Sometimes, after Netflix resurrects a show that nobody watched on a rival streamer or TV network, the show finds a new audience and explodes. A perfect example is the success that Cobra Kai found on the streaming giant, after previously languishing on YouTube. But other times, as in the case of the erstwhile Peacock comedy Girls5eva from Tina Fey, a show that nobody watched on a small streamer becomes… a show that nobody is still watching on a much, much bigger streamer.
Netflix, of course, has a byzantine series of calculations and metrics it uses to decide whether to keep this show or axe that one — which is to say, nothing is ever certain until the actual word comes down. That said, we can sometimes make some educated guesses about which series might be the next to find itself on the chopping block, and there’s reason to believe that Girls5eva (a funny, lighthearted music industry comedy about a Y2K-era pop girl group) might be headed in that direction.
Unfortunately, for any fans of the show out there, there’s almost no public Netflix data available (at least, that I can find) that would suggest Girls5eva is being watched to any significant degree. The show hasn’t shown up on Netflix’s Global Top 10 TV chart — and, unless I just overlooked it, I haven’t seen it among the Top 10 shows in the US at all since the release of its newest season.
Compare that to a Netflix show like 3 Body Problem, one of the streamer’s biggest shows worldwide right now. It broke the record for the Netflix show with the biggest per-episode budget, its showrunners are the guys behind HBO’s Game of Thrones, and in addition to featuring a star-studded cast, the show is also an adaptation of one of the most celebrated sci-fi novels of all time. And yet, even this show’s second-season renewal prospects are up in the air at the moment.
If I were anyone associated with Girls5eva, I’d definitely be worried. “Girls5eva hasn’t featured in any TV top 10 lists except Ireland and that was last year,” What’s on Netflix‘s Kasey Moore recently tweeted. “Highly likely this is one and done for Netflix. I have some assumptions about how this show made it over to Netflix but will keep them to myself.”
