Now Streaming on Netflix, Girls5Eva Is the Best Comedy You Haven’t Watched Yet
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The post Now Streaming on Netflix, Girls5Eva Is the Best Comedy You Haven’t Watched Yet appeared first on Consequence.
If the streaming wars have brought forth a landfill of content, then treasures must abound. But not all of those gems have been discovered — or if they have, they aren’t given the audience that they rightfully deserve. Such is the case for Girls5eva, the heartwarming, satirical showbiz comedy that premiered on Peacock in 2021 as one of the streaming service’s flagship original series.
Surprisingly, after a hilarious second season in 2022, Peacock passed on making a third season of the show, leading Netflix to pick up the Tina Fey and Robert Carlock-produced comedy. Now, as of March 14th, the show’s long-awaited third season — along with its first two seasons — are streaming on Netflix, bringing this great to show to an arguably wider audience.
The third season, as the two before it, is as delightful, absurd, and endearing as the first two — but if you haven’t gotten familiar with the rise, fall, and rise again of the fictional girl group Girls5eva, let’s catch you up to speed. After nabbing a one-hit wonder in 2000 and briefly serving as “girl group du jour,” the five-member Girls5eva breaks up when their sophomore album tanks (it was released on September 10th, 2001) and star member Wickie Roy (Renée Elise Goldsberry) goes solo. Over 20 years later, the now four-member group (one girl died in an infinity pool accident) reunites, and Wickie, Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Gloria (Paula Pell), and Summer (Busy Philipps) decide to give their shot at pop star success another go.
The first season chronicles the group’s reunion and provides a crash course into the hilarious lore of Girls5Eva’s five minutes of fame, and the second season follows up on their commitment to take control of their music careers. All the while, we’re given hilarious original songs, absurd cutaways and flashbacks, and delightful cameos from the likes of Mario Cantone, The Property Brothers, and one of the show’s executive producers, Tina Fey.
Where Season 2 found the girls in “album mode,” the newly-released Season 3 sees Girls5eva in “tour mode,” crammed into a van as they bring their developing act across the United States. Similar to their initial ambitions in re-forming the group, the ladies of Girls5eva have another ambitious goal in mind, and to make it happen they’ll attempt to connect with new fans, win over old ones, and keep their eyes on the future while cashing in on their success of the past.
While the first two Peacock-hosted seasons were comprised of eight episodes each, the new Netflix season is only six episodes total. It’s worth noting that, because the new season feels a lot more like a Girls5eva appetizer instead of a meaty main course, and the finale leaves a few strings untied for the future. Still, even if you’re dropping into the G5E universe for the first time, the show presents its relatively earnest concept with a large helping of total absurdity, and the episodes — for the most part — are evergreen.
As a showbiz comedy, the jokes in Girls5eva oscillate between satirical lampoons of the industry and genuinely ridiculous one-liners. However, the show’s four core cast members certainly help elevate the dialogue and overall story arcs: Paula Pell is in the midst of a career high with Gloria, Busy Philipps brings impeccable timing and impressive language skills to Summer, and Sara Bareilles — whose performance as Dawn is occasionally self-referential and deeply silly — really shows off her secret comedy skills.
But above all, Girls5eva is as engaging and memorable as it is because of Renée Elise Goldsberry. The Tony-winning actress controls every scene she’s in as Wickie Roy, constantly teetering between diva-esque poise and full-on melodrama. She’s utterly committed to Wickie’s larger-than-life persona, her unpredictability providing comedic fodder in nearly every scene. The last two seasons peeled back Wickie’s layers to reveal a much more complete person beyond “superstar,” and Season 3 continues on that journey through and through.
With Girls5eva now landing on a new platform — even considering the shorter season length this time around — there’s a sense of renewal that surrounds the show. Like many new shows, there’s a point to prove in the beginning; with so much competition from other streaming services and within a streamer’s own selection of available content, there’s an even higher bar to reach. But now, the numbers might be a bit more in Girls5eva’s favor — Peacock only just cracked 30 million subscribers, while Netflix has over 260 million. Between the much larger potential audience and a pre-established foothold for other Fey/Carlock-produced series like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Good News, the potential for a real explosion in popularity is real.
So, before the whole streaming ecosystem as we know it completely collapses, enjoy Girls5eva — either as a first-time viewer or a Peacock subscriber willing to make the Netflix leap for Season 3. It’s one of the most rewarding comedies of the 2020s so far, and the show’s creators and cast are clearly putting their whole hearts into this project. Even if Netflix never picked up the show for a third season, it would have lived on as a cult classic. Now, hopefully, it can just be a classic.
Girls5eva Seasons 1-3 are streaming now on Netflix.
Now Streaming on Netflix, Girls5Eva Is the Best Comedy You Haven’t Watched Yet
Paolo Ragusa
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