News

In recalling stories from seventh grade, Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle and Sam Zvibleman were so entertained by their own memories that, in 2019, the close friends created PEN15, a comedy series where Erskine and Konkle, then 32, portrayed their semi-autobiographical journeys through middle school. Little did the audience know that through the eyes of two adolescents they would get a lesson in the relevance of teenage issues and emotions. “At the time we were conceiving it, we would go to these parties and feel like we were back in middle school,” Erskine says. “We were having an epiphany that the 13-year-old inside of you is always there.” Here Erskine talks about the catharsis of going back in time, and why it was time to bid farewell to her tween self.

Deadline: When you announced the end of the series after its second season, it was met with such profound sadness. Did you expect that reaction?...

On November 29, it was announced that Hulu’s award-winning comedy “Pen15” would conclude with the release of the eight remaining episodes of its second season on Friday, December 3. It was devastating news to fans of the series, which premiered in February 2019, seemingly the latest critically acclaimed series to come to an abrupt conclusion, another singular show gone too soon.

But this wasn’t Netflix canceling “Glow” or Comedy Central axing “Detroiters,” Freeform’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, or even Hulu’s “High Fidelity.” Because the decision to conclude “Pen15” had nothing to do with Hulu and everything to do with the women calling the shots, a reality made abundantly clear during a recent FYC event for the series.

“Pen15” is the story of 13-year-old best friends in the year 2000, Anna Kone (Anna Konkle) and Maya Ishii-Peters (Maya Erskine), as they attempt to navigate the pain and humiliation of middle school...

Hulu’s Pen15 is coming to an end.

The youth-skewing comedy drama will end with the second half of season two, which will debut on the streamer on December 3.

The news emerged in a long profile of creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle in the New Yorker.

The pair said that they always envisioned the series as three seasons but the pandemic – the show was forced to shut down production due to Covid19 – hastened the ending.

The first seven episodes of season two launched in September 2020 with an animated special airing earlier this year.

Pen15 is described as “middle school as it actually happened.” The series from AwesomenessTV is co-written, created by and stars real-life longtime buds Erskine and Konkle. They play 13-year-old versions of themselves as middle school outcasts at the turn of the 21st century — surrounded by actual 13-year-olds. The best day of their lives can turn into...

“Pen15,” Hulu’s comedy series created by Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, will end with its second season. The remaining episodes of the now final season will debut on the streamer on Dec. 3.

A Hulu representative confirmed the news to Variety, stating that Erskine and Konkle “feel the story they wanted to tell has come to an end with the upcoming second half of Season 2.”

“Hulu will continue to leave the door open for more ‘Pen15’ in the future and look forward to working with [Erskine and Konkle] again,” the rep continued.

The ending of “Pen15” comes as somewhat of a surprise. The series has been a breakout hit for the streamer since its premiere in February 2019, garnering critical acclaim, a devoted fanbase and a surprise Emmy nomination for outstanding comedy series during this year’s awards season. The show stars Erskine and Konkle as thirteen-year-old versions of themselves at the turn of the millennium.

After what feels like decades of a 1980s stranglehold on nostalgia properties, millennials were given the relatable gift of revisiting middle school in the form of "Pen15." The groundbreaking comedy created by Anna Konkle, Maya Erskine, and Sam Zvibleman features Konkle and Erskine (both actors in their mid-30s) playing middle school versions of themselves, while everyone else played by age appropriate performers. Konkle and Erskine are able to provide an authentic look at coming-of-age in the early 2000s, unafraid to explore every monumental life change, no matter how uncomfortable or cringe...

The post Pen15 Season 2, Part 2 Trailer: If You're Lucky Enough to Live, Live. appeared first on /Film.

There’s so much brilliance contained within Hulu’s “Pen15” that it’s difficult to know where to start when attempting to dissect what makes the unconventional comedy series work. Created by Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, and Sam Zvibleman, the coming-of-age story set in 2000, stars Erskine and Konkle as adolescent versions of themselves, fumbling their way through middle school surrounded by honest to god, real life teens.

And though the most natural point of entry to discuss the series would be through stars Erskine and Konkle, there’s another woman toiling away behind the scenes to ensure the series feels as earnest and relatable as possible — by finding the perfect batch of young actors to play opposite its stars.

Melissa DeLizia earned her first-ever Emmy nomination this year for her work casting “Pen15,” as unique a challenge as she’s faced in her career, which has seen her populating a host of recognizable,...

“Pen15” fans were left hanging when the first half of the beloved cringe comedy’s second season ended back in September 2020. To get you ready for the forthcoming second half, Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine are getting animated for a special episode titled “Jacuzzi.” Watch the trailer for the episode, which drops August 27 on Hulu, below.

