Girls5Eva and The Enduring Hilarity of Musical Comedy

Girls5Eva is an anomaly. It occupies a space present and past simultaneously. The past is its dedicated adherence to the music in the show, even into this second season. No song is serious, at least not totally. Not even songs about death and grief (more on that later). Nothing is off-limits for the show when it comes to music. In the broader entertainment scene, comedy music hasn’t completely evaporated, though it is far less common now. That’s part of what makes Girls5Eva as much as it though. It taps into something of a bygone era akin to Adam Sandler or “Weird Al” Yankovic. There are prominent comedians and groups who play in that arena now to great effect like Bo Burnham and The Lonely Island. Girls5Eva sought their own way and found an avenue uniquely theirs. One of the show’s contemporaries, Only Murders in the Building, built its premise in a similar way. At its core, it combines a generational divide with a new form of media. The comparison could certainly be drawn for Girls5Eva. It starts with a one-hit wonder girl band from the 90s trying to take advantage of that hit’s newfound popularity after it’s sampled by a popular rapper. That in and of itself isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon. However, in the era of TikTok, it manifests differently. As the second season of the show demonstrates, it’s all about connecting with your audience in new and different ways (beyond the music) that each member of Girls5Eva is not used to doing.

If you haven’t seen Girls5Eva, I’m not sure I’d totally blame you. The show’s first season was effectively buried on Peacock. However, after a wonderful critical reception (and a single Emmy nomination!), the second season got more promotion as Peacock leaned into the show. Nonetheless, the widespread talk of the show has not matched just how good it has been in its first two seasons. It would’ve been easy to write off the first season as a flash in the pan. The musical comedy could’ve descended into complete parody and given way to its gimmick. Instead, thanks to both the crew behind the camera and in front, it remained as fresh as its first season by weighting its weird and delightful characters as much as it does the punchlines in its songs.

That was at the core of Girls5Eva’s second season. Not just the characters but putting each of them in situations where they were forced to confront their own faults and grow. Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry) is forced to confront her literal physical faults after they are photographed by paparazzi. In doing so, it opens her up to be more vulnerable, especially in her love life as she starts a relationship with the Lunch Lord, Sheawn (Chad L. Coleman). Dawn (Sara Bareilles) starts writing music for their album only to realize that the group is at their best when she lets other people in and gives up control. Summer (Busy Philipps) and Gloria (Paula Pell) explore the season on two sides of the same coin: independence. Summer starts exploring life without her ex, Kev (Andrew Rannells). Gloria spent most of the show’s first season trying to win back her ex-wife’s affection. When she finally does in this season, she wonders if that’s really what she wanted all along. She starts to wonder if she didn’t fully take advantage of the independence she had when they were separated. All of these personal dramas, plus the added drama of navigating the music business years after their initial popularity colors the lines inbetween the shows funniest moments.

The first season was narratively tighter than this second season. The musical highs of the first season were higher too, especially “I’m Afraid (Dawn’s Song of Fears).” However, the expansion of the cast in this second season has brought new storylines and delightfully absurd asides, like all of Chad L. Coleman’s scenes describing his work as the Lunch Lord at the school’s cafeteria where he works. Another part where the show excels is their dedication to not just telling the story of Girls5Eva through flashbacks, but doing so by creating witty and ludicrous parodies each episode. They aren’t very long but they range from parodies of old music TV shows (like TRL) to informercials and even an extended parody of prank shows in one of the season’s best jokes. Expanding the world of Girls5Eva was always going to make it more difficult to keep its characters from getting lost in the fray. However, it also affords the show more opportunities for growth in those very same characters like we saw in the second season as well as its central conceit of absurd musical parody.

Favorite Performance

Each of the performances in the ensemble is worth dedicating this space to between Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, Paula Pell, and Renée Elise Goldsberry. Sara Bareilles has been the biggest surprise for me from the first two seasons, because her performance has been consistently hilarious, especially her solo songs. However, my answer from the first season to the second season is the same: Renée Elise Goldsberry. Her performance is one of the best parody performances in recent memory. Wickie is a caricature of a star that refuses to see herself as anything but even though nobody else has ever quite viewed her that way. Goldsberry shines when she hams it up, mostly because she herself is a star. More than the first season, Wickie is forced to try to act ‘normal,’ instead of over-the-top. Goldsberry knows just how to tone it down without ever actually toning it down, especially opposite the even-keeled Chad L. Coleman.

Favorite Character

Perhaps it could be Pell’s performance alone as Gloria or my desire to pick someone else here other than Wickie, but in this second season, Gloria was my favorite character. Dawn would have been my answer for the first season, especially with her solo songs. But as the ensemble starts to get their own solo moments in this second season, Gloria is an absolute delight. Watching her try to flirt is a nightmare, which is only usurped as her funniest moment when she’s hopped up on pain killers after a surgery as the girls have their first interview about the album. The sunglasses she wears are a minor touch but sell the absurdity of the moment as she launches into incoherent diatribes about unrelated topics.

Favorite Episode

“B.P.E.” was my favorite episode of this second season because it contained one of the show’s few episode-long bits. The core of the episode – especially as it relates to the group’s album – centers around Dawn and Wickie’s competition for a solo on one of the songs. That alone is ripe for comedy as the gentle, nonconfrontational Dawn goes up against the larger-than-life Wickie. However, it’s Gloria and Summer’s quest to find a videotape of the only problematic thing in the group’s past that steals the show. That videotape was their old prank show. At first, Gloria’s worried because of a shirt she was wearing when they filmed the show. When they arrive at the guy’s house, they realize the far more bitter (and hilarious) truth. The shirt wasn’t the worst part about the show. It was the fact that they basically only pranked one guy over and over and over again. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say it messed him up. I almost couldn’t get through typing this brief synopsis of the bit, because I couldn’t stop laughing. It works from top-to-bottom. The prank show isn’t even a prank show, it’s just them scaring the shit out of this one guy continuously. It’s also an episode that ends up featuring one of the best songs of the season. The easiest pick out of all of these categories.

Favorite Song

This one is a toss-up between “B.P.E.” and “At the Beep.” Both represent what the show does so well. “B.P.E.” is quite funny, but it’s also a genuinely catchy track. The kind of earworm that you’ll find yourself humming or singing to yourself days later. “At the Beep” works on a couple levels. It represents an emotional catharsis for the group as they mourn and honor Ashley. It is also one of the most ludicrous tribute songs I have ever heard. Even at the show’s most sentimental moments, it finds a way to mine that same sentimentality for comedy. “At the Beep” is season two’s best example of this.