''Girls5eva'' is an American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

television series created by

Meredith Scardino Meredith Scardino is an American screenwriter, showrunner and producer. She has worked as a writer for several television comedies, including ''Colbert Report'', '' Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'', and ''Mr. Mayor''. She is the creator of the Peacock/ ...

that premiered on May 6, 2021, on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

. The series centers on four women who were part of a

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

named Girls5eva, which was briefly popular around the year 2000 before fading into one-hit-wonder status. Now unfulfilled in their various lives, the women reunite in an attempt to find musical success again. In June 2021, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on May 5, 2022. In October 2022, it was announced that the show would be moving from Peacock to

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

for its third season after being canceled after the second season concluded.

Premise

A 1990s

that only managed to score one hit gets an unexpected chance at a comeback when their song is sampled by an up-and-coming rapper.

Cast

Main

Sara Bareilles Sara Beth Bareilles (, ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. She has earned various awards and nominations including nin ...

as Dawn, the self-proclaimed "chill one" of Girls5eva, who now works at her brother's Italian restaurant and has one son with her husband *

Busy Philipps Elizabeth Jean "Busy" Philipps (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the television series '' Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), ''Dawson's Creek'' (2001–2003), ''Love, Inc.'' (2005–2006) and '' ER' ...

as Summer, the self-proclaimed "hot one" of Girls5eva, who is now married but is mostly neglected by her husband and lives in an expensive mansion with her daughter Stevia *

Paula Pell Paula Pell (born April 15, 1963) is an American comedy writer, producer, and actress, best known for her work writing for the sketch series ''Saturday Night Live,'' being recognized with a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety ...

as Gloria, the self-proclaimed "always working one" of Girls5eva, who is a dentist and is divorced from her wife *

Renée Elise Goldsberry Renée Elise Goldsberry (born January 2, 1971) is an American actress and singer known for originating the role of Angelica Schuyler in the Broadway musical ''Hamilton'', for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musica ...

as Wickie, the self-proclaimed "fierce one" of Girls5eva, who pretends to have a glamorous life but is barely scraping by as an airport employee

Recurring

Daniel Breaker Daniel Breaker (born June 2, 1980) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Donkey in ''Shrek The Musical''. Career Beginning his career in 2002, immediately after graduating from Juilliard, Breaker has performed in Off-Br ...

as Scott, Dawn's husband and an exercise and menswear fanatic *

Jonathan Hadary Jonathan Hadary (born October 11, 1948) is an American actor. Early life and education Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, Hadary arrived at Tufts University already an accomplished actor. He was cast in many shows at ...

as Larry Plumb, Girls5eva's sleazy former manager and founder of Plumb Management and Junk Removal *

Ashley Park Ashley Park is a private residential neighbourhood at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Its central feature was a grandiose English country house, at times enjoying associated medieval manorial rights, which stood on the site, with alterations, ...

as Ashley, the fifth member and the self-proclaimed "fun one" of Girls5eva, who was the glue of the band, having been a member of six previous girl groups. She died in an

infinity pool An infinity pool, also called an infinity edge pool or a zero edge pool, is a reflecting pool or swimming pool where the water flows over one or more edges, producing a visual effect of water with no boundary. Such pools are often designed so t ...

accident in 2004 and was memorialized by a bench paid for by her bandmates. *

Erika Henningsen Erika Leigh Henningsen (born August 13, 1992) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her work on Broadway and for originating the role of Cady Heron in the 2018 Tony-nominated musical ''Mean Girls'', for which she received an Ou ...

as young Gloria * Andrew Rannells as Kev Hamlin, a former boy band member and Summer's long-distance husband who works in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

as an entertainment reporter * Jeremiah Craft as Lil Stinker, a rapper who samples Girls5eva and brings them back to prominence * Janine Brito as Caroline, Gloria's ex-wife * Grey Henson as Tate (season 2), a young executive at Girls5eva's new record company, "Property Records" * Piter Marek as Ray (season 2), a talented sound engineer/producer/songwriter who helps Girls5eva write their album In addition, Julius Conceicao costars as Max, Dawn and Scott's son, a "New York Lonely Boy" (later taken over by Xander Fenyes), and Penelope Richmond as Stevia, Summer and Kev's daughter.