The intriguing synopsis for the special, courtesy of Hulu, suggests that Anna and Maya are still tumbling through the pain and awkwardness of adolescence: “On vacation with Curtis, Anna and Maya are introduced to new crippling insecurities. The girls try to ignore them but a mystical turn makes their self doubt impossible to forget.”

The series started out as a niche hit with the novel premise, featuring two 30-something women (Konkle and Erskine) as preteens, and its now a multi-Emmy-nominated favorite, with nods this year for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

“Pen15” is offering its own cure for the summer doldrums with a new animated special. The comedy series, currently on a midseason hiatus, presents another story in the lives of teens, Anna and Maya. This time, the girls go to Florida for a vacation that promises a “mystical turn” for the pair. It also picks up directly where the Season 2 episode “Opening Night” leaves off.

Read More: ‘PEN15’s’ Sam Zvibleman Recreates Middle School As The Freak Show You Remember [Interview]

As with many projects, the special episode saw its share of problems generated by Covid.

Continue reading ‘Pen15’ Special Trailer: Hulu’s Cringe “Traumedy” Gets An Animated Special at The Playlist.

“We knew that we wanted to write a show about the most kind of reject-y moments of our lives,” Pen15 co-creator and star Anna Konkle said of the initial inspiration she, co-star Maya Erskine and executive producer Sam Zvibleman had for Hulu’s middle school-set series.

“We wanted to be able to play those characters ideally,” Konkle added of herself and Erskine, both born in 1987, portraying two teen outcast in 2000 named Anna and Maya. “But even more importantly, we wanted to kind of open this treasure trove that hadn’t been super cracked open yet in mainstream media of being 13, and the real stories that we told each other that left each other on the floor laughing or crying or whatever.”

Konkle’s comments came during the Hulu comedy’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees virtual event.

About to return for an animated special on the Disney-owned...

Comedy Central released a trailer for Season 2 of “Awkwafina is Nora From Queens,” premiering on Aug. 18.

Starring Awkwafina, Bowen Yang, Bd Wong and Lori Tan Chinn, the new season follows Nora (Awkwafina) as she navigates young adulthood in outer-borough New York City.

Joining them this season are guest stars Margaret Cho, Alan Kim, Lauren Ash, Alex Borstein, Ross Butler, Cindy Cheung, Catherine Cohen, Catherine Curtin, Fortune Feimster, Chloe Fineman, Judy Gold, Stephanie Hsu, Kerri Kenney-Silver, C.S. Lee, Ajay Mehta, Haley Joel Osment, Aaron Takahashi and Jade Wu.

In the trailer, Nora gives advice to her cousin (Yang), works at a CBD store and falls asleep at the wheel.

Gabo Augustine, Michelle Buteau, Jennifer Esposito, Chrissie Fit, Jonathan ‘Dumbfoundead’ Park, Jaboukie Young White, Wai Ching Ho, Bea Soong, Nancy Eng, Liang Ying He and Fay Ann Lee reprise their roles from Season 1.

Watch the trailer below.

Also in today’s TV...

One of the best surprises about this year’s Emmy nominations was “Pen15” landing a nomination for outstanding comedy series. More than any other TV show about teenagers, the Hulu show — co-created by Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle and Sam Zvibleman — feels like an open window into my own past as a gawky teen with too many feelings and nowhere to put them but in the waiting arms of the few friends who might understand. It captures such a specific slice of 2000s life — post-dialup internet and pre-smartphones —with such a canny eye for lived-in detail that it almost feels like an invasion of privacy. “Pen15” is as smart and compassionate as it is hilarious, treating the growing pains of growing up — both literal and emotional — as the ridiculous, visceral trials that they are.

This year’s comedy nominees are a more varied bunch than most, but the inclusion of “Pen15” is a wonderful,...

Hulu contends at the 2021 Emmy Awards with their comedy series “PEN15,” which premiered its second season last fall to rave reviews and could become the first Best Comedy Series nominee for the streaming service. Co-creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play middle school versions of themselves dealing with the cringeworthy moments teenagers face on a daily basis. Scroll down to watch our six exclusive video interviews with top Emmy contenders from the program.

“PEN15” earned one Emmy nomination in 2019 for Best Comedy Writing. That bid was for the episode “Anna Ishii-Peters” co-written by Erskine, Konkle and Stacy Osei-Kuffour. The writing team as a whole has received three industry-voted nominations from the WGA Awards, including Best Comedy Series for Seasons 1 and 2. The Critics Choice Awards recognized “PEN15” with bids in the top comedy category in both 2020 and 2021. Will more Emmy nominations follow suit?

