Girls5Eva has been cancelled at Netflix. (Netflix)
Musical comedy series Girls5Eva has become the latest in a long line of queer-inclusive shows to get the axe in 2024, two years after the series narrowly escaped being cancelled.
The Peacock original series moved to Netflix for its third season at the beginning of 2024, following Peacock’s decision in 2022 to cease the show’s production after the first two seasons.
Girls5Eva managed to build something of a cult following, but it’s also been held in high regard by critics, with all three seasons reaching approval ratings of 95 per cent or above on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s also received three Emmy Award nominations, and was named as one the best shows of 2024 by Slate magazine.
Yet despite its success, and despite Netflix’s initial decision to rescue the show from Peacock’s cancellation, the streaming giant has confirmed it won’t be returning for a fourth season.
Girls5Eva stars Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and lesbian comedian Paula Pell as four members of titular girlband Girls5Eva, who reunite some twenty years after they first found fame with a one-hit-wonder single.
After the song is sampled by rapper Lil Stinker, they get the chance to reunite and relaunch their pop careers.
The Tina Fey-produced series has been celebrated in the LGBTQ+ community for including Pell’s lesbian character and band member Gloria, as she represents a section of the community that isn’t often seen on screen.
Gloria is a middle-aged, grey-haired, divorced, plus-sized lesbian who is making her way in life as a dentist, following the fading of her Girls5Eva fame. She’s hilarious, staunch in her support for her friends, and complete as a character away from her sexuality. Earlier this year, Xtra magazine dubbed Gloria “television’s most well-rounded, loveable lesbian”.
Netflix confirmed the news of the cancellation after star Busy Phillips described the series as “dead” during a conversation on her podcast, Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best.
“[Girls5Eva is] dead. 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. I don’t know. I actually just don’t know,” she said.
Girls5Eva now sits atop a pile of LGBTQ+ inclusive shows cancelled in 2024, including Our Flag Means Death, We’re Here, Kaos, Dead Boy Detectives, Renegade Nell, My Lady Jane, and The Acolyte.
Earlier this year, GLAAD’s “Where We Are On TV” report showed a substantial reduction in LGBTQ+ characters on screen in 2023 to 2024 compared to the previous year.
That said, 2024 has also seen a number of TV and film wins for the LGBTQ+ community, including Mr Loverman which showcased queer love among Britain’s Windrush generation, Cuckoo, which saw trans Euphoria star Hunter Schafer in a leading cisgender role, and I Saw The TV Glow, Jane Schoenbrun’s acclaimed trans horror film which is receiving plenty of awards season buzz.
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