Show’s premise puts onus on stars to do ‘ bad’ well

“Good Girls” is pretty good.

Or, to phrase it another way: The series co-stars are pretty good at being pretty bad.

The new NBC dramedy, premiering on Monday, takes a thematic page from the “Weeds” playbook.

The series centers on three suburban women — best friends — who individually find themselves in financial straits. So they decide to try a little larceny, a decision that lands them only deeper in trouble.

Beth (Christina Hendricks of “Mad Men”) thinks she is happily married and financially comfortable. The fact that her husband, Dean, is played by Matthew Lillard should be a dead giveaway that she needs to think otherwise. Dean is a car dealer who has been making more than goofy commercials with his bubbly blonde colleague.

Ruby (Retta of “Parks and Recreation”) is happily married to Stan (Reno Wilson of “Mike & Molly”), but daughter Sara (Lidya Stewart) has medical issues. The only way for Sara to avoid a kidney transplant is to take medication that would cost $10,000 a month.

Anne (Mae Whitman of “Parenthood”) is divorced and trying to keep her ex (Zach Gilford of ”Friday Night Lights”) from winning custody of their child, Sadie (Izzy Stannard of “Brad’s Status”).

The three novicesin-crime partner to rob the grocery store where Annie works as a cashier and is regularly hit on by her creepy boss, Boomer (David Hornsby of “How To Be a Gentleman”). The robbery goes well — too well, as it turns out. Soon, the three are in over their heads.

The show’s success stems primarily from the performances by the lead actors. They’re so appealing that you might forget they’re committing crimes such as theft, kidnapping, blackmail and transporting contraband across international borders.

And those wrongdoings cover only the first three episodes.

The series faces a big challenge in trying to build viewer loyalty: The three title characters, after all, are doing illegal things.

We can accept that Retta is trying to save her daughter’s life, and that Annie wants to retain sole custody of Sadie, who is going through gender-identity issues.

But what about Beth? Her motive is purely about vengeance against Dean and making sure that she can afford to raise their children. Is that enough to justify the felonies?

The moral scheme of things is partly saved by the women’s involvement with a serious criminal — one with tattoos, no less.

No matter what they’ve done, then, they aren’t as bad as Rio (Manny Montana of “Lucifer”).

It's not whether Beth, Annie and Ruby are too good to be bad, but, rather, are they good enough at being bad to keep viewers returning week after week.

Good question.

The series faces a big challenge in trying to build viewer loyalty: The three title characters, after all, are doing illegal things.