The Hulu comedy’s second season currently holds...

This article was created in paid partnership with Sk-ii

While Maya Erskine might not be a household name (or at least, not yet), many people would recognize Erskine as Maya Ishii-Peters in the hit Hulu series PEN15 — a shy 13-year-old girl with a bowl cut, navigating the treachery of seventh grade with her best friend.

Co-created with Anna Konkle, who is Erskine’s closest friend off-screen as well, and writer Sam Zvibleman, the show features Erskine and Konkle — now both 34 — playing middle school versions of themselves. After its debut in 2019, the cringe-y comedy claimed hearts for its visceral storytelling as it ...

This article was created in paid partnership with Sk-ii

While Maya Erskine might not be a household name (or at least, not yet), many people would recognize Erskine as Maya Ishii-Peters in the hit Hulu series PEN15 — a shy 13-year-old girl with a bowl cut, navigating the treachery of seventh grade with her best friend.

Co-created with Anna Konkle, who is Erskine’s closest friend off-screen as well, and writer Sam Zvibleman, the show features Erskine and Konkle — now both 34 — playing middle school versions of themselves. After its debut in 2019, the cringe-y comedy claimed hearts for its visceral storytelling as it ...

The next in Deadline’s It Stars On the Page series is Hulu’s Pen15, an ode to and examination of middle school awkwardness from co-creators Maya Erksine, Anna Konkle and Sam Zvibleman.

It Starts On the Page is a series that highlights the scripts serve as the creative backbone of the now-underway TV awards season. These scripts are all being submitted for Emmy Awards consideration this year and have been selected for our series using criteria that includes critical acclaim, selecting from a wide range of networks and platforms, and a mix of established and lesser-known shows.

“Vendy Wiccany,” the third episode in the Hulu comedy’s second season, follows Maya (Erskine) and Anna (Konkle) as they explore the limits of their supposed magical powers. Inspired by an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark, the two tween besties are convinced that they have supernatural powers, which they...

“PEN15” is inherently a series about the awkwardness of your middle school years. The time when puberty is right around the corner, formative social dynamics are experienced practically every day and that line between being a kid and a young adult seemingly finds embarrassment at every turn. It should no surprise then that Sam Zvibleman, the show’s co-creator, director, and a longtime fan of The Playlist, would find me cringing over my own mistakes during our interview.

Continue reading ‘PEN15’s’ Sam Zvibleman Recreates Middle School As The Freak Show You Remember [Interview] at The Playlist.

In the second season of “Pen15,” Anna (Anna Konkle) and Maya (Maya Erskine) get involved in different departments of their school play and that puts a strain on their friendship. Maya taps into her thespian side to star alongside Gabe (Dylan Gage), but when Anna doesn’t make the cast, she takes on the tech side of theater.

As they rehearse in the penultimate episode, aptly titled “Play,” Anna becomes increasingly outspoken and controlling about her calls for Maya to “hold” a position, go “full out” on a move or not do something if she doesn’t plan to do it on the day of the show. Maya, in turn, grows equally frustrated. As the sequence goes on, not even Gabe’s viral line reading of, “What are you gonna do, Debra? You gonna divorce me?” can stop the mounting tension, capturing teenage melodrama at its finest.

Maya Erskine

Actor,...

Going into Season 2, the three “Pen15” co-creators, which includes the series’ two leads Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine, never really put their finger on how their Hulu series would change after becoming a surprise hit and critical darling.

“We wanted to evolve the show, but the conversation stopped with that,” said co-creator Sam Zvibleman, when he and Konkle were on the Filmmaker Toolkit Podcast. “None of us quite decided, or pointed to exactly what that meant.”

Some of the natural evolution came from the mining of the creators’ personal stories of their middle school years, like the exploration of Konkle’s parents getting divorced and her first bouts with depression at that age.

Another part of the series’ evolution came with Zvibleman directing all seven episodes of Season 2A.

While on the podcast, the director talked about a conscious effort, based on his experience directing the last four episodes of...

The critically acclaimed “PEN15” is poised to make history at the upcoming Emmy Awards as Hulu’s first-ever Best Comedy Series nominee. The sophomore season of this laffer is currently ranked fourth in our exclusive odds. Two years ago co-creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, who play middle school students, reaped a writing bid for the first season; they lost to Phoebe Waller-Bridge for season two of “Fleabag.”

