Breeders (TV series)
Breeders | |
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Genre | Dark comedy |
Created by | |
Starring |
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Country of origin |
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Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 30 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
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Release | March 2, 2020 present | –
Breeders is a dark comedy[1] television series created by Martin Freeman, Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell. The series follows two parents who struggle with parenthood and is partially based on Freeman's own experiences. Freeman plays one of the two leads in the series.
The series premiered on March 2, 2020, on the American cable network FX, and on the British network Sky One on March 12, 2020.[2] In May 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on March 22, 2021. In May 2021, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on May 9, 2022. In July 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season.
Cast
Main
- Martin Freeman as Paul Worsley, a father of two and Ally's partner
- Daisy Haggard as Ally Grant, a mother of two and Paul's partner
Recurring
- Michael McKean as Michael (season 1), Ally's estranged father
- Stella Gonet as Leah, Ally's mother
- Joanna Bacon as Jackie, Paul's mother
- Alun Armstrong as Jim, Paul's father
- Patrick Baladi as Darren, Paul and Ally's friend
- Tim Steed as Carl, Paul and Ally's next-door neighbour
- George Wakeman (season 1) and Alex Eastwood (season 2-present) as Luke, Paul and Ally's son
- Jayda Eyles (season 1) and Eve Prenelle (season 2-present) as Ava, Paul and Ally's daughter
Episodes
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 10 | March 2, 2020 | April 27, 2020 | |
2 | 10 | March 22, 2021 | May 17, 2021 | |
3 | 10 | May 9, 2022 | July 11, 2022 |
Season 1 (2020)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "No Sleep" | Ben Palmer | Simon Blackwell | March 2, 2020 | 0.328[3] |
2 | 2 | "No Places" | Ben Palmer | Simon Blackwell | March 2, 2020 | 0.212[3] |
3 | 3 | "No Accident" | Ben Palmer | Simon Blackwell | March 9, 2020 | 0.179[4] |
4 | 4 | "No Lies" | Ben Palmer | Barunka O'Shaughnessy | March 16, 2020 | 0.243[5] |
5 | 5 | "No Dad" | Ben Palmer | Oriane Messina & Fay Rusling | March 23, 2020 | 0.188[6] |
6 | 6 | "No Talking" | Chris Addison | Jamie Brittain | March 30, 2020 | 0.298[7] |
7 | 7 | "No Exit" | Chris Addison | Jamie Brittain | April 6, 2020 | 0.249[8] |
8 | 8 | "No Honeymoon" | Chris Addison | Oriane Messina & Fay Rusling | April 13, 2020 | 0.144[9] |
9 | 9 | "No Cure Part 1" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | April 20, 2020 | 0.278[10] |
10 | 10 | "No Cure Part 2" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | April 27, 2020 | 0.252[11] |
Season 2 (2021)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 | 1 | "No Surrender" | Ben Palmer | Simon Blackwell | March 22, 2021 | 0.364[12] |
12 | 2 | "No Fear" | Ben Palmer | Oriane Messina & Fay Rusling | March 22, 2021 | 0.256[12] |
13 | 3 | "No Connection" | Ben Palmer | Jamie Brittain | March 29, 2021 | 0.195[13] |
14 | 4 | "No Faith" | Ben Palmer | Rebecca Callard | April 5, 2021 | 0.206[14] |
15 | 5 | "No Baby" | Ben Palmer | Jamie Brittain and Barunka O'Shaughnessy | April 12, 2021 | 0.160[15] |
16 | 6 | "No Choice" | Ollie Parsons | Fay Rusling | April 19, 2021 | 0.156[16] |
17 | 7 | "No Excuses" | Ollie Parsons | Rebecca Callard | April 26, 2021 | 0.226[17] |
18 | 8 | "No Friends" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | May 3, 2021 | 0.247[18] |
19 | 9 | "No Power Part I" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | May 10, 2021 | 0.181[19] |
20 | 10 | "No Power Part II" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | May 17, 2021 | 0.139[20] |
Season 3 (2022)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
21 | 1 | "No Direction Home" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | May 9, 2022 | 0.120[21] |
22 | 2 | "No Worries" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | May 9, 2022 | 0.070[21] |
23 | 3 | "No Comfort" | Chris Addison | Rose Heiney | May 16, 2022 | 0.155[22] |
24 | 4 | "No Body" | Chris Addison | Rebecca Callard | May 23, 2022 | 0.168[23] |
25 | 5 | "No Can Do" | Chris Addison | Simon Blackwell | May 30, 2022 | 0.189[24] |
26 | 6 | "No Show" | Ollie Parsons | Oriane Messina & Fay Rusling | June 6, 2022 | 0.177[25] |
27 | 7 | "No Pressure" | Ollie Parsons | Taylor Glenn | June 17, 2022 | 0.107[26] |
28 | 8 | "No Way Back" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | June 24, 2022 | 0.158[27] |
29 | 9 | "No More Part One" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | July 4, 2022 | 0.172[28] |
30 | 10 | "No More Part Two" | Ollie Parsons | Simon Blackwell | July 11, 2022 | 0.087[29] |
Production
Development
On March 7, 2018, it was announced that Avalon Television was developing a comedy series created by Martin Freeman. The series was originally a co-production between the BBC and FX, similar to the drama series Taboo.[30] A pilot was already filmed at the time of the announcement. On October 14, 2018, it was announced that FX and Sky (the latter replacing the BBC) had commissioned the series with ten half-hour episodes, with a series debut in 2020.[31] On January 20, 2020, FX announced that the series would premiere on March 2, 2020.[32]
On May 18, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on March 22, 2021.[33][34] On May 27, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season.[35] On July 19, 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season.[36]
Casting
Alongside the series announcement, it was announced that Freeman would star in the series. Furthermore, Daisy Haggard and Michael Gambon were also cast in the series.[30] However, in April 2019, it was reported that Gambon left the series as he was having trouble memorising his lines due to memory loss issues.[37]
Filming
Filming for the second season had been delayed by sixteen weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the delay, filming for the second season began on September 1, 2020, in London,[38][39] and concluded production on December 18, 2020.[40] Season 3 began filming in November 2021 and concluded filming in March 2022.
