Why Netflix Canceled Girls5eva After Three Seasons

Right at the end of 2024, a bunch of "Girls5Eva" fans — myself very much included — got terrible news. According to Variety and other major outlets, the show — which moved from Peacock to Netflix after the conclusion of its second season and premiered its third on Reed Hastings' streamer — never made it into Netflix's top 10. That meant it just wasn't popular enough, so it got axed.

This is a crying shame because "Girls5Eva," created by "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" veteran Meredith Scardino, is just so unbelievably funny, and I personally rallied for its third season to earn a spot on /Film's list of the best TV shows of 2024. With Tina Fey and Robert Carlock on board as executive producers, it's no surprise that the jokes fly just as fast as they did on that duo's outstanding show "30 Rock," and the plot of this unfortunately canceled comedy is pretty irresistable to boot: Former girl group stars Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Summer (Busy Philipps), Gloria (Paula Pell), and Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry) have left show-business behind ... but then when a young, popular rapper samples their song "Famous 5Eva," they decide to reunite despite being well out of practice and in their 40s. (Ashley Park's aptly-named Ashley was the fifth member and is seen in flashbacks because she died in an incident involving an infinity pool and some magicians; in all likelihood, Park's commitment to Netflix's infuriating series "Emily in Paris" prevented her from hanging out with her old girl group in a larger capacity.)

As Dawn, Summer, Gloria, and Wickie try to get their group back off the ground, they struggle pretty much the entire time, relegated to touring exclusively in Texas' Fort Worth and getting cut from music videos in the process. By the end of season 3, though, they've performed at Radio City Music Hall — albeit on Thanksgiving morning, which is the only time the venue was available, though they at least don't lose any money (because scalper bots snap up all the available tickets) — and one of Wickie's old solo songs, "Yesternights," is getting the Kate Bush treatment (meaning that it's being used on a popular streaming show). 

Fans never got to see what happens next, though, because this sweet, wildly funny show was canceled. (What other show would be brave enough to make Thomas Doherty play a dreamy British pop star and then give him a full mouth of fox teeth for a visual gag, I ask you?!?!) This sucks for so many reasons, including that, throughout the entire run of "Girls5Eva," critics loved it.

Not only did "Girls5Eva" earn three Emmy nominations throughout its run (two for writing for the pilot's script in 2021 and the season 3 episode "Orlando," and one for original music and lyrics for the season 3 song "The Medium Time" penned by Sara Bareilles herself), but critics also consistently rewarded the show with rave reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season earned a 98% rating, and individual reviews from critics were absolutely glowing. "The cast here is so well-selected, the songs so infectious, and the stakes so refreshingly recognizable that the series becomes the first must-watch comedy of the year," Roxana Hadidi wrote for RogerEbert.com. "'Girls5eva' is a sophisticated joke-delivery machine that will hold special appeal to culture obsessives and more evidence that NBCUniversal's small-but-mighty streamer Peacock punches above its weight," Daniel D'Addario similarly penned in his review for Variety.

Season 2 dropped ever so slightly with a 95% rating on the aggregator, but critics still offered up a ton of praise for its sophomore outing. In her review for Time Magazine, Judy Berman opined, "The show's secret weapon is its juxtaposition of well-founded cynicism about an industry that can be particularly hard on women over 40 with the joy of finding creativity and companionship years after your supposed expiration date." Over at The Hollywood Reporter, Angie Han expressed an identical sentiment, praising the show's growth: "'Girls5eva' season 2 manages to hit all the same highs while expanding its range ever so slightly to make room for earnest self-reflection among all those goofy jokes."

Then, with its move to Netflix for season 3, "Girls5Eva" hit a literal high with a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. "For a show as consistently funny, charming, and full of undeniable bops, it deserves to have all the 5evasodes it wants," Rendy Jones wrote on RogerEbert.com, while Vulture's Jen Chaney pointed to the series' deeper themes as a reason for its success: "Reinvention has always been a recurring theme in 'Girls5Eva,' and it's particularly apt for this go-round of the riotously funny examination of middle-age rebirth and celebrity-culture inanity."

Still, the show got canceled ... and one of its stars has some ideas about how and why this happened (and hopes that, maybe, it can continue someday).

During a December 2024 episode of her podcast "Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best," Philipps addressed the breaking news that was later reported in that aforementioned Variety article. Speaking to her guest, Bravo expert Danny Pellegrino, Philipps confirmed, "It's dead. Yeah. I'm just saying it because, f**k it. If Netflix won't, I will. I guess not enough people watched it or watched it the way that counts or I don't know. I actually just don't know."

Philipps added that she didn't know "anything about how the deal was structured when it went to Peacock for the second season" in regards to Netflix and hoped that the show could find a way to live on. "So, there's time," she went on. I don't think it'll ever be dead-dead. The characters are too good. I've even joked with the cast, like, we should do Radio City or turn it into a live stage show — a musical, maybe even Broadway someday." Plus, Philipps worried that the title, excellent as it is, limited the show's audience: "I think the name 'Girls5Eva' is amazing and totally right, but I think it's possible it alienates men — like straight f**king dudes. Has anyone ever done a study on how women-forward titles affect the success of shows?"

These are all great ideas, and unfortunately, I don't think Philipps is totally off base with her analysis of this show's title. I can honestly say that, in the aftermath of its cancellation, I still feel sad that we probably won't get any new episodes of "Girls5Eva" for a long time or, perhaps, ever. The critics were right: The show mixed incredibly quick visual gags and hysterically funny one-liners with actual social critiques and sharp observations about what happens to women of a certain age in the entertainment industry. Plus, let's talk about that cast again — Sara Bareilles and Renée Elise Goldsberry are world-class vocalists who also happen to be unbelievably hilarious, Philipps makes basically every project better with her mere presence, and Paula Pell is one of the funniest people alive. Like Philipps, I hope "Girls5Eva" lives on someday in some way. In the meantime, it's bittersweet to revisit this incredible, funny, and surprisingly emotional show on Netflix.