Guest

Dean Winters Dean Gerard Winters (born July 20, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Ryan O'Reily on the HBO prison drama '' Oz'' and had roles in TV series'' Rescue Me'', ''30 Rock'', ''Sex and the City'' and '' Law & Order: Special Vict ...

as Nick, Dawn's brother and an entrepreneur who owns ten businesses, one of which is an Italian restaurant where she works * Jimmy Fallon as Himself *

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

as Alf Musik, a songwriter *

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

, who appears in Dawn's imagination to help inspire her to write songs again *

Bowen Yang Bowen Yang ( zh, link=no, 楊伯文; born November 6, 1990) is an Australian-born American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer based in New York City. He co-hosts a comedy pop-culture podcast, '' Las Culturistas,'' with Matt Rogers. Since Se ...

as Zander, a fan of Wickie's who manipulates her ego for his own personal benefit *

Vanessa Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She resign ...

as Nance Trace, a famous manager whom Girls5eva approaches to manage them after they fire Larry *

Tim Meadows Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emm ...

as himself (season 2) *

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both ''The Mandalorian'' (2019–2020) and '' The Book of Boba Fett'' (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the ...

as Kris and

Neil Flynn Neil Richard Flynn (born November 13, 1960) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles as Janitor on '' Scrubs'' and Mike Heck in the ABC comedy series '' The Middle''. He has had notable appearances in television series ...

as Chris (season 2), Summer's parents who travel the country in a bus and visit Summer after she decides to get a divorce *

Mario Cantone Mario Cantone (born December 9, 1959) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and singer with numerous appearances on Comedy Central including ''Chappelle's Show''. He also played Anthony Marentino in ''Sex and the City'' and Terri in ''Men In T ...

as himself (season 2)

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Production

Development

On January 16, 2020,

announced at a

investor presentation event that she was executive producing an original series for the upcoming streaming service. The series is executive produced by Fey, Meredith Scardino,

Robert Carlock Robert Morgan Carlock (born September 21, 1972) is an American screenwriter and producer. He has worked as a writer for several NBC television comedies, and as a showrunner for ''30 Rock'', which was created by his recurring collaborator, comedia ...

Jeff Richmond Jeffrey Wayne Richmond (born January 7, 1961) is an American composer, actor, director, and producer. He composed the music for, and directed multiple episodes of '' 30 Rock'', a sitcom created by and starring his wife, Tina Fey. He also executiv ...

, David Miner and

Eric Gurian Eric Andrew Gurian is an American film and television producer, director and writer. He is the President of Tina Fey's production company Little Stranger. Early life Gurian grew up in West Caldwell, NJ the son of Dr. David Gurian, optician and ...

. Production companies involved are Fey's Little Stranger, Carlock's Bevel Gears, 3 Arts Entertainment and

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...

. In October 2020, it was announced that the pilot episode would be directed by

Kat Coiro Kat Coiro is an American filmmaker known for directing Marry Me (2022 film), ''Marry Me'', a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, and Malumaa box-office success for Universal Pictures in 2022. She directed and executive produced ...

. On June 14, 2021, Peacock renewed the series for a second season. On October 27, 2022, it was announced that the series would be moving from Peacock to

for its third season after being canceled on Peacock after the second season concluded. Some filming took place at

Kaufman Astoria Studios The Kaufman Astoria Studios is a film studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens. The studio was constructed for Famous Players-Lasky in 1920, since it was close to Manhattan's Broadway theater district. The pr ...

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

, best known for being the home of ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

''.

