Emmy-nominated writers Sam Means and Meredith Scardino on Home Alone doorknobs and the doll we never met in Girls5eva’s episode “Orlando”
Awards Daily conversations with Girl5eva Writer Sam Means and writer/showrunner Meredith Scardino on their Emmy-nominated episode “Orlando.”
Girl5eva Writers Sam Means and Meredith Scardino aren’t sure where Vicky the Viking’s catchphrase “Home Alone” doorknob came from when writing the Emmy-nominated season three episode “Orlando,” but it’s become one of their favorites.
“I came up with the concept spontaneously and wasn’t sure how I came up with the idea – like many jokes come about,” says Scardino, laughing.
“I really hope it becomes a generally accepted way to describe female horniness.,“, says Means.
In “Orlando,” the girls perform a $30,000 birthday concert for their wealthy longtime fan Taffy (played by Catherine Cohen), who brings her teenage bedroom posters to life during the big event — which takes place at the mansion where Taylor Swift filmed her “Blank Space” music video. (Seriously — Gloria isn’t kidding when she mentions Swift as they arrive outside the mansion.)
“Catherine Cohen was such a great guest star,” says Scardino. “She just fit in perfectly with the rest of the cast and really carried her energy. Teresa Mastropierro’s production design and Matthew Hemesath’s costume design also really helped make this episode come together.”
Over the course of six episodes of the third season, the girls make stops all over the United States, dealing with women’s healthcare in “Bomont” and Wickie’s tough “past” in “Clarksville” before landing in the town that gave us three different boy bands in the ’90s.
“Orlando was a fun episode to play on nostalgia,” says Means. “It’s like Lorne Michaels talking about fans of Saturday Night Live: Your favorite season is the one you saw when you were 13. Taffy looks back fondly on her teenage years and Girls5eva, while Dawn has reservations.”
Dawn (Sara Bareilles) tries to downplay the fact that she doesn’t feel comfortable singing songs from the band’s formative years, like “Sweet’n Low Daddy” by the Heartbreaker soundtrack. And when she finds out that Taffy has a sugar daddy of her own, she realizes that her songs about trading Puss for Boots (“Sam wrote that line!” says Scardino) during puberty may have seeped into her superfan’s brain.
Scardino says the book Exit left: The strange life of pop stars after death influenced the essence of this episode.
“Taffy is looking for the feeling she had as a teenager listening to Girls5eva, but Dawn is looking for that feeling too in a way. She started playing music again with the girls because she’s trying to recapture that feeling she had 20 years ago.”
Meanwhile, Summer (Busy Philipps) is searching for another feeling. She discovers her worth (“Tap into your Fort Worth!”) in the very last possible place… scatting on stage with Pixie Jones (Ingrid Michaelson).
“It was a really beautiful moment for Summer when she realized it wasn’t Kev or her dad who made her ruin Pixie’s song,” Means says. “It’s all her fault, and she can take responsibility for it.”
Rebecca Lobo also appears as herself in the episode (“She has a real future in comedy!” says Means). But while there were no ’90s celebrities who would have said no to appearing in “Orlando,” the duo scrapped a doll from Taffy’s childhood bedroom.
“What was his name? Bonzo?” asks Means.
“Yeah, I think it was Bonzo,” says Scardino. “We wanted to have a puppet. I feel like we always try to write with puppets, but we wanted to write that the puppet had aged over the years and life hadn’t been kind to it. But we kind of did that with Zeke (from California High).”
Let’s hope we get more dolls (and more seasons!) in the future.
Girls5eva is streaming on Netflix.