In season two of “PEN15,” their characters continue to navigate school life, including love-obsessed witchcraft phases and dealing with divorced parents, while maintaining their everlasting friendship. The show rose in the estimation of critics and has a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes (up 6% points) and is at 93 on Metacritic (up 11). It could ride this wave to the Emmys, where the Best Comedy Series race is wide-open with only one of the past two years slates of contenders (“The Kominsky Method”) eligible again.

“I think the performances are even better this year,” praises “PEN15” director Sam Zvibleman when discussing the accolades Season 2 of Hulu’s hit comedy has received. The series stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle as middle schoolers and awkward social outcasts in the year 2000. “Maya and Anna were obviously wonderful the first season. I think they got to dive into maybe some deeper emotional stuff. The world of middle school sort of pummels them a bit harder and they really got to show off their dramatic acting chops.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

Zvibleman co-wrote the pilot episode, but stepped in to direct the last four episodes of Season 1 and the entirety of Season 2. “In the first season those episodes in the back half were getting to some of the potential of what the show could be,” he explains when describing his decision to direct. “I think we’re...

In Hulu’s Pen15, real-life BFFs Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play 13-year-old versions of themselves at the turn of the 21st century. Amidst the Y2K era of AOL Instant Messenger chatting, gel pens and Tamagotchi keychains, the TV versions of Maya and Anna must navigate one of the most awkward and painful moments of one’s life: adolescence.

Even though we have seen the pair of friends go through the hormonal, landmine-filled field that is puberty, there is a great amount of heart that Erskine and Konkle bring to the table when it comes to the comedy they created with Sam Zvibleman. For the duo, revisiting these formative times in their lives — while acting alongside real-life 13-year-olds — has been quite a journey.

“Season 1 we were shocked by the moments where we felt the pain so viscerally — that was surprising for us,” said Erskine, who was joined by Konkle...

Before the Indie Spirits, before the Oscars, there are the guilds, and as Hollywood inches its way through a protracted awards season, it’s up to each voting body to dole out their own accolades. On Sunday night, it was time for the writers to shine, as the Writers Guild of America presented their awards for film, television, news, and more, all voted on by fellow writers. For writers, by writers!

As IndieWire’s own Anne Thompson has noted, the WGA’s film nominees are less predictive than an indication of what’s losing and gaining heat, from the missing early 2020 releases “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” “The King of Staten Island,” and “Da 5 Bloods,” to such surging movies as “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Sound of Metal,” and “Promising Young Woman,” all of which recently earned Best Picture nods from the Academy.

At the Sunday night event, Emerald Fennell...

The Writers Guild of America Awards were handed during a virtual ceremony on Sunday, March 21. But don’t base your Oscar predictions on these kudos. Every year a slew of Oscar-nominated scripts are deemed ineligible for consideration here due to guild guidelines. Indeed, over the past 12 years only 80 of the Writers Guild of America Awards nominees have numbered among the 120 screenplays that reaped Academy Awards bids. Scroll down for the 2021 Writers Guild of America Awards winners list.

Our odds predict that “Nomadland” will win Best Adapted Screenplay winner at the Oscars but it was not allowed to compete at the WGA Awards. Neither was another Oscar contender in that category: “The Father.” The guild did match the academy three-for-five in this category, with “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “One Night in Miami” and “The White Tiger” competing at both. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “News of the World” round out the guild nominees.

The Writers Guild of America announced their WGA Awards TV nominations for on Wednesday, February 3. After getting just one bid from the Golden Globes earlier in the day, AMC’s “Better Call Saul” rebounded to top all shows with five nominations including for Drama Series along with Amazon Studios’ “The Boys,” Disney +’s “The Mandalorian” and Netflix’s “The Crown” and “Ozark.”

Hulu lands two shows in contention for Comedy Series with “The Great” and “PEN15,” making the streaming service the only company to score multiple nominees in the category. They are joined by HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” and FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.”

Another notable feat belongs to “The Simpsons,” which dominates the animation category with four of the six nominations. Despite premiering over 30 years ago, the Fox series shows no signs of writer’s fatigue. “Bob’s Burgers” and “BoJack Horseman...

The WGA on Wednesday unveiled nominations for its 2021 WGA Awards in the categories of TV, new media, news, radio/audio and promotional writing during 2020. Winners will be honored March 21 in a virtual ceremony.

AMC’s Better Call Saul topped all shows with five nominations including for Drama Series, joining a list that includes Amazon Studios’ The Boys, Netflix’s The Crown (which led the way on the TV side at the Golden Globe nominations earlier today) and Ozark and Disney+’s The Mandalorian.

