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Meredith Scardino’s silly pop-music sitcom Girls5Eva, executive produced by Tina Fey, maybe isn’t quite as much of a must-watch as its predecessor 30 Rock. Slightly more awkward than humorous, the Peacock original takes bona fide Broadway stars, chiefly Sara Bareilles and Renee Elise Goldsberry, and turns them into veterans of a turn-of-the-millennium girl group who, 20 years later, are trying to make a splash once more.
Like 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the sitcom is chock-a-block full of zingers as it creates an off-kilter version of our media-obsessed world that’s just a little more surreal and strange than everyday life. The show seems custom-made for musical theater nerds, from its fatally infectious title song to the girl group’s ultimate goal—a performance at the Jingle Ball. The show is a breeze to get through on a rainy Sunday afternoon, cutesy and lightweight with just enough heavy lifting from costars Paula Pell and Busy Phillips to get the foursome to a silly, breezy, friendship-affirming finale.
The most inspired part, though, comes in the third episode, “Alf Musik.” Like much of 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, it’s more about whimsical New York City than anything else. Bareilles’ character, Dawn, has a son, Max (Julius Conceicao), who is a happy if eccentric only child. As Dawn considers having another baby, she’s introduced to the concept of the “New York Lonely Boy,” those solo sons born to older parents that befriend their doormen, love fedoras, and, prefer adults to kids. “John Slattery has one. Kyle MacLachlan has one. Matthew Broderick is one,” Gloria (Pell) explains to her.
On returning to her neighborhood, Dawn realizes New York Lonely Boys are everywhere, and one of the show’s original songs kicks in: A Simon and Garfunkel parody by the Milk Carton Kids that croons, “The city’s full of New York Lonely Boys / no brother or sister / just one little mister.” It continues:
The song is great; the bit, which unfolds over the whole episode, is sublime. It features a cameo by Slattery, his wife Talia Balsam, and their very own New York Lonely Boy — whom they are very proud of! — Harry Slattery. Scardino, who actually did run into the father and son Slatterys one Father’s Day, called the song “the most personal thing in the show,” based on her own experience as the mom to her own New York Lonely Boy.
Watch the song above, stream the full soundtrack here, and see the full episode on Peacock.
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