If you loved Never Have I Ever, creator Mindy Kaling has more in store for you: The actress, writer, director, and producer is headed to HBO Max with The Sex Lives
of College Girls. The comedy follows four college roommates of various backgrounds as they navigate campus social life, hormones, and their newfound freedom at New England's Essex College. Here's what else to know.
When does it come out?
The first two episodes premiere on HBO Max on Thursday, Nov. 18, followed by three new episodes on Nov. 25, three more on Dec. 2, and the final two on Dec. 9. There are 10 episodes total.
Is there a trailer yet?
The official teaser, shared by HBO Max on Sept. 22, introduces our leading quartet after what seems like a rough night out. The following morning, someone's alarm goes off in the dorm, setting the roommates into hilarious, hungover disarray.
Who‘s in it?
Pauline Chalamet (The King of Staten Island, and yes Timothée's is her brother) plays Kimberly, a book-smart valedictorian who hails from a working-class Arizona suburb. She's “prepared for college academically — but not so much socially,” Variety.
Amrit Kaur (The D Cut, Kim's Convenience) plays Bela, a comedy-loving "cornball" with no filter. She's from a wealthy, northern New Jersey suburb and claims to be sex positive, though she just lost her virginity two weeks ago, per Variety.
Reneé Rapp (Mean Girls on Broadway) plays the entitled Leighton, who grew up in the Upper East Side of Manhattan in a rich, Republican family.
Newcomer Alyah Chanelle Scott plays Whitney, who enters Essex as a rising soccer star after graduating from her Los Angeles prep school. She's also the daughter of “the most powerful Black senator in the country.”
Series regulars include Midori Francis, Gavin Leatherwood, Chris Meyer, Ilia Isorelys Paulino, Lauren Spencer, and Renika Williams.
What is it about?
“It's about four young women who are assigned randomly as roommates at college, in a fictional East Coast college in Vermont called Essex College,” Kaling told ELLE.com in August. “It's an amalgam of a lot of different experiences that me and my co-creator, Justin Noble, had. The girls are so different from each other, and we get to see them at the beginning of their freshman year, and they're all very ambitious. We see how they navigate classes and romantic relationships.”
Kaling also added that the new series feels “definitely more adult” than Never Have I Ever (the title alone gives it away). But it doesn't just focus on sex; it also “tackles the challenges of being a young woman in college.”
The team did “a lot of research” on college campus life, Kaling added. “It's such a hotbed for activism, and it can be a really scary place, too. We got to explore a lot of different things, but we wanted to do it through the lens, as I always do, of comedy and diversity. We approached different issues, but with a sense of humor about it.”