Casting

On August 10, 2020,

was cast in a starring role. In October 2020,

, and

were stated to be joining the cast in starring roles alongside Bareilles. In the same month,

joined the cast in a recurring role. On April 14, 2021,

was announced to have cast in a recurring role. On March 13, 2022, Scardino revealed that

and

joined the cast for the second season at the SXSW Studio in Austin, Texas. On April 6, 2022, additional guest stars were announced including

Amber Ruffin Amber Mildred Ruffin (born January 9, 1979) is an American comedian. She hosts her own late-night talk show titled ''The Amber Ruffin Show'' on NBC and Peacock. She has been a writer for '' Late Night with Seth Meyers'' since 2014. When she joine ...

Chad L. Coleman Chad L. Coleman (born September 6, 1967) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Dennis "Cutty" Wise on the HBO series ''The Wire'' (2004–08), Tyreese on the AMC (TV channel), AMC series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Wa ...

, Grey Henson,

Heidi Gardner Heidi Lynn Gardner (born July 27, 1983) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She has been a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2017, beginning in season 43. Early life Gardner was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. S ...

Hoda Kotb Hoda Kotb ( ; arz, هدى قطب, ''Hudā Quṭb''; ; born August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show ''Today'' and co-host of its entertainment ...

James Monroe Iglehart James Monroe Iglehart (born September 4, 1974) He met his wife Dawn in the Mt. Eden High School show choirBlank, Matthew"The Genie of Broadways Aladdin James Monroe Iglehart"playbill.com, March 18, 2014 and they married in 2002. Filmography ...

John Lutz John Michael Lutz (born April 23, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing J. D. Lutz on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'', and for his work as a writer on the NBC series ''Saturday Night Live'' for seven ...

Judy Gold Judy Gold (born November 15, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, podcaster, television writer, author and producer. She won two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work as a writer and producer on ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show''. Life and care ...

, Pat Battle, Piter Marek,

, and Property Brothers

Drew Scott Andrew Alfred Scott (born April 28, 1978) is a Canadian reality television personality, best known as the co-host (along with his identical twin brother Jonathan), on the TV series '' Property Brothers''. The home-renovation program, which is ...

and Jonathan Scott, alongside returning guest stars Andrew Rannells, Park,

, Janine Brito, Jeremiah Craft,

, Breaker, and Julius Conceicao.

Music

Most of the original songs for ''Girls5eva'' were composed by executive producer

with lyrics by Meredith Scardino. The songs were inspired by music of the late 1990s. Bareilles also contributed to writing "4 Stars" and "I'm Afraid (Dawn's Song of Fears)"; she revealed that she was influenced by the music of

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

, NSYNC, and

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

. A soundtrack album was released on May 6, 2021, through

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

Release

Marketing

On February 17, 2021, an official teaser for the series was released.

Broadcast

The series premiered on May 6, 2021, on

. Selected episodes made their linear TV debut on E!. In Canada, the series was set to debut on

W Network W Network (often shortened to W) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts general entertainment programming oriented towards a female audience. W Network was established in ...

on June 3, 2021. The second season premiered on May 5, 2022, with the first three episodes available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the first season holds an approval rating of 98% based on 46 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Smart, funny, and just nostalgic enough, ''Girls5Eva'' intelligent insights are brought to brilliant life by its talented quartet, whose individual gifts come together to make sweet comedic harmony." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the first season has a score of 80 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The second season has a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 22 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critics consensus states, "Like an addictive pop song, ''Girls5Eva'' is just as delightful the second time around, with its band of scrappy divas remaining one of the funniest ensembles on television." On Metacritic, the second season received a score of 81 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Girls5Eva
' on

* {{Peacock (streaming service) 2020s American LGBT-related comedy television series 2020s American musical comedy television series 2021 American television series debuts Peacock (streaming service) original programming English-language television shows Television series by 3 Arts Entertainment Television series by Universal Television Television series set in 2021 Television shows filmed in New York City Television shows set in New York City Television series about fictional musicians American LGBT-related sitcoms