Also making noise today is Hulu, the only other company to have multiple noms in the top categories; it scored in Comedy with Tony McNamara’s The Great and Pen15 and FX on Hulu’s What We Do in the Shadows, which are joined in the race by HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso.

Lasso is also nominated in the New Series,...

The nominations for the 2021 Writers Guild Award TV categories were announced on Wednesday, with streaming series dominating the lineup.

Both the drama series and the comedy series categories were majority streaming, with hits like “The Queen’s Gambit,” “The Mandalorian,” “The Crown” and “Ozark” sitting alongside fan-favorites like “PEN15,” “The Great” and “Ted Lasso.” Other nominees included HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant,” HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” and Showtime’s “Good Lord Bird.

“Better Call Saul” also landed three additional nominations for individual episodes, with “Ozark” picking up another. “The Great” and “Ted Lasso” both picked up nomination for individual episodes as well as for Best New Series.

Comedy and variety nominees included Peacock’s fledgling late-night show, “The Amber Ruffin Show,” Amazon’s “Yearly Departed,” the one-off “30 Rock” reunion special and Stephen Colbert’s 2020 election coverage on Showtime.

Nominations in the film categories will be announced later this month,...

“Better Call Saul” are among the top nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, landing a nod for best drama series, as well as three nominations in the episodic drama category. “The Simpsons” landed four nominations in best animation, while newcomers “Ted Lasso” and “The Great” both scored nominations in best comedy, new series and episodic comedy. Winners will be honored at a joint 2021 Writers Guild Awards virtual ceremony on Sunday, March 21, 2021. Here’s the complete list of nominations, announced on Wednesday morning:

Drama Series

“Better Call Saul,” Written by Ann Cherkis, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Ariel Levine, Heather Marion, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock; AMC

“The Boys,” Written by Eric Kripke, Ellie Monahan, Anslem Richardson, Craig Rosenberg, Michael Saltzman, Rebecca Sonnenshine; Amazon Prime Video

“The Crown,” Written by Peter Morgan, Jonathan Wilson; Netflix

“The Mandalorian,” Written by Rick Famuyiwa, Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni; Disney Plus

“Ozark,” Written by Laura Deeley,...

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for upcoming awards. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.

To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective

Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season

2021 Golden Globe Predictions:

Best TV Series (Comedy Or Musical)

Updated: Jan. 11, 2021

Awards Commentary:

Last year’s Globes winner for best comedy or musical, Amazon Prime Video’s “Fleabag,” ended after two seasons, which means it’s a brand new competition for comedy at this year’s Golden Globes. Among contenders, just one of last year’s nominees (Netflix’s “The Politician”) is eligible to return. The HFPA likes to be first when it comes...

With another week in the rearview mirror, let’s shift the Winter TV Awards race focus to another streaming service: Hulu.

Though Netflix and Hulu ostensibly play in the same paddling pool, the former releases so much content in any given year that it quickly becomes obvious what has the potential to become an awards contender and what just isn’t up to snuff. As for the latter, without breakout hits like “The Handmaid’s Tale” in contention — the ongoing Atwood adaptation hasn’t aired an episode since August 2019, making it ineligible for this season’s awards — Hulu is left holding a grab bag of shows, some of which could hit, many of which might miss — and all of which deserve some kind of consideration in the coming awards season.

First and foremost amongst Hulu contenders is second season comedy “Ramy.” Created by and starring Ramy Youssef, the series follows a...

Hulu's teen comedy PEN15 has received plenty of praise for depicting its cast of young teenagers, mostly in middle school, as the complicated people they tend to be in real life. For the most part, the cast of young characters is played by actors who are actually teenagers - with two notable exceptions. For the characters of Maya and Anna, the two best friends at the heart of the show, creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle portray their tweenaged avatars, inspired by their real teenage years and the struggles they faced at that age.

Erskine and Konkle are both 33 years old - an age that's a little too old, even in Hollywood, to be playing young teens. And although they're styled in middle-school-appropriate ways, the show makes absolutely no effort to conceal the actresses' ages; in fact, their adulthood is a key part of the show's quirky concept. In a profile in Vulture,...

When “Pen15” first premiered, it came with a lot of questions. Was it a satire? Was it a sketch? Was it yet another attempt by Hollywood to mine our collective nostalgia for cold hard cash? After all, the Hulu comedy’s initial calling card was that two 30-something women were playing seventh graders, surrounded by a supporting cast of actual adolescents, in a ’90s show filled with landline phone calls, outrageous outfits, and an unnervingly real recreation of teenage Aim etiquette.

