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Girls5eva (sometimes stylized in all-caps, i.e. GIRLS 5 EVA) is a musical comedy series created by Meredith Scardino, and starring Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell and Busy Philipps. Tina Fey and Robert Carlock are among the executive producers of this series, which premiered in the United States on the Peacock streaming service on Thursday, May 6, 2021.
Canadians interested in watching the series will had to wait a bit longer. That's because the Peacock service itself has not been made available in an authorized way in Canada, with domestic broadcaster Corus Entertainment picking up Canadian TV and streaming rights to the service's "marquee" original series, including Girls5eva, under a deal announced in June 2020.
Corus ultimately chose to delay the Canadian premiere to Thursday, June 3, 2021, airing episodes weekly on its cable channel W Network. However, all episodes have now aired and are available to stream on the Global TV app for W Network subscribers through a cable TV service, or on Prime Video for subscribers to Corus' over-the-top streaming package StackTV.
Season 2, which premiered on Peacock on May 5, 2022, will air in Canada on W Network / StackTV on Thursdays starting June 16, 2022, as can be confirmed on W Network's website.
By the way, if you're searching for a show called "Girls Five Ever" or "Girls5ever" or something like that, Girls5eva is almost certainly what you're looking for.
Did "Girls5eva" air on linear TV in Canada?
Corus' cable channel W Network aired Girls5eva starting on Thursday, June 3, 2021. Two episodes of the eight-episode first season aired back-to-back each Thursday starting at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on June 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th. Each episode was allotted a 40 or 45-minute timeslot, including ads.
They're back 2getha, always and 5eva.🤩 New series premiere Thursday, June 3.🎤 Also available on STACKTV.🎶 pic.twitter.com/iBVMT6hWHu
— W Network (@w_network) May 1, 2021
It's not clear whether W Network plans on re-airing the first episodes of Girls5eva on its linear channel at a later date. Most likely, it will leave it available via on-demand or streaming for the foreseeable future.
Where can I watch "Girls5eva" on streaming in Canada?
If you have a subscription to a cable, satellite, or fibre-based TV provider that includes W Network, you will most likely be able to access episodes of Girls5eva after they air on linear TV, either on-demand through your set-top box, or on the Global TV website and apps. Based on how long other Peacock programs like Brave New World have stuck around, it's likely you'll have several months to watch the full season after it ends on linear TV.
If you do not have a TV provider subscription, the most straightforward authorized way to access the series would be through StackTV, Corus' direct-to-consumer streaming "channel" on Amazon Prime Video, which includes access to the live feeds and on-demand programming of W Network and several other Corus networks like Global. (If you already have StackTV, here's the direct link to the series.)
As of this writing, StackTV costs $12.99 per month, which is on top of the $7.99 per month (or $79 per year) cost of Amazon Prime itself (all prices listed in this article are before applicable sales taxes). However, a 30-day free trial is available for each service in most areas of Canada (i.e., even if you're already paying for Prime, you can still get a free trial of StackTV if you haven't tried it before).
VMedia's RiverTV service, which is $16.99 per month with a seven-day free trial, is also an option to access W and other Corus networks. Depending on your Internet provider you may also be able to access similar cable-style subscriptions like Bell's Fibe Alt TV and Telus' Pik TV, but unlike StackTV and RiverTV, these are tied to the specific Internet providers.
Why did Canadians have to wait to be able to watch "Girls5eva"?
Ultimately, the decision is up to Corus to decide how to schedule the Peacock programming that it has acquired. However, up to this point, it has typically spread out these programs, like the Saved by the Bell and Punky Brewster revivals, over several weeks, with little or no overlap between series, even if it means Canadians have had to wait a few extra weeks to begin seeing specific shows compared to the United States.
In particular, Corus chose to air the Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls on its Showcase channel on Thursday nights over five weeks from April 29 to May 27 – and to wait for the Thursday after that, June 3, to debut Girls5eva on W.
To be clear, we don't know an exact reason, but we think it's fair to note that Corus will probably get slightly higher subscription revenue – more money – by ensuring that customers stay subscribed for several months to watch these two anticipated shows, rather than releasing all episodes of both shows in a two-week span as Peacock chose to do. (We don't know if there are that many people who are toggling their StackTV subscriptions on and off regularly, but it's a possibility!)
If you have further questions or comments about W Network's scheduling decisions, you may wish to contact them directly, using the form on this page.