooklyn.
Girls was renewed for a fourth season by HBO back in January, and that season is expecting to begin premiering in 2015. No official episode order has yet been announced, but the first two seasons each ran for 10 episodes and the third ran for 12, so I’d imagine we’ll be seeing Dunham and company for a 12-episode fourth season next year.