“9.5 on the buzz meter” Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter (USA)
“terrific: dark, fresh, brutal, funny…Simon Blackwell and Chris Addison have managed the near-impossible by creating a parenting comedy that is not twee and makes the tired tropes of sleep deprivation and school-catchment obsession funny.” ★★★★ Carol Midgley, The Times (UK)
Breeders, a new FX and Sky Original comedy starring Martin Freeman (Fargo, Sherlock, Black Panther) and Daisy Haggard (Back To Life, Episodes, Black Mirror), explores the paradox that every parent knows but never admits: you would willingly die for your children, but quite often you also want to kill them. The 10 x 30 series airs on Mondays on FX at 10pm ET and is available for streaming on Hulu and Thursdays at 10pm on Sky One and is available for streaming on NOWTV.
Martin Freeman stars as “Paul,” a caring father discovering he’s not quite the man he thought he was. His partner in this impossibly steep parental climb is “Ally” (Daisy 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.
In this honest and uncompromising comedy Paul and Ally are juggling full-time careers, aging parents, a mortgage, upheavals in their relationship and the unenviable curveballs of parenting their young children, “Luke” (George Wakeman) and “Ava” (Jayda Eyles). When Ally’s estranged father “Michael” (Michael McKean) appears on their doorstep, the family essentially takes on a third child but this one comes with baggage and opinions. Paul’s own parents, “Jackie” (Joanna Bacon) and “Jim” (Alun Armstrong), are on hand to help out, but their generation does parenting a little differently…
The 10-episode season is produced by Avalon and FX Productions for FX Networks and Sky Originals. Academy Award®-nominee and double Emmy® Award-winner Simon Blackwell (Veep, Back, Peep Show) is showrunner. Breeders is created by Blackwell, double Emmy® Award and Directors Guild of America Award winner Chris Addison (Veep, The Thick of It, The Hustle), who also directed episodes 6-10, and Emmy and BAFTA®-winning Martin Freeman, who also stars alongside Daisy Haggard. Executive producers are Blackwell, Addison, Freeman, Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, David Martin, Jon Thoday and Michael Wiggs. Ben Palmer (Man Up, The Inbetweeners Movie, Back) is co-executive producer and also directed episodes 1-5, whilst Toby Welch (Catastrophe, The Tunnel, Skins) produces.
For more information please contact: Victoria Wedderburn at Avalon on 0207 598 7222 or VWedderburn@avalonuk.com
Some things the press have said about Breeders in the USA
“riotously funny” Kelly Lawler, USA Today
Los Angeles Times – Top 5 Shows To Watch in Quarantine pick
“Expect clutter, vomit, exasperation, and cutting one-liners” Keith Phipps, Rolling Stone
“Each episode feels like a slice of life, complete with laughs, tears, sarcasm….In the hands of [Martin] Freeman, [Daisy] Haggard, [Simon] Blackwell and [Chris] Addison, it makes for wry, amusing and relatable television…..Rating: ★★★★ Very good” Diane Gordon, Collider
“Hilarious….Buckle up, parents, because we’re all about to take a ride on the parenting train into Relatable Town thanks to FX’s newest comedy, Breeders” Alessia Santoro, PopSugar
“brutally honest — and hilarious” Damian Holbrook, TV Guide
“Breeders finds catharsis amid the agony of parenthood….The lighting-strike chemistry of the show’s central couple fuels its exploration of parenthood’s highs and lows” Niv M. Sultan, Slant
“Looks like the most honest show about parenting on TV…. If you’ve got kids, we have your new favorite show lined up and ready” Lindsay MacDonald, TVGuide.com
“the first two episodes made us laugh so much….it pulled no punches when it comes to the difficulties of being parents in this day and age…. Breeders’ stark reality of what it’s like to parent young kids these days hits us right in our exhausted funny bones” Joel Keller, Decider
“I know many viewers can relate to this comedy series….This comedy is sure to make you laugh while you’re nodding and thinking, ‘Yep. I can relate to that’” Verona Jones, Fansided
Some things the press have said about Breeders in the UK
“For Breeders to deal with darker topics, including postnatal depression and what Blackwell calls “grief sex”, it adopts the knife-edge tone that defines the best modern TV comedy: able to nest real, wrenching drama into outlandish scenarios and vice versa, rather than offering viewers a predictable