But just as Season 1 proved to the world what “Pen15” isn’t — it’s sincere, not satiric, hilarious but not a sketch, and nostalgic only when you aren’t quaking with horror from all that excruciating teenage angst — its debut also proved to its creators what these characters could do. Thanks to convincing performances, beautifully evoked empathy, and top-notch detail in its production and writing, Anna (played by Anna Konkle...

Is there any more fraught era in a human lifetime than middle school? It’s the liminal space between elementary and high school, between childhood and your teenage years, when your body is changing faster than you can keep track of and you have no idea who or what you’re supposed to be anymore. All of which makes it fertile soil for both comedy and drama — and makes Pen15 one of the most cathartic shows on television.

Set in an era-perfect 2000, the Hulu series follows Maya Ishii-Peters and Anna Kone,...

The title of Hulu’s Pen15 sets you up for a goof.

See, the combination of letters and numbers has a strong resemblance to the name of male genitalia. Get it?

That was probably the level on which most viewers approached the first season of Pen15, because the entire premise sounded like a one-joke affair. Series co-creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, both actresses in their thirties, play 13-year-olds in middle school in 2000, surrounded by actual teenage actors.

It took less than an episode to see that Erskine and Konkle, along with co-creator and frequent writer-director Sam Zvibleman, weren’t in this ...

The title of Hulu’s Pen15 sets you up for a goof.

See, the combination of letters and numbers has a strong resemblance to the name of male genitalia. Get it?

That was probably the level on which most viewers approached the first season of Pen15, because the entire premise sounded like a one-joke affair. Series co-creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, both actresses in their thirties, play 13-year-olds in middle school in 2000, surrounded by actual teenage actors.

It took less than an episode to see that Erskine and Konkle, along with co-creator and frequent writer-director Sam Zvibleman, weren’t in this ...

A funny thing happens during Season Two of Hulu’s middle school comedy Pen15. Or, rather, it’s a not-so-funny thing, but a very interesting one.

You may recall that Pen15 stars thirtysomething actresses Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle (who created the show with Sam Zvibleman) as 13-year-old versions of themselves, opposite genuine middle schoolers. It’s a familiar sketch-comedy device — on SNL alone, everyone from Gilda Radner to Mike Myers to Amy Poehler played recurring kid characters — and the show’s first season leaned into the absurdity of two...

The trailer for Season 2 of Hulu’s “Pen15” comedy series is out, and it finds best friends Anna and Maya trying out a lot of awkward things that only middle schoolers do, like trying on each other’s underwear, making out with mirrors, and putting their hair in the locker of the boy they have a crush on.

Through thick and thin, from first drinks to encounters with boys at pool parties, Anna knows one thing is for sure when it comes to Maya: “She’s my best friend on God’s green frickin’ earth.”

The series, which stars Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine as adults playing their 13-year-old middle school selves in the early 2000s while surrounded by actual 13-year-old, returns for its second season on Sept. 18.

Also Read: 'High Fidelity' Canceled by Hulu After 1 Season

Watch the hilariously awkward trailer above.

Season two will consist of 14 episodes,...

Vulture Watch

Will Maya and Anna make it through Middle School? Has the PEN15 TV show been cancelled or renewed for a second season on Hulu? The television vulture is watching all the latest TV cancellation and renewal news, so this page is the place to track the status of PEN15 season two. Bookmark it, or subscribe for the latest updates. Remember, the television vulture is watching your shows. Are you?

What's This TV Show About?

A Hulu adult comedy from co-creators and writers Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, and Sam Zvibleman, PEN15 stars Erskine, Konkle, Mutsuko Erskine, Dylan Gage, Taj Cross, Taylor Nichols, and Anna Pniowsky. Erskine and Konkle play 13-year-old fictionalized versions of themselves, Maya Ishii-Peters and Anna Kone (respectively), muddling through middle school in the year 2000. Read More…...

Pen15 is returning to Hulu for a second season, and a premiere date has been revealed, along with a trailer.

An adult comedy from co-creators and writers Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, and Sam Zvibleman, PEN15 stars Erskine, Konkle, Mutsuko Erskine, Dylan Gage, Taj Cross, Taylor Nichols, and Anna Pniowsky. Erskine and Konkle play 13-year-old fictionalized versions of themselves, Maya Ishii-Peters and Anna Kone (respectively), as they muddle through middle school in the year 2000.

Read More…...

In today’s TV News Roundup, NBC set a “Weakest Link” revival with Jane Lynch as host, and Amazon Prime Video released a teaser for Season 2 of “The Boys.”

