Why NBC Canceled Good Girls After Four Seasons
NBC's comedic drama "Good Girls" may have been all about women criminals breaking bad, but according to TVLine, the series' cancellation in 2021 didn't have much to do with the "girls" that give the show its title.
Soon after "Good Girls" was officially canceled in 2021, TVLine reported a surprising and slightly scandalous scoop about the show's fate. The series debuted in 2018 and follows the exploits of three Midwestern moms who fall into a life of crime after an impulsive supermarket heist leads to unlikely repercussions. "Parks and Recreation" actress Retta headlined the show along with "Mad Men" fan favorite Christina Hendricks and "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "Arrested Development" actress Mae Whitman. The show also made a star out of Manny Montana, who played sexy crime boss Rio and quickly became a series breakout. According to the outlet's sources, it was Montana who tied up the series' future after negotiations for a truncated fifth season reportedly stalled.
Sources say one actor held up the season 5 deal
According to the outlet, "Good Girls" was initially given the option of closing out its run with a short fifth season, an increasingly common option for shows on the bubble that usually comes with a few strings attached. In this show's case, there would be eight episodes instead of the 10 to 16 past seasons had gotten, and apparently the stars would have also had to take a pay cut. Reporter Michael Ausiello wrote that Whitman, Hendricks, and Retta all agreed to the changes, and production was set. But the show ended up canceled anyway.
"[We] very much wanted to bring 'Good Girls' back for one more season to close out the story, but unfortunately we were unable to make the financials work," an NBC-related source said at the time. Montana's name comes up in this report, though, with sources also claiming that he wasn't willing to take the pay cut like the rest of the cast. Retta seemingly confirmed as much a year later, telling "Live With Kelly and Ryan" that she was "salty" because the show was nearly renewed for season 5 but "one person ruined it for all of [the] cast and crew" (per Entertainment Weekly). Retta doesn't name the person in question, but says that the change came after it was too late for the writers to write the person off the show.
TVLine's sources speculated at the time that Montana didn't want to take the pay cut the rest of the cast agreed to because of his "strained working relationship" with Hendricks. If the two actors did have beef, it's not firmly on the public record: several reports mention a panel in which Hendricks bristled at Montana calling her "Chris" in the past as evidence of their supposed animosity, while others include quotes in which the pair were less than effusive while talking about filming romantic scenes together.
Drama or not, the Good Girls cast has moved on
Without official comments naming names from anyone involved, it seems possible that multiple factors could have played a part in the show's ending. Montana was cast in Marvel's "Ironheart" in mid-June 2022, the same time in which TVLine noted that negotiations for "Good Girls" season 5 broke down. Could the proposed smaller paycheck have paled compared to MCU money, or was it possible Montana couldn't commit to both shoots? This is all speculation, although a quoted source told Ausiello that "scheduling" played a role in Montana's decision to walk away. Rumors that NBC wanted the show gone due to low ratings and used the negotiations headline as an excuse have also been widely spread on sites like Reddit.
Whether the show's end was the result of behind-the-scenes drama or simple cost-benefit analysis, the end of "Good Girls" hasn't marked the end for each of the show's great actresses. Whitman recently reprised her role as Roxie in the Netflix animated show "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off," while Retta appeared in last year's Richard Linklater comedy "Hit Man" and has taken recent guest roles in "Bob's Burgers" and "Elsbeth." Hendricks, meanwhile, played an intimidatingly hot Republican golfer in "Hacks" season 3 and voiced Cherie in Hulu's "Solar Opposites."