I only lasted 18 seconds.
I watched the trailer forGood Girls,which premieres on NBC next February, and liked it almost instantly – but I only lasted 18 seconds before I punched the space bar to pause in some kind of rage-endorsement, and wrote the following in an email to Lainey and our site manager Emily:
“I’m writing this, right? Getting into a full feminist fever pitch about what idiot didn’t THROW this on TV as soon as the predators started falling?
Upon reflection, that may seem like a strange reaction to the trailer for a show I’m pretty sure I’m going to like a whole lot. It’s exciting to watch these three get in over their heads in a drama, forRettato get more to do than snarky one-liners – hell, for these three women to topline a show on their own, with nary an ‘anchor’ male star in sight (but we see you, Matthew Lillard AND Zach Gilford! Hiiii!).
It looks funny! It looks new and different and there’s lots of places to go, and I don’t really have a network hour right now! I love women and crime! There are lots of reasons to like the show…
But the reason I didn’t last longer than 18 seconds is because that’s when the ‘nice guy’ tellsMae Whitman, “You’re definitely a stuck-up bitch.” Because she turns down his invitation to church.
That’s when I got excited.
Because this show is about women who are angry with men.
Who could have known how much we would need this right now?
I mean, other than all of us, that is. But seriously,Good Girlswas written byGrey’s Anatomyalumni Jenna Bans, and was purchased as a pilot in late 2016. They shot the pilot in early 2017, and the lead role was recast (as discussed onShow Your Work) mid-year. Which is to say, there’s been more than enough garbage thrown at women in the past year, and the years before that, and our entire lives, to believably make these women ready to stop being ‘good’.
But of course, it seems like a whole different lifetime has begun since the Harvey Weinstein allegations revealed the unending waterfall of horrific men masquerading as ‘good guys’ to the world. It’s a different reality, almost – we’re finally talking about all the horrific things that have been happening all along (or as the women ofSNLperkily put it,Welcome To Hell).
Now this show feelsmoreimportant. More necessary. More timely than anyone could have predicted. Especially sinceChristina Hendricksand Retta and Mae Whitman have each, at various times, been maligned (or worse, faintly praised) for being ‘untraditional’ stars, which is a euphemism I know you don’t need me to unpack for you. No pressure everyone, but now it seems like this is the show we need and want. It’s kind of like ifBad Momswas a show, but actually real and/or good and/or written by a woman.
I don’t want to get my hopes up too high. But I feel like I might have been waiting for a show like this for most of my adult life. Which means I was being tongue-in-cheek about why the show isn’t on-air already, obviously. In truth, the person who greenlit it is probably about to get a raise, and the one who decided to premiere it at mid-season is a certified genius. Right?
