The series, created by Meredith Scardino, tells the story of the eponymous girl group and what happens when they book a gig after 20 years. As we see, the group has splintered off and each member done their own thing to varying degrees of success: “Hamilton” star Renee Elise Goldberry’s character, Wickie, tries to live the life of a pop star (at least for her Instagram photos), while Summer (Busy Philips) hasn’t been successful in becoming a Real Housewife. Along the way the group learns that their music wasn’t exactly positive for young women, if a song named “Jailbait” is any indication. With that, Dawn (Sara Bareilles) is committed to writing the women a hit that talks about real topics.
The series recently had a splashy TCA panel back in February where a brief teaser was shown, but this is the first real look we’ve had at the series which also includes “Emily in Paris” breakout star Ashley Park and Paula Pell. There are several full-length songs throughout the series, according to executive producer Jeff Richmond. During the February panel it was said that Scardino would hand Richmond the weirdest lyrics, only to have him translate them into unique songs. Grammy winner and Tony nominee Bareilles also wrote an original song that will debut in the first season. The series is a blend of comedy and music, with a female empowerment theme that’s heightened, yet based in reality, according to the TCA panel. The goal was to get good actors first and fake the singing if they needed to, according to executive producer Tina Fey. She had seen Bareilles in “Waitress” and was struck by her acting, and Bareilles said working on “Waitress” onstage helped her deal with the rigor of a television schedule. “The discipline and the structure of that…..people in theater understand the stamina of that,” she said. Scardino wanted to write a show about women in her age group and talk about the things women in their 40s go through. “It would be amazing to do it through this backdrop of pop music,” she said. Watch the trailer below:
“Girls5Eva” premieres on Peacock May 6. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.