The holy grail of TV recommendation is almost always a half-hour comedy. It’s not that people don’t want other stuff — a good thriller, weirder horror, or shows that go on forever that you can fold laundry to — but the thing most people I talk to will want at some point and burn through fastest is a half-hour comedy. I would say there’s only so many times you can watch 30 Rock or Seinfeld or Cheers all the way through, but history (and Nielsen ratings) shows that’s not true. And even still, the hunger for a new version of those is always there, particularly when you might have blitzed through one of your comfort sitcoms recently. Which is why it’s so great that you can now watch Girls5Eva on Netflix, and with a new season to boot.
The show picks up with a former girl group, now in their 40s and each wrestling with their life as a “has-been.” That is, until one of their songs gets sampled by a famous rapper, and the (now) four members come together and decide to give stardom another go.
There’s a bit of bootstrapping, but this is far from just a simple story about the can-do attitude succeeding in showbiz. Rather, Girls5Eva falls in line with 30 Rock, constantly skewering celebrity, show business, and the ridiculous ways those things converge and morph, all while being packed to the gills with jokes. Bits are taken to an absurd degree in a way that still feels astonishingly true — and yes, I’m including the part where the Property Brothers show up as themselves for a joke about how they secretly want to make a show about fighting people.
Girls5Eva certainly benefits from its 30 Rock connections: 30 Rock showrunners Tina Fey and Robert Carlock executive produce the series, and Fey has the magical gift to pull in any guest star, no matter how small or absurd the part is. Most importantly, 30 Rock songwriter Jeff Richmond (who brought us such jams as “The Rural Juror” and “Muffin Top”) co-writes all the songs with showrunner Meredith Scardino (previously a writer on Fey and Carlock’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). But unlike some other descendants of 30 Rock, Girls5Eva takes that foundation and builds something new with the same rapid-fire jokes.
The result is a show that’s playful and hilarious, full of excellent punchlines and earworms that would be everywhere if the show hadn’t debuted on Peacock (and might be now that the show is readily available on Netflix).
The new season 3 sees the girls on tour, with the goal of hitting Radio City Music Hall and selling the whole theater out. For a group that’s trying to build their popularity with songs that are about a place (move over, “New York, New York” — it’s time to “Tap into Your Fort Worth”). No matter where you’re picking up with Girls5Eva, the girls will still be true to themselves and their place within the group: Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry) will stop at nothing to get back in the limelight, Gloria (Paula Pell) was the closeted tomboy who’s ready to give this another go. Summer (Busy Philipps) is the ditzy blonde who’s best for a suggestive, end-of-number kiss-off line. And Dawn (Sara Bareilles) is the “normal” one, left to hold the group together as best she’s able.
That job is even less easy to do while residing in the “Marriott Divorced Dad Suitelettes.” And with an abbreviated season length, Girls5Eva sometimes loses its focus trying to get them to level up in just six episodes. But what Girls5Eva has in abundance is heart and humor, and while season 3 might falter on one or the other at times, it can pretty much always pull out a good show. Ultimately it’s what makes it such a good sitcom to fill that half-hour comedy void: There’s some cozy comfort in a rewatch, sure, but there’s also always a fresh zinger, a new jest you forgot. It’s what keeps us — and the Girls5Eva gals — always coming back for another hit.
All three seasons of Girls5Eva are now streaming on Netflix.
