Quick Links
Tuca & Bertie is making their return for Season 3 this July. The adult animated sitcom is the brainchild of Lisa Hanawalt, who’s also behind hit shows like BoJack Horseman. Since its first season premiere in 2019, the show has witnessed a couple of ups and downs, including an abrupt cancellation at Netflix and a sudden revival at Adult Swim. But time and time again, Tuca & Bertie has proven that they’re more than just a show about two random 30-something-year-old bird-women who are absolutely clueless about growing up.
Starring Ali Wong and Tiffany Haddish, Tuca & Bertie is not one to shy away from friendship-driven themes and even complex issues, such as female representation, alcoholism, and sexual abuse. Throughout the years, the show hasn’t just become a fan favorite, but it has also won the hearts of critics and awards. Named one of the “5 Best TV Shows of May 2019” by Vox and winning the Outstanding Achievement for Writing award for one of their episodes, “The Jelly Lakes,” there’s more in store with Season 3.
Check out what to expect from the new season of Tuca & Bertie.
Watch the Official Trailer for Tuca & Bertie Season 3
On June 15, 2022, Adult Swim released the trailer for Season 3 of Tuca & Bertie on their YouTube channel. It opens with Bertie breaking into a cheery melodious song with nothing but a spotlight on her and then cuts to Tuca blowing airhorns and throwing what seems to be a pool party.
The trailer immediately goes into a montage of the duo going through their random day-to-day shenanigans, which involves Tuca making out with what looks to be a live tree in a classroom and Bertie awkwardly babbling to a child. Accompanied by their closest pals, who seem just as crazy and sporadic as the Season 3 trailer, it gives us a glimpse of all the juicy craziness that awaits.
When Is Tuca & Bertie Season 3 Releasing?
Like their second season, Season 3 of Tuca & Bertie will finally make its airwaves on July 10, 2022, at midnight ET/PT on Adult Swim, followed by its premiere on HBO Max the next day. However, you might notice that Season 1 is missing from Adult Swim and HBO Max. Currently, Season 1 of Tuca & Bertie is only available on Netflix, and there’s a reason why.
Not long after Season 1 premiered on May 3, 2019, on Netflix, the series was immediately canceled after one season in July 2019. This sparked immediate outrage on social media, with tweets addressing the abrupt news. However, its dedicated audience wasn’t pleased with the show’s cancellation, and Netflix was met with a negative response. Within 24 hours post-cancellation, people took to Twitter and created hashtags like #SaveTucaAndBertie and #RenewTucaAndBertie, with each hashtag receiving more than 10,000 tweets. Fans even set up a petition on Change.org to renew the show, obtaining 3,600 signatures within only 24 hours.
The cancellation ignited a conversation regarding Netflix’s algorithm and at Netflix itself for canceling a show within less than three months since its premiere. But fast-forward to May 2020 when Cartoon Network’s nighttime Adult Swim programming block decides to step in and order a second season of Tuca & Bertie, thus providing a new home for the show. Season 2 finally aired on Adult Swim on June 13, 2021. Most recently, HBO Max has made Season 2 available on their platform. Indiewire considered the show’s revival one of their “Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2021”.
How Many Episodes Does Tuca & Bertie Season 3 Have?
Just like their first two seasons, Tuca & Bertie is set to premiere a total of 10 episodes for Season 3. At the moment, the titles for each episode have yet to be released to the public yet. When the show premiered on Netflix, all ten episodes were immediately released on the streaming platform. However, since the show will be airing on HBO Max, they’ll likely air their shows every week instead of releasing them in seasons, unlike Netflix. That may also be the case for Adult Swim since they have their specific airing schedule.
Who Are the Cast of Tuca & Bertie?
The hilariously comical Haddish plays the rambunctious Tuca the Toucan. Playing her songbird counterpart Bertie is the witty Wong, who you might see in her comedy specials like Ali Wong: Baby Cobra. However, the show doesn’t just revolve around Tuca and Bertie. The rest of the eccentric characters make the show even more engaging. We have Tuca’s wealthy aunt Tallulah (Jenifer Lewis), Bertie’s much more successful boyfriend slash architect Speckle (Steven Yeun), the owner of a local bakery, Pastry Pete (Reggie Watts), and Bertie’s boss Holland (Richard E. Grant). And guess what? They’re all birds as well.
What Is Tuca & Bertie About?
Tuca & Bertie is an animated series that tells the classic tale of two 30-year-olds who are simply trying to grow up - but instead of humans, they’re anthropomorphic bird-women. The hilarious duo consists of Tuca (Haddish), a cocky, carefree, and chaotic toucan, and the slightly more responsible and mature Bertie (Wong), a daydreaming songbird. Despite having polarizing personalities, they stick together like superglue and even live in the same apartment complex.
Throughout the series, Tuca and Bertie get themselves into a whim of issues, mainly having to do with adulting. At the beginning of the series, the super impulsive Tuca has just abstained from drinking alcohol and takes up various odd jobs for financial gain. Meanwhile, Bertie is on the safer and more stable path with her office job at Conde Nest (a play on the real-life Condé Nast). But Bertie has dreams of her own, going out of her way to hold a position as an apprentice at a local bakery. There is no linear plot for Tuca & Bertie. Instead, audiences are treated to episode after episode of how the unlikely pair of best friends come to grips with the highs and lows of adulthood, touching on topics such as alcoholism and sexual abuse.
Where to Watch Previous Seasons of Tuca & Bertie?
Catch up with the previous seasons of Tuca & Bertie before you start watching Season 3. If you’d like to catch Season 2 of the show, you can watch it on HBO Max or Adult Swim. But if you want to watch Season 1, you’ll need a Netflix account, as the first season is only available on that streaming platform.