Mindy Kaling’s Teen Comedy ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ Renewed for Season 2 on HBO Max

Classes are back in session at HBO Max. Mindy Kaling’s “The Sex Life of College Girls,” a teen college comedy has been renewed for a second season. Co-created by Kaling and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” writer Justin Noble, the series chronicles the lives of four roommates – Bela Malhotra, Leighton Murray, Kimberly Finkle and Whitney Chase – as they embark on their freshman year at Essex College, a fictional institution set in a New England town. The first season shows how these ladies, who are away from home for the first time in their lives, are trying to figure themselves out mentally, emotionally, and sexually.

Bela Malhotra, played by Amrit Kaur, is a New Jersey native as eager to break into comedy as she is to shed the conservative constraints of her Desi upbringing; Leighton Murray (Regina Rapp), is a closeted uptown snob; Kimberly Finkle (Pauline Chalamet) is a scholarship student from a small town in Arizona; and Whitney Chase (Alyah Chanelle Scott), is a college athlete whose U.S. Senator mom overshadows her arrival on campus.

In an Oct. 28 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kaling said she pulled from her own college experience about not fitting in for the series. “That’s the reason I wanted to do the show. It’s called The Sex Lives of College Girls, but we wanted to tell a story of four passionate, bright girls in college. The romantic stuff just felt like a good hook.”

The series which premiered on Nov. 18 on HBO Max released its final two episodes of the season on Dec. 9. It is shot at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

The Hollywood Reporter noted that while HBO Max “does not release specific viewership data,” it says the series “is its biggest original comedy launch on the platform this year and ranks among its top titles.” Citing HBO Max, Deadline reported that the first season finale “reached series highs in viewership, rising 76 percent from its premiere day performance; ranking at the number two spot.

The series has been embraced by critics and has a 96 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Some of the reviews have been good, mostly.

The Hollywood Reporter TV critic Angie Han called the series “instantly endearing, if a little unsure of itself — just like the characters at its center.”

NBC, in its review, said Kaling and Noble “provide lots of laughs but ultimately miss what’s so messy — and great — about the college years.” It noted that while the viewers will find that the cast “may be bold, they are also often clumsy, inexperienced and awkward; these are still the adventures of young adults.” The review added: “Much of the comedy is fueled by details of the girls’ sexual exploits, as one of the girls has an affair with her soccer coach, another explores her attraction to women, and the two others quickly find hookups. When sex is portrayed, it’s often some sort of “first time” for the character, who experiences feelings from the fluttery and the delicate to the audacious and the empowering.”