‘Tuca and Bertie’ Cancelled After Three Seasons!!

Tuca & Bertie, the animated comedy starring Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong, has been cancelled by Adult Swim. The adult series first premiered on Netflix in May 2019, prior to a cancellation by the streamer that same summer. Adult Swim swooped in to save the series for two additional seasons, which aired the past two summers. The series was created by Lisa Hanawalt (BoJack Horseman)

Hanawalt took to Twitter to announce the second cancellation by Adult Swim, thanking the fans for support throughout its entire run. Here’s what she had to say regarding working alongside Adult Swim for the second and third seasons, as well as the entire Tuca & Bertie creative team:

“Working with Adult Swim was very creatively fulfilling, our execs were all smart and thoughtful, and I’m grateful that we got the space to make all these wild and heartfelt episodes about things that matter to me very much.

I’m so proud of the work done by all my talented coworkers and collaborators on this show. Please watch the end credits and take note of all of these names in the cast and crew. I’m also very glad we were able to be covered by both The Animation Guild and the Writers Guild of America. I hope any show creators who have the leverage to fight for unionizing their productions will continue to do so.”

The ending to Hanawalt‘s post made note that she has a very specific and unique ending to Tuca & Bertie that she still intends to tell in some way, shape, or form. She also states that she aims to continue to tell stories that connect to viewers on a deep level, as she witnessed with Tuca & Bertie. Her passion for the fans, collaborators, and characters come across in each of her heartfelt words.

It’s unclear why exactly Tuca & Bertie was cancelled, which was essentially the case when Netflix made the same decision three years ago. The adult animation landscape is fairly crowded, with Adult Swim housing one of the largest juggernauts in the genre with Rick and Morty. Tuca & Bertie, however, was unique in its ability to center on female-focused storytelling, a facet that is only really hit upon in shows like Big Mouth and Harley Quinn.

Tuca & Bertie follows “Tuca Toucan (Haddish) and Roberta ‘Bertie’ Songthrush (Wong), two anthropomorphic birds who live in the same apartment complex. The former has more of an impulsive personality, while Bertie is more nervous and career-minded.” Episodes of the series often focused on the friendship between the two, as well as their struggles with adulthood. Additional regular cast members included Steven Yeun (Minari), Nicole Byer (Nailed It!), Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Reggie Watts (Comedy Bang! Bang!), and Jennifer Lewis (Sister Act).