The world got a bit of good news on Friday, as Adult Swim announced that it’s commissioned a second season of Tuca & Bertie. Lisa Hanawalt’s animated show was canceled quickly by Netflix after a single season in 2019, despite critical accolades and a vocal fan base. Now with Adult Swim on board, fans can expect a second season of 10 episodes coming at some point in 2021. (Y’know, assuming 2021 still happens as scheduled.)
The show stars Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong as two friends trying to navigate life in their late 20s or early 30s, only they’re both birds in a surreal animated world full of anthropomorphic animals, talking plants, and inanimate objects that, at any given moment, may or may not be alive. (I’m pretty sure their apartment building is a chain smoker? It’s been a while since I watched, so I might be confusing that with something else.) Despite the free-flowing absurdity of this setting, Tuca and Bertie have to deal with situations ripped out of the real life struggles of real life women, like getting treated like shit in the office, sexually harassed by men, precariously balancing work, friendships and romance—real stuff. Comparisons to Bojack Horseman are unavoidable—Hanawalt was the production designer on that show, so the two share her art style—but Tuca & Bertie’s first season didn’t stare at its own navel as much as that show did, or endlessly wallow in misery. And if you love sight gags in cartoons, or pushing pause to catch blink-and-you’ll-miss-it jokes in the background, Tuca & Bertie might become your favorite show.
According to Adult Swim’s press release, the network also has an option for future seasons. In that same email Hanawalt writes, “I’ve been a fan of Adult Swim shows since my teens, so I’m thrilled to bring my beloved fowl to the party and be a new voice for a fresh decade of absurd, irreverent, yet heartwarming adult animation.” The addition of Tuca & Bertie is also another step towards getting past the network’s historic lack of female creators and voices, but more importantly this is just a hilarious, warm, utterly unique show that disappeared far too quickly. It’s good—and exciting—to know it’s coming back.
HAPPY FRIDAY :)))))))))))))))))))))))) TUCA & BERTIE IS COMING BACK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/PoOlzGMd4n
— Lisa Hanawalt (@lisadraws) May 22, 2020
Let the party begin. A new season of Tuca and Bertie is coming to Adult Swim in 2021. @aliwong@TiffanyHaddish@lisadrawspic.twitter.com/dmR9yUaTMz
— adultswim (@adultswim) May 22, 2020