Emmy-Nominated Writers Sam Means and Meredith Scardino on ‘Home Alone’ Doorknobs and the Puppet We Never Met in the ‘Girls5eva’ Episode ‘Orlando’

Awards Daily talks to Girls5eva writer Sam Means and writer/showrunner Meredith Scardino about their Emmy-nominated episode “Orlando.”

Girls5eva writers Sam Means and Meredith Scardino aren’t sure where Wickie’s catchphrase “Home Alone doorknob” came from during their writing process for Season 3’s Emmy-nominated episode “Orlando,” but it’s become one of their favorites. 

“I pitched the concept in a spontaneous way and wasn’t sure how the idea came to me—similar to how many jokes arise,” says Scardino with a laugh.

“I really hope it catches on as the universally accepted way of describing female horniness,” says Means.

In “Orlando,” the girls perform a $30,000 birthday gig for wealthy long-time 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. (For real — Gloria isn’t kidding when she mentions Swift as they pull up to the mansion.)

“Catherine Cohen was such a great guest star,” says Scardino. “She just fit right in with the rest of the cast and really shared their energy. The production design from Teresa Mastropierro and costume design from Matthew Hemesath also really helped this episode come together.”

Over the course of six episodes in Season 3, the girls make stops across the United States, tackling women’s healthcare in “Bomont” and Wickie’s hard-scrabbled “past” in “Clarksville,” before landing in the city that brought us three different boy bands in the ‘90s. 

“Orlando was a fun episode to play with nostalgia,” says Means. “It’s like Lorne Michaels says about fans of Saturday Night Live: Your favorite season is the one you watched when you were 13. Taffy is looking back at her teenage years and Girls5eva fondly while Dawn has reservations.”

Dawn (Sara Bareilles) tries to downplay the fact she’s not comfortable performing songs from the group’s formative years, like “Sweet’n Low Daddy” from the Heartbreakers soundtrack. And when she discovers that Taffy has a sugar daddy herself, she realizes their songs about trading “puss for boots” (“Sam wrote that line!” says Scardino) might have seeped into their superfan’s brain during adolescence. 

Scardino says the book Exit Stage Left: The Curious After Life of Popstars influenced the essence of this episode. 

“Taffy is searching for that feeling she felt as a teenager when she listened to Girls5eva, but Dawn is also searching for that feeling in a way. She got back into music with the girls because she’s trying to recapture that feeling she felt 20 years ago.” 

Meanwhile, Summer (Busy Philipps) is looking for a different kind of feeling. She discovers her worth (“Tap into your Fort Worth!”) in the absolute last possible place…scatting on stage with Pixie Jones (Ingrid Michaelson). 

“It ended up being a really nice moment for Summer who realizes that it’s not Kev or her dad making her ruin Pixie’s song,” says Means. “It’s all her, and she can own it.”

Rebecca Lobo also makes an appearance in the episode as herself (“She has a real future in comedy!” says Means). But while there weren’t any ‘90s celebrities who said no to appearing in “Orlando”, the duo did scrap a puppet from Taffy’s teenage bedroom.

“What was his name? Bonzo?” asks Means. 

“Yeah, I think it was Bonzo,” says Scardino. “We were going to have a puppet. I feel like we’re always trying to write in puppets, but we were going to write that the puppet had aged through the years and life hadn’t been kind to him. We kind of ended up doing that with Zeke though (from California High).”

Let’s hope we get more puppets (and more seasons!) in the future.

Girls5eva is streaming on Netflix.