NETFLIX
Netflix has just dropped an all-new season of Girls5eva. Originally streaming on Stan, Girls5eva was dropped by its original platform and snatched up by Netflix. Created by Meredith Scardino (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and produced by Tina Fey (Mean Girls, 30 Rock, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) the series begins with the unlikely reunion of a forgotten girl band and quickly begins the story of them attempting a comeback in middle age.
Girls5eva should be very familiar to fans of Fey’s shows. Our protagonists have a laundry list of odd behaviours and anxieties, there’s a rapid-fire sense to the show’s jokes and a very heightened sense of reality. The core concept allows a talented cast to show off their musical talents.
Sara Bareilles (a singer whose main TV appearances are guesting as herself) stars as Dawn, who settled into a very comfortable life post-fame but always wanted to write her own material.
Busy Philipps (Dawson’s Creek, Cougar Town, Vice Principals) stars as Summer, who spent the first two seasons realising her storybook marriage was anything but.
Renée Elise Goldsberry (The Good Wife, Tick, Tick… Boom!, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) as Wickie who never quite got over her fame evaporating and has spent decades trying to make herself into something she’s not.
Paula Pell (The Awesomes, Documentary Now!, A.P. Bio) rounds out the cast as Gloria. Gloria became a sturdy and reliable dentist after her fame.
With the group back together, they attempt to revive their band and launch a new music career. With Netflix rescuing this show from cancellation it should be interesting to see where things go.
PRIME VIDEO
Another recent premiere is Ricky Stanicky. This is a deliberately silly movie directed by Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary). Ricky Stanicky is a gross, juvenile comedy. For the most part, it works fairly well. John Cena (Blockers, F9, Peacemaker, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem) stars as the titular Ricky Stanicky – actually an erotic ‘actor’ working in Atlantic City who is given the role of a lifetime when three childhood friends hire him to play their made-up friend who’s been their go-to excuse for every misdeed since they were kids.
When their lies cause them to miss an important event things come to a head and the three friends Dean, JT and Wes are forced to finally introduce Ricky to their loved ones. Dean is played by Zac Efron (Neighbors, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, The Greatest Beer Run Ever) who gives a fairly compelling performance. He’s a fine lead, and manages to play off Cena well.
Ricky Stanicky is no great movie, but it is a fun diversion, even if for nothing else Cena’s fun performance.
STAN
Thursday brought the debut of Stan’s newest exclusive show, Population 11. Population 11 finds American Andy visiting a small outback town populated by a total of 12 people in search of his father, Hugo. Hugo has just gone missing and Andy is in desperate need of money. Stuck in the sticks, Andy has to navigate an odd collection of residents in the hope of finding his dad. Created by Phil Lloyd (The Moodys, The Elegant Gentlemen’s Guide to Knife Fighting, Here Come the Habibs!) the show traffics heavily in the odd performances of its cast. Each character is a particular breed of outback weirdo.
Its smartest choice is its lead Andy – played by Ben Feldman (Superstore, Tuca & Bertie, Mayfair Witches) whose presence almost seems like a character from an entirely different show and genre being dropped into a surrealist comedy.
The cast is rounded out by Katrina Milosevic (SeaChange, Wentworth), Perry Mooney (Hearts Down Under, Gold Diggers), Stephen Curry (The Castle, Thunderstruck, The Cup) and Emily Taheny (Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS, Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, The Followers).
All episodes are now streaming.