Dates

Hulu has announced that Season 2 of its comedy series “Pen15” will premiere on the streamer on Sept. 18. Season 2 consists of 14 episodes. The first 7 will premiere on Sept. 18, while the remaining half will stream in 2021. The series comes from Awesomeness and is created, written and executive produced by Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle and Sam Zvibleman. Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Becky Sloviter of The Lonely Island, Marc Provissiero and Brooke Pobjoy from Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment and Debbie Liebling also serve as executive producers. Watch the date announcement below.

BET Plus has announced that “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Farewell Play” will launch exclusively on the platform on Aug. 27. Tyler Perry’s final stage run as Madea shows him puling...

Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine continue their quest to survive middle school in the Season Two trailer for Pen15, out September 18th via Hulu.

The clip features Konkle and Erskine playing themselves as 13-year-olds in 2000, as a classmate in P.E. tells the duo “You’ve changed…like, a lot.” Erskine chugs a liter of soda, while Konkle looks at a Tommy Hilfiger shirt and declares it “loaded.” Over the phone in their respected homes, they inspect their vaginas in mirrors. “It feels like a little animal,” Erskine notes.

“There...

PEN15 is going back to middle school this fall: Season 2 of Hulu’s twisted teen comedy will premiere Friday, Sept. 18.

The 14-episode season will be split in two parts, with the second batch of seven episodes to be held until sometime in 2021.

More from TVLineHulu Renews The Great for Season 2Pitch's Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Kylie Bunbury Suit Up for a Brief, Bittersweet Kinda-Revival -- Watch VideoGolden Girls Episode Featuring Blackface Pulled From Hulu

In addition to a return date, Hulu has dropped the above teaser trailer, which was first revealed by E! Online.

Comedians Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine — who...

Wuwu? Nm here, just some news that ya girls, Maya and Anna, are back for another round of unbearable—yet hilarious—teenage awkwardness with Pen15 season two in September. E! News can exclusively reveal Pen15 season two premieres on Friday, Sept. 18 on Hulu. The new season is 14 episodes, but will be split into two with the first seven premiering on September 18 and the remainder to follow in 2021. Created by Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle and Sam Zvibleman, Pen15 stars Konkle and Erskine as versions of themselves as 13-year-old outcasts navigating middle school in the year 2000. Their peers are played by actual tweens and teens. Get a taste of the new season in the teaser below. Season two of...

The Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won-penned South Korean class thriller “Parasite” won Best Original Screenplay and Taika Waititi’s Nazi satire “Jojo Rabbit” won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Writers Guild Awards Saturday night.

The annual awards, which honor the best in film, TV, and radio writing, were handed out at dual ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles.

Both “Parasite” and “Jojo Rabbit” are in the running for Oscars in their respective categories.

“Parasite” bested three Best Original Screenplay nominees up for the Writers Guild Award: “1917,” “Knives Out,” “Marriage Story,” and “Parasite.” The WGA swapped the fifth Oscar-nominated script, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” in favor of a nomination for “Booksmart.”

“Jojo Rabbit” also beat three Best Adapted Screenplay nominees up for the Writers Guild Award: “The Irishman,” “Joker,” and “Little Women.” “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was a WGA nominee and is not up for the Oscar,...

Dead To Me, Russian Doll in running for new series honours.

Writers of The Crown, Succession and Watchmen are among the television nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, unveiled on Thursday (5) by the East and West branches of the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

Joining the three projects in the list of drama series nominees are writers of The Handmaid’s Tale and Mindhunter. Nominees in the WGA’s new series category include PEN15, Russian Doll and Watchmen.

In the original long form category, nominees include the writers of Chernobyl and True Detective and the adapted long form category includes Fosse/Verdon and Unbelievable.

Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America, East have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, with Netflix’s The Crown, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Netflix’s Mindhunter and HBO’s Succession and Watchmen competing for the top drama trophy.

The outstanding comedy nominees are HBO’s Barry, Amazon Prime’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Hulu’s PEN15, Netflix’s Russian Doll and HBO’s Veep.

Best new series nominees are PEN15, Russian Doll, Watchmen, Netflix’s Dead To Me and FX’s What We Do In The Shadows.

Also announced were nominees in the new media, news, radio/audio and promotional writing categories.

Winners will be honored at the 2020 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2020, at concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City.

Here is the complete list of nominees:

Television, New Media, And News Nominees

Drama Series

The Crown, Written by James Graham,...

“The Simpsons” is leading the way with three Writers Guild of America nominations, followed by two each for “Bob’s Burgers,” “The Crown,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Pen15,” “Russian Doll,” “Succession,” “Veep” and “Watchmen.”

