Girls5eva heads to Netflix for its third season of musical hilarity
The 1980s had The Bangles, the ’90s brought us the Spice Girls and while “girl groups” have significantly dropped off in popularity in recent years, K-pop stars BLACKPINK have proven that there is still room for young women at the top of the charts. But what of the older women? Netflix’s Girls5eva attempts to explore that question — and its possible outcomes — when the series’ third season premieres this week.
Ranking 98 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes’ famous Tomatometer (and featuring an 80 per cent Audience Score on the same site), the first season of Girls5eva resonated remarkably well with viewers. The show, which follows fictional ’90s group Girls5eva as they reunite after a rapper samples one of their old songs, has been hailed by critics as everything from “accessibly absurdist, riddled with clever zingers [and] thick with critique” (per Doreen St. Félix of The New Yorker) to “the kind of happy-go-lucky sitcom that’s perfect for a post-Ted Lasso world” (per USA Today’s Kelly Lawler).
With regard to Netflix’s involvement in the series, Girls5eva joins the popular streaming service after having been cancelled by its original streamer, the U.S.-only Peacock, after two seasons. (In Canada, the show aired on W Network for those first two seasons.) Now supported by a new platform (and each other, of course) the “girls” are more ready than “eva” to take their music career to the next level.
According to Netflix, the band has “reunited and recorded a new album, Returnity, so it’s time for the next logical step: a comeback tour. With no plan, tour manager or venues secured, the ladies pile into a van and hit the great unknown, doing their damnedest to promote their album and get back on top.”
The release continues: “In the process, Girls5eva will grapple with life on the road, see their relationships tested, play a billionaire’s birthday party, sow their oats, confront parents they believe held them back, cross paths with the biggest pop star on the planet and question if they really want ‘the big time’ again.”
In addition to some of life’s more profound questions, the third season asks whether “Girls5eva [will] fast-track their comeback and sell their tour documentary in the process,” or if the pressures of the road will “destroy them” before they have a chance to get back on top.
Created and executive-produced by four-time Emmy-winning writer/producer Meredith Scardino (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and backed by a team that includes 30 Rock-ers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, Girls5eva stars Broadway vets Sara Bareilles (Waitress: The Musical) and Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) as Dawn Solano and Wickie Roy, respectively, while Saturday Night Live comedian Paula Pell and Cougar Town alum Busy Philipps round out the band as Gloria McManus and Summer Dutkowsky.
When Girls5eva was nabbed by Netflix, series producers David Miner, Eric Gurian and Jeff Richmond issued a joint statement celebrating the pickup.
“We are so thankful to everyone at the streamer who fell in love with our music-filled comedy,” the trio enthused. “We cannot wait to introduce Dawn, Wickie, Summer and Gloria to the global Netflix audience. Well, not fully introduce. If you look closely, Girls5eva can be seen in the background of the Woodstock ’99 documentary setting a Porta Potty on fire.”
Girls5Eva, streaming Thursday, March 14 on Netflix