When the third season of the series “Girls5eva” premieres Thursday on Netflix, it will debut on the platform alongside the other seasons of the show, which previously lived on Peacock before that streamer canceled the scandalous comedy about a group of girls from the 90s. competing for fame in middle age.
The unusual circumstances mean there's a level of anticipation for creator Meredith Scardino that doesn't usually accompany a new season.
“It feels like a new fall,” Scardino said. “It feels like we abandoned the whole series again.”
In some ways, another take seems fitting for “Girls5eva,” a show about second chances. Produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, the show follows Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry), Summer (Busy Philipps) and Gloria (Paula Pell), who had a brush with fame as members of the eponymous group. pop act during the days of MTV's “TRL” and low-cut jeans. As the show begins, the ladies, most of whom have left the spotlight, get another shot at fame when one of their extremely catchy but very silly songs is given new life as a showcase.
The show premiered in 2021 to critical acclaim, but after the second season arrived the following year, Peacock decided it was done. The choice was “heartbreaking,” according to Scardino, but Netflix ended up being the savior they needed. Fey, Carlock and Scardino had relationships with Netflix based on their previous work on “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” a show that has a similarly eccentric tone as “Girls5eva.” With Netflix, Carlock said they have a chance to start over.
“I watch a lot of English football on Peacock,” he said. “But Netflix is a broader lens for the audience, let's say, and has a track record, whether it's 'Schitt's Creek' or 'Cobra Kai,' of things that were getting a better look elsewhere.” [on Netflix]. I felt like this made sense.”
Renée Elise Goldsberry stars in “Girls5eva” as Wickie Roy.
(Emily V. Aragonés/Netflix/Emily V. Aragonés/Netflix)
Goldsberry, the Tony-winning “Hamilton” veteran who plays the vain, delusional diva Wickie Roy, celebrated the revival. “Have you ever been to a Pentecostal church and seen people receive the spirit?” he said during a Zoom call. “That's what was happening in this house. There was a dance with lots of footwork and lots of praising God. “We were all absolutely thrilled.”
While the first two seasons, which followed Girls5eva's reunion and attempts to record a new album, had eight episodes each, Netflix wanted only six for the third season. “All six will be part of the proof of concept,” Carlock said. “It felt like there was a really healthy pressure. “They like what we’ve done and these six better be really fun.”
For Scardino, the smaller episode order just meant getting closer to the arc he wanted to follow for the characters with fewer detours, and for season 3 that meant sending the gang on the road. “There's always more to explore about these characters and what motivates them,” he said. “I felt like there was still room to tell the story of their tour in six episodes.”
At the beginning of the new season, the women are thriving during a stop in Fort Worth, thanks to the fact that they have written a very specific song about the city called “Tap Into Your Fort Worth” with lyrics like “13th In the state, Can a city be a soulmate? Texas City has turned them into mini-celebrities, but they're stuck there too, staying in a “Marriott Divorced Dad Suitelets” that features a vending machine of wrapped children's birthday gifts. (Goldsberry was wearing a hat with the fake hotel chain's logo on it when we speak.) To reignite their ambition, Wickie books them an unlikely gig at New York's Radio City Music Hall on Thanksgiving Day.
Summer (Busy Philipps), left, Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Wickie (Renee Elise Goldsberry) and Gloria (Paula Pell) in the season 3 opener.
(Emily V. Aragonés/ Netflix)
A tour also gives Scardino and his team of writers new avenues to explore the challenges of trying to achieve stardom while maintaining an adult life. Dawn, from Bareilles, for example, is pregnant with her second child. She enjoys the respite from family life that the adventure provides, although she also struggles to obtain adequate medical care in parts of the country where women's rights are threatened. Meanwhile, Gloria, who was deeply locked away when she formed Girls5eva, is now trying to sow oats with the local women.
Along the way, the quartet is still struggling with the toxicity of how they were sexualized and treated in their youth. It's a topic that has gained relevance as fans and the culture at large grapple with how artists like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson were relentlessly scrutinized and harassed in the late '90s and early '90s.
“We're having fun in this territory, but I feel like we're always on the side of the artists,” Scardino said. “Our women make a lot of mistakes that they should be held accountable for, but there's certainly empathy for any artist who's just been beaten by a machine.”
“There's always more to explore about these characters and what motivates them,” Scardino said. Season 3 shows the group on tour.
(Justin Jun Lee / For The Times)
As for another topic “Girls5eva” is having fun with this season? Netflix itself, which gets a couple of mentions, including a parody of “The Crown” focused entirely on Britain's Prince Andrew's collection of stuffed animals. Also mentioned is how Kate Bush's “Running Up That Hill” received a boost after being placed in “Stranger Things.” The jokes came first and then they asked for permission, Carlock said. Netflix even allowed them to throw an Easter egg into a fictional streaming service that appears in “Black Mirror.”
“In today's culture, Netflix is the 800-pound gorilla, a term I don't like,” Carlock said. “It's natural that we end up satirizing what they do.”
Even with Netflix behind them, “Girls5eva” remains shaky. Although the characters are supposed to travel across states in a van, the actors did not. “The brilliance is in the production team,” Goldsberry said. “That's the magic potion, and everything else is pretty much in a little studio somewhere or right outside, around the corner. We dream of 'Girls5eva' going to Hawaii. We dream these things. “They haven’t happened and we’re not holding our breath.”
The hope right now is that the Netflix release will gain more fans for the show and that they can, in turn, make more seasons. While the Girls5eva singers gain knowledge while touring the United States, the season also ends on a cliffhanger, giving them another chance to have the big time. “I think the promise of fame and relevance is too tempting to turn down,” Scardino said.
The goal, according to Carlock, is that once viewers enjoy all three seasons, they will clamor for more. “Hopefully, we'll feel like we have to get back to work very soon,” he said.
Goldsberry didn't want to make too many predictions, but she does believe that the show, and its depiction of women pursuing their passions later in life, is “tremendously important,” even if its main goal is to make people laugh.
“You are complicit in dreaming with a group of women about themselves,” she said. “It's crazy to think that at this age one should dream about seemingly frivolous and selfish things. You might think that if you're going to make music at a certain age, it better be inspiring and wise. Definitely not a sweet bubblegum pop. These are things you can't dream about and definitely not be in a group together in short dresses.”