Fox’s “The Simpsons,” which began airing in 1989, scored noms in the animated category for the “Go Big or Go Homer,” “Livin’ La Pura Vida” and “Thanksgiving of Horror” segments. Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers,” which won the category for 2018, received nominations for the “Bed, Bob & Beyond” and “The Gene Mile” segments.

Amazon Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” which won the WGA comedy series award earlier this year, received nods for comedy series and for the episode “It’s Comedy or Cabbage,” written by showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino.

The seventh and final season of HBO’s “Veep,” which has won the WGA comedy series award three times, was nominated again in the series category and for the final episode of the season,...

The Writers Guild of America released the nominees for its 2020 awards on Thursday, which saw newcomers “Watchmen,” “Russian Doll” and “Pen15” each bag a pair of nominations.

Other series to get multiple nods include “Veep,” “Succession,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and “The Crown.”

Ava DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries on the Central Park 5, “When They See Us” did not recieve any nominations, with the WGA instead picking “El Camino,” “Fosse/Verdon,” “The Loudest Voice” and “Unbelieveable” in the adapted longform category. In the original longform category, the nominees were “Chernobyl,” “The Terror: Infamy,” “True Detective” and the upcoming Disney+ movie “Togo.”

Also Read: Aubrey Plaza to Return as Host of 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards

Winners will be honored at the 2020 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2020, at concurrent ceremonies in New York City and Los Angeles.

See all the nominees below:

Drama Series

The Crown, Written by James Graham, David Hancock, Peter Morgan; Netflix

The Handmaid’s Tale,...

Hulu’s coming-of-age comedy PEN15 won its first major award tonight, but the creators/stars/executive producers were not on hand to receive it.

“Gotham Awards, thank you!,” co-creator, star and exec producer Anna Konkle wrote on Twitter Monday night after PEN15 was named winner for Breakthrough Series – Short Form. “Wish we could be in NYC with you celebrating. Instead, over here on S2 set with our tits strapped down, shooting exteriors till midnight..”

The comedy series, which films in Los Angeles, is currently shooting its second season. Production is going full-steam following some logistical challenges early on, which prevented the producing team from flying to New York for the Gotham Awards.

PEN15, which Konkle and Maya Erskine co-created with Sam Zvibleman, is set in middle school, with Konkle and Erskine playing versions of themselves as 13-year-old outcasts in the year 2000.

The off-beat comedy got its first major awards recognition in July when it landed a Writing for a Comedy Series Emmy nomination, which Erskine and Konkle shared with Stacy Osei-Kuffour.

At the Gotham Awards, PEN15 won against fellow streaming comedy newcomers, Hulu’s Ramy, Netflix’s Russian Doll and Tuca & Bertie and Amazon’s Undone.

PEN15 is executive produced by Erskine, Konkle, Zvibleman, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, Becky Sloviter, Marc Provissiero, Brooke Pobjoy, Debbie Liebling, and Gabe Liedman.

#gothamawards thank you...

Updated with final winners: Netflix had a dominant night at the Ifp Gotham Awards on Monday, notching four wins for Marriage Story and one apiece for American Factory and When They See Us.

With the book closed on Thanksgiving, the Gothams represented one of the film industry’s first dips into the awards season pool. As a light snowstorm hit the city, talent and execs converged on Cipriani Wall Street, with a remarkably compressed schedule ahead (the Oscars are February 9). While the line between Gotham winners and the Academy’s honors is not usually a straight one, the near-sweep by Marriage Story will keep the film in the center of the conversation. (See full winners list below.)

Director Noah Baumbach, making his final trip to the stage of the night, praised his actors. “My special effect is the cast,” he said. “I hide behind them. When I was cutting the movie,...

Exclusive: Kelly McCormack (Killjoys) and Priscilla Delgado (Julieta) have been cast in Amazon’s hourlong pilot A League of Their Own, an adaptation of Penny Marshall’s 1992 feature film, from writers/executive producers Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham and Sony Pictures TV.

They will co-star opposite D’Arcy Carden and Jacobson, who are finalizing their acting deals, and Gbemisola Ikumelo, who is set.

Like the movie, A League of Their Own the series is about a women’s professional baseball league during World War II.

McCormack plays Jess, a talented pitcher and a vocal leader who is not afraid to speak up. Delgado plays Izzy, an optimistic and fun girl who is probably the youngest player to try out for the Rockford Peaches. The brave teenager left Cuba and landed in the Midwest just to play the game.

McCormack has a recurring role on the Netflix series Ginny & Georgia.