The first season of "Girls5eva," a rambunctiously strange romp with a very The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/30 Rock-ish (musical) comedy vibe ran last year. It's about a one-hit-wonder girls' group who reunited twenty years after they made their 90s debut. They've gone on to be influencers, dentists, and restauranteurs, and all deal with their fame and infamy in different ways.
I thought the first season was fun, silly, and occasionally thoughtful, and that it featured the MOST incredible performers. It was good. It was fine. It was...almost awesome.
The second season, which just ended in June, is STELLAR. Sharper, tighter, more weird and hysterical. Now it's a must-watch, will tell everyone I know to cough up the $5/month or borrow subscription access from their sister like I did- to stream Peacock to make sure they, too can watch and love this show.
It's smart and sexy, subversive, and just super, super strange. Even though some of the characters are somewhat larger-than-life and you may not actually know anyone like this irl, the dialogue and way they relate to each other is perfect. Relatable, aggressively honest, and GOD I LOVE IT WHEN WOMEN ARE ALLOWED TO BE GROSS AND WEIRD AND HORNY AND FLAWED AND FUNNY. Please and thank you, times a million.
OK, so on to the cast and writers and whatnot- damn. This has to be the MOST fun writers' room and set. I mean....come on....it's written by a bunch of writers from SNL and our other favorite comedies, and is created/written by Meredith Scardino (Colbert Report, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). It stars Sara Bareilles (singer-songwriter, composer, actor, Emmy/Grammy/Tony Award-winning fucking icon with a great personality, wtf), Renée Elise Goldsberry ( the ORIGINAL ANGELICA SCHUYLER IN HAMILTON and a bunch of other stuff- she's so fucking talented and funny and beautiful I have to watch her with my peripherals or I might die from overstimulation- that seems like a real thing, right?), Paula Pell (Mapleworth Murders, SNL, 30 Rock, Sisters, and more- she's been writing/performing great comedy since forever, so she's 20-ish years older than the others- they have another actress (Erika Henningsen) playing her in flashbacks while the others just play themselves, and it works) and Busy Philipps (Freaks and Geeks, Dawson's Creek, Cougar Town, and more). The smaller parts are all well-cast, too, with a standout who's new to me, playing Sara's character's hubby- Daniel Breaker- perfect timing, perfect real husband vibes.
For the jokes about how female pop stars were treated in the '90s ALONE, this show is worth a watch, but for the hilarious takes on marriage, friendship, knee surgery and more, you gotta, GOTTA watch it! (Steal your sister's Peacock sign-in stuff like I did, she won't mind).