Girls5Eva stands out among other current comedies because of the clever dialogue and absurd humor. The sitcom follows the members of a ‘90s girl group trying to reignite their careers. Pop singer Sara Bareilles stars as Dawn, a working mom who steps up to be the leader of the group. The other girl group members are ditzy influencer Summer (Busy Philipps), divorced dentist Gloria (Paula Pell), and the deeply ambitious Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry). Over the show’s three seasons, each of the women in the main cast gets a strong story about finding themselves through songwriting and touring. The latest season featured the usual excellent joke writing and strong character moments, but the finale felt rushed and left things unresolved. Now that Netflix has cancelled it, it’s a shame to think that one of the best sitcoms of the 2020s won’t get a proper ending.
Music Is One of the Best Parts of ‘Girls5Eva’
Produced by Tina Fey and created by Meredith Scardino, who was an executive producer on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Girls5Eva has the same joke-dense style as 30 Rock, with an impressive number of laughs every minute. One of the funniest elements is the original songs in every episode. For anyone whose favorite part of 30 Rock was the amazing original songs like "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah," Girls5Eva is a blessing. Many of the funniest original songs are the girl group’s ridiculously outdated older songs from the ‘90s. Some of their old lyrics include “If my man does cheat, we’ll only get really mad at the other girl, it was her fault only” and “tiny butts forever… this will be what people like forever.” Some of the other songs are more genuinely inspirational. “4 Stars” is a jam about trying your best even if what you make isn’t a universal hit. That theme reverberates through the whole show.
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‘Girls5Eva’ Season 3 Doesn’t Resolve the Story
Image via Peacock
Girls5Eva was cancelled by Peacock after two seasons, then saved by Netflix for a third season. The Netflix renewal gave fans hope for the show’s future, but there were only six additional episodes and the writers didn’t know ahead of time that it would be the final season. The show left off in a place where there’s obviously a lot more story to tell. Summer and Gloria, who are both divorced and exploring being newly single in very different ways, still have a lot to resolve in their personal plot lines. The current ending also leaves the audience with major questions about the group's future.
By the end of Girls5Eva Season 3, Dawn has just had a baby and come to the realization that she doesn’t want mega-stardom. Most of her bandmates agree with her after spending time around Gray Holland (Thomas Doherty), a pop star who’s achieved Justin Bieber-level fame. But, in the final scene, power agent Nance Trace (Vanessa Williams) calls Wickie to offer them a chance to be represented by her and take their careers to the next level. Wickie obviously still has big dreams despite Dawn’s ambivalence. The finale leaves off on a cliffhanger, cutting off Wickie’s response. Will the group get sucked into a level of fame they're not ready for? Will they decide together that they all prefer a more lowkey career? Or will Wickie go solo and leave her friends behind?
‘Girls5Eva’ Still Has More Story To Tell
One more wrap-up season would let us say goodbye to these characters properly and would explore interesting questions about what success in the entertainment industry means. Underneath the ridiculous comedy, Girls5Eva is an interesting look at an industry where there’s a widening gap between the people who’ve made it to superstardom and the people who haven’t. Dawn’s dream is to be someone who’s not Taylor Swiftfamous but is still a working musician. In the industry today, it sometimes seems like this dream isn't feasible.
Girls5Eva has fantastic satirical insight, like in the scene where Wickie tries to pitch a documentary series to a streaming platform and the platform goes through several mergers and rebrands in the five minutes that she’s pitching. The show also has genuine emotional arcs as these women try to figure out what they want. With its unique point of view, a final season of Girls5Eva would be an interesting exploration of what success can look like, especially for women over a certain age.
With the cancellation of Girls5Eva, it’ll be a bummer to not get any more songs or hear another one of Busy Philipps’s masterful line deliveries as Summer. But, the saddest part is that Season 3 didn’t give a proper ending to these characters. Netflix should give Girls5Eva one more season so we can see these women thriving — or at least see what their own unique, scrappy underdog version of thriving looks like.
Girls5Eva is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
Image via Netflix
Image via Peacock
English (US) ·