Don’t call it a comeback: ‘Girls5eva’ plans tour in new season
The 1980s had The Bangles, the ‘90s had the Spice Girls and while “girl groups” have significantly dropped off in popularity in recent years, K-pop stars BLACKPINK have proven that there is still room for young women at the top of the pop charts. But what of the older women? Netflix’s “Girls5eva” attempts to explore that question — and its possible outcomes — in the series’ third season, premiering Thursday, March 14.
The show, which follows fictional ‘90s girl group Girls5eva as they reunite after a rapper samples one of their songs, has been hailed by critics as everything from “accessibly absurdist, riddled with clever zingers [and] thick with critique” (per Doreen St. Felix of the New Yorker) to “the kind of happy-go-lucky sitcom that’s perfect for a post-’ted Lasso’ world” (per USA Today’s Kelly Lawler).
With regard to Netflix’s involvement in the series, “Girls5eva” joins the popular streamer after having been canceled by NBC’S Peacock back in May 2022, just one month after the “charming” second season began. Now supported by a new platform (and each other, of course), the “girls” are more ready than “eva” to take their music career to the next level.
According to Netflix, the band has “reunited and recorded a new album, ‘Returnity,’ so it’s time for the next logical step: a comeback tour. With no plan, tour manager or venues secured, the ladies pile into a van and hit the great unknown, doing their damnedest to promote their album and get back on top.”
“In the process,” the Season 3 news release continues, “Girls5eva will grapple with life on the road, see their relationships tested, play a billionaire’s birthday party, sow their oats, confront parents they believe held them back, cross paths with the biggest pop star on the planet and question if they really want ‘the big time’ again.”
In addition to some of life’s bigger, more prevalent questions, Season 3 asks whether “Girls5eva [will] fast-track their comeback and sell their tour documentary in the process,” or if the pressures of the road will “destroy them” before they have a chance to get back on top.
Created and executive produced by fourtime Primetime Emmy-winning writer/ producer Meredith Scardino (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) and backed by a team that includes “Mean Girls” (2004) writer Tina Fey and “30 Rock” showrunner Robert Carlock, “Girls5eva” stars Broadway’s Sara Bareilles (“Waitress: The Musical”) and Renée Elise Goldsberry (“Hamilton,” 2020) as Dawn Solano and Wickie Roy, respectively, while “Saturday Night Live” comedian Paula Pell and “Freaks and Geeks’” Busy Philipps round out the band as Gloria Mcmanus and Summer Dutkowsky.