The real successor to 30 Rock can now be streamed on Netflix
The holy grail of TV recommendations is almost always a half-hour comedy. It’s not that people don’t want other things – a good thriller, stranger horror, or shows that go on forever and you can fold laundry to – but what most people I talk to will want at some point and will burn through the quickest is a half-hour comedy. I’d say you can only watch so many times 30 Rock or Seinfeld or cheers all the way through, but history (and Nielsen ratings) shows this isn’t true. And yet the hunger for a new version of that is ever-present, especially if you may have recently flicked through one of your comfy sitcoms. That’s why it’s so great that you can watch it now Girls5Eva on Netflix, and with a new season to boot.
The show continues with a former girl group, now in their 40s and each struggling with their lives as an has-been. That is, until one of their songs is sampled by a famous rapper and the (now) four members get together and decide to give stardom another try.
There’s a bit of bootstrapping involved, but this is far from just a simple story about the can-do attitude that succeeds in showbiz. Rather, Girls5Eva not too bad 30 Rock, constantly dealing with celebrity, show business and the ridiculous ways those things come together and change, while being chock full of 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 people fighting .
Girls5Eva certainly benefits from it 30 Rock connections: 30 Rock showrunners Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, executive director, produce the series, and Fey has the magical ability to land any guest star, no matter how small or absurd the role. Most important is that 30 Rock songwriter Jeff Richmond (who brought us jams like “The Rural Juror” And “Armbands”) co-writes all issues with showrunner Meredith Scardino (formerly writer of 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 quick jokes.
The result is a show that’s playful and hilarious, full of excellent punchlines and earworms that would be everywhere if the show weren’t on Peacock (and perhaps now that the show is readily available on Netflix).
In the new season 3, the girls are on tour, with the goal of reaching Radio City Music Hall and selling out the entire theater. For a group trying to build their popularity with songs that are about a place (move on, “New York, New York” – it’s time to “Tap into Your Fort Worth”). It doesn’t matter what you record with Girls5Evathe girls will still be true to themselves and their place within the group: Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry) will stop at nothing to get back into the spotlight, Gloria (Paula Pell) was the closet tomboy who is ready to take this to try again. Summer (Busy Philipps) is the crazy blonde best suited for a suggestive kiss-off line at the end of the song. And Dawn (Sara Bareilles) is the “normal” one and has to keep the group together as best she can.
That work is even less easy to do when you live in the “Marriott Divorced Dad Suitelettes.” And with a shortened season length, Girls5Eva sometimes loses focus trying to take them to the next level in just six episodes. But what Girls5Eva has heart and humor in abundance, and while Season 3 may occasionally falter on one or the other, it can almost always deliver a good show. Ultimately, that’s what makes it such a good sitcom to fill that half-hour comedic void: there’s certainly some cozy comfort in a rewatch, but there’s also always a fresh zinger, a new joke you’ve forgotten. It’s what keeps us – and the girls of Girls5Eva – always coming back for a new hit.
All three seasons of Girls5Eva streaming now on Netflix.