'Tuca & Bertie' Revived For Second Season By Adult Swim After Netflix Cancelation
Tuca & Bertie is getting a second wind. Following Netflix's cancelation of Lisa Hanawalt's critically acclaimed animated comedy after just one season, Adult Swim has swooped in to pick up Tuca & Bertie for a second season. Tuca and Bertie season 2 has been greenlit for a 10-episode order by the network, which has slated the release for 2021.
Created by Hanawalt and produced by Bojack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Tuca & Bertie seemed like it had everything going for it. A flashy Netflix debut, a star-studded cast lead by Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong at the height of their comedic prowess, and critical raves praising the animated comedy series about the friendship between two 30-year-old bird women. But to everyone's shock, Netflix canceled Tuca & Bertie after just one season — leaving fans of the show to do little but join the throngs of embittered Twitter users barraging Netflix's Twitter account with requests to save their favorite series. But there was still hope that Tuca & Bertie could be saved by an outside network, which Haddish was confident would come true. And this week, Adult Swim made it happen.
Adult Swim announced (via IndieWire) that Tuca & Bertie will return for a 10-episode season 2 on the WarnerMedia network. Haddish, Wong, Steven Yeun, and the rest of the main cast are set to return for the season, which is slated for release in 2021.
"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," Hanawalt said. Hanawalt celebrated the rescue of her show on Twitter, with a teaser image for season 2, showing Tuca and Bertie celebrating the good news.
The first season of Tuca & Bertie followed the care-free toucan Tuca (Haddish) and the anxious songbird Bertie (Wong) as they navigate the perils of their 30s. Their misadventures run the gamut from relationship troubles with Bertie's boyfriend Speckle (Yeun), a happy-go-lucky robin, to getting banned fromt heme parks for taking their tops off on a ferris wheel. The series debuted on Netflix in May 2019, to critical acclaim, with critics praising the show's surreal animation, creativity, and heartfelt storytelling.
Hanawalt created and executive produces Tuca and Bertie, with Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Haddish, and Wong also serving as executive producers. The series is produced by Michael Eisner's The Tornante Company and the animation will be done at Shadowmachine.