‘Breeders’ Renewed for Season 2 at FX
By Will Thorne
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard are coming back for more screaming, wailing and swearing at their fictional children.
FX has renewed the comedy “Breeders,” in which the two British actors star, for a second season. The announcement was made by the cabler’s president of original programming Nick Grad. Season 1 of “Breeders,” which is produced by Avalon and FX Productions for FX and Sky Originals, premiered in March to critical acclaim, with many lauding it for its brutally honest portrayal of parenting.
“Breeders” centers around Paul (Freeman), a caring father discovering he’s not quite the man he thought he was, and his partner Ally (Haggard), who runs a recording studio, makes Paul laugh and has the ability to read a story to their children while she’s technically asleep.
“We are proud of everything the creative team and talent on ‘Breeders’ achieved in the first season and look forward to seeing where they take it in season two,” said Grad. “’Breeders’ has really resonated with viewers, who’ve come to appreciate its honest and humorous take on the challenges of modern parenting.”
“So pleased we get another go at ‘Breeders,’” said Freeman, who recently spoke to Variety about launching the series. “I reckon the next one will be even better. It’s such a pleasure working with this team… we’ll see you all soon. Well, not soon. But at some point, honest.”
“Veep” and “The Thick of It” producer Simon Blackwell served as showrunner and executive producer on season 1, alongside co-creators Freeman and Chris Addison.
Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, David Martin, Jon Thoday, Toby Welch and Michael Wiggs also executive produce, with Ben Palmer on board as a co-executive producer.
“It was a thrill to be able to make the first season of ‘Breeders’ – FX, Sky, our production team, crew and amazing cast made it a fantastic creative experience,” said Blackwell. “So to be able to explore even more parental struggles in Season 2 is the icing on a cake that we’ve checked carefully for any possible trace of peanuts.”
“We’re absolutely thrilled that FX and Sky have decided to let us torture Paul and Ally a bit more with another season of parenting trauma. That’s entirely because we’ve got more of the story we’re excited to tell and definitely not just because it’s basically free therapy for us. I flatly deny that,” added Addison.
In reviewing season 1, Variety critic Caroline Framke praised both Freeman and Haggard for their performances, but said that there were times when she wished it could “find more fascinating things to say about parenting.”
“Thanks to its creative team and solid performers, ‘Breeders’ is a reliable comedy that hits all the beats one might expect from its ‘parenting, but more honest’ premise. This adherence to predictablE plots is also what keeps ‘Breeders’ from being much more interesting than that,” Framke wrote.
