At NBC’s winter press tour today, Good Girls producer Jenna Bans, along with stars Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman, took to the stage to discuss the upcoming drama series.
Good Girls follows three suburban moms who decide to take matters into their own hands when they can’t make ends meet. Together they rob a local grocery store, only to realize that their perfect crime was more than they expected. As these “good girls” do what they believe they have to to survive, each episode will have present questions of moral justification and Bans says that they leave it up to the audience to make judgement.
In terms of tone, “Good Girls” is definitely a drama and doesn’t shy away from dark elements, but also has fantastic comedic moments. Bans says it’s been great working with Hendricks, Whitman, and Retta and that sometimes it’s a total “improv fest of fun.” She says that some of the funniest and most interesting scenes came from the cast “shooting the shit” and improvising.
Bans also touched on the meaning behind the title. She says that “Good Girls” was the original title, inspired by her parents reminding her when she was younger not to make waves. But she chose it for the title because it’s full of contradictions, “first of all they’re women.” And these women aren’t what society expects when they think of a wife or a mother, and that’s why the cast agrees, “It’s a big middle finger to the phrase”.
In the pilot, the men in these women’s lives are “schmucks”, but as the series goes on Bans has attempted to make them more complicated and will allow the audience to see things from their point of view as well. She also credits Matthew Lillard’s portrayal of his role, making sure that his character isn’t as sleazy as he could’ve been.
Speaking the cast, Retta says that she was eager to join this cast because it was the first time she felt “I get to be a person” as opposed to previous roles where her character is supporting the lead – as a secretary, or nurse, or comic relief.
In the end, Bans says that Good Girls is a love story, “but it’s between these three women” – it’s about sisterhood. “It’s women taking their power back”
Good Girls premieres Monday, February 26th on NBC. Check out the trailer below:
— Yael Tygiel