Right at the end of 2024, a bunch of “Girls5Eva” fans — myself very much included — got terrible news. According to Variety and other major outlets, the show — which moved from Peacock to Netflix after the conclusion of its second season and premiered its third on Reed Hastings’ streamer — never made it into Netflix’s top 10. That meant it just wasn’t popular enough, so it got axed.
This is a crying shame because “Girls5Eva,” created by “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” veteran Meredith Scardino, is just so unbelievably funny, and I personally rallied for its third season to earn a spot on /Film’s list of the best TV shows of 2024. With Tina Fey and Robert Carlock on board as executive producers, it’s no surprise that the jokes fly just as fast as they did on that duo’s outstanding show “30 Rock,” and the plot of this unfortunately canceled comedy is pretty irresistable to boot: Former girl group stars Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Summer (Busy Philipps), Gloria (Paula Pell), and Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry) have left show-business behind … but then when a young, popular rapper samples their song “Famous 5Eva,” they decide to reunite despite being well out of practice and in their 40s. (Ashley Park’s aptly-named Ashley was the fifth member and is seen in flashbacks because she died in an incident involving an infinity pool and some magicians; in all likelihood, Park’s commitment to Netflix’s infuriating series “Emily in Paris” prevented her from hanging out with her old girl group in a larger capacity.)
As Dawn, Summer, Gloria, and Wickie try to get their group back off the ground, they struggle pretty much the entire time, relegated to touring exclusively in Texas’ Fort Worth and getting cut from music videos in the process. By the end of season 3, though, they’ve performed at Radio City Music Hall — albeit on Thanksgiving morning, which is the only time the venue was available, though they at least don’t lose any money (because scalper bots snap up all the available tickets) — and one of Wickie’s old solo songs, “Yesternights,” is getting the Kate Bush treatment (meaning that it’s being used on a popular streaming show).
Fans never got to see what happens next, though, because this sweet, wildly funny show was canceled. (What other show would be brave enough to make Thomas Doherty play a dreamy British pop star and then give him a full mouth of fox teeth for a visual gag, I ask you?!?!) This sucks for so many reasons, including that, throughout the entire run of “Girls5Eva,” critics loved it.