Release
The series premiered on March 2, 2020, on FX in the United States and Canada. The series premiere coincided with the launch of FX on Hulu and therefore the series became the first FX series with episodes available on Hulu by the next day.[41] In Bulgaria and Poland, the series airs on HBO Europe.[42][43] The series was formerly broadcast in Australia on Foxtel, via its broadcast network FOX One and on demand services until May 2022. It comes as Disney is looking forward to reclaiming its FX and 20th Television titles in order to stream them exclusively on the company's service: Disney+. Breeders Moved to Disney+ on June 1, 2022. Soon after Breeders Departed Foxtel and its Service, Season 3 moved to streaming on June 15, 2022, exclusively on Disney+ as a Star Original with new episodes airing on a weekly basis.
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 91% approval rating with the website's critics consensus reading, "A provocative addition to the growing slate of shows about parents behaving badly, Breeders' take on the realities of child-rearing are as hilarious as they are cringe-inducing."[44] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, has assigned the series a score of 65 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[45]
Accolades
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Venice TV Awards | Best Comedy | Rob Aslett, Richard Allen-Turner, Simon Blackwell, David Martin, Jon Thoday, Martin Freeman, Chris Addison, Michael Wiggs, Toby Welch, Sophie MacClancy, Ben Palmer, Avalon Television | Won | [46] |
2021 | BAFTA Awards | British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance | Daisy Haggard | Nominated | [47] |
References
- ^ "'Breeders' is a Dark Comedy That Gets the Parenting Struggle".
- ^ "Breeders". Sky UK. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (March 3, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.2.202". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (March 10, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.9.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (March 17, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.16.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 17, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (March 24, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.23.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (March 31, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.30.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 1, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 7, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.6.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 14, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.13.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 21, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.20.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 21, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 28, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.27.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (March 23, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.22.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 23, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (March 31, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.29.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 6, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.5.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 13, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.12.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 20, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.19.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 27, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.26.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 4, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.3.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 11, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.10.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 18, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.17.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (May 10, 2022). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Monday 5.9.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 17, 2022). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Monday 5.16.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 24, 2022). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Monday 5.23.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 1, 2022). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Monday 5.30.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 7, 2022). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Monday 6.6.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
- ^ Salem, Mitch (June 14, 2022). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Monday 6.13.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 21, 2022). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Monday 6.20.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
- ^ Salem, Mitch (June 28, 2022). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Monday 6.27.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
- ^ Salem, Mitch (July 12, 2022). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Monday 7.11.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
- ^ a b White, Peter (March 7, 2018). "Avalon Developing Martin Freeman Comedy 'Breeders' For BBC & FX". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ White, Peter (October 14, 2018). "FX & Sky Team For Parenting Comedy 'Breeders' From 'Sherlock' Star Martin Freeman & 'Catastrophe' Producer Avalon". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ Petski, Denise (January 9, 2020). "FX Sets Premiere Dates For 'Fargo', 'Mrs. America', 'Better Things', 'Devs', 'Archer' & More – TCA". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ ""Breeders" Returns for a Second Series – Critically Acclaimed Sky Original Starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard" (Press release). FX. May 18, 2020 – via The Futon Critic.
- ^ "FX Sets Premiere Dates for Next Wave of Programming" (Press release). FX. February 5, 2021 – via The Futon Critic.
- ^ White, Peter (May 27, 2021). "'Breeders' Renewed For Season 3 At FX & Sky". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ^ Porter, Rick (July 19, 2022). "'Breeders' Renewed for Season 4 at FX". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Pearce, Tilly (April 21, 2019). "Sir Michael Gambon 'steps down from new sitcom after struggling with memory loss'". Metro. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- ^ "Daisy Haggard on Instagram: "Filming has resumed on #breeders2 with me and my spanx pants and that bloke from Hardware.. @breedersfx @skytv"". Instagram. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ Bennett, Steve. "Filming resumes on series 2 of Breeders : News 2020 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ Kanter, Jake (December 22, 2020). "'Breeders': Season 2 Of FX/Sky's Martin Freeman & Daisy Haggard Comedy Wraps". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- ^ White, Peter (January 9, 2020). "John Landgraf Calls FX On Hulu "Transformative Opportunity" For Cabler As Digital Hub Sets March Launch Plans – TCA". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ "Родители и деца І – 1". HBO Go (in Bulgarian). Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- ^ "Rodzice (Breeders) – sezon 1 – HBO GO". HBO Go (in Polish). Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- ^ "Breeders: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
- ^ "Breeders: Season 1". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
- ^ "Winners 2020". Venice TV Award (in German). Retrieved July 9, 2022.
- ^ "Bafta TV Awards 2021: Winners and nominees in full". BBC News. June 6, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
External links
- 2020 American television series debuts
- 2020 British television series debuts
- 2020s American comedy television series
- 2020s British comedy television series
- English-language television shows
- FX Networks original programming
- Sky UK original programming
- Television series about families
- Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
- Parenting television series