With my last week of access to Peacock Premium, I decided to check out this highly praised comedy. Girls5Eva was lauded by literally everyone and I think it even managed to snag an Emmy nomination this year. Plenty of entertainment outlets declared that it deserved more! So anyways, let’s dive in.
We start with a glimpse back in the day at Girls5Eva dominating the pop scene with their smash hit being played everywhere. Fast forward at least twenty years and all five girls have ended up somewhere quite different. Gloria became a dentist and is now out and proud, Summer is just a stay at home popstar/mom, Ashley died in an infinity pool accident, Dawn manages one of her brother’s restaurants, and although Wickie claims she’s still rocking it as a solo artist, the truth is she is an air traffic controller. None of them are where they’d thought they’d be in life, but they get asked to reunite on The Tonight Show when their track gets sampled by an up and coming rapper.
The girls are truly inspired by the chance to perform together again and decide to try a reunion. They get shut out of using all of their old material though since they cut ties with their former misogynistic manager, Larry. Most of the rest of the season focuses on the girls trying to come up with new music and ultimately play Jingle Ball. The Jingle Ball goal is a nostalgic one since back in the day when they had some clout, they got bumped off the setlist for Enrique Iglesias. It’s fun to hear all of the early 2000s references, and seeing old “clips” from the likes of MTV’s Cribs, or touring their tour bus. I hope this really lands for us folks that thrived in the early aughts, and some of these references will likely fly over younger audiences’ heads. Oh, well. Nostalgia wins!
Aside from their musical aspirations, there is plenty of personal conflict throughout the series. At first, Dawn has to win over her husband for letting Wickie crash with them. Wickie herself has amassed quite a bit of debt since the group was big, so she struggles with accepting a lucrative television game show gig. Gloria tries to help Summer with her lack-luster marriage to former boy band member Kevin. Having Andrew Rannells as Kevin was top-notch casting and I have no clue how he and Busy Philipps didn’t die of laughter during every scene they filmed together. While Gloria is amped about the reunion, her dental practice is also thriving, so she’s also in a tough spot. Dawn ends up being the glue that really holds them all together, but the journey to the end is a riotous one.
After finishing the brief first season of this Peacock original comedy, I can see why it received so much hype. And well-deserved hype I might add! Each member of this talented ensemble was given their moment to shine. What made the show even funnier to me though was how ridiculous Girls5Eva’s songs were. Some of them started out pretty normal but then almost immediately veered into the weird. I suppose that’s probably how a lot of early 2000s pop songs sounded, but they took it to the extreme and I loved it. If you get the chance, check out this show for some quality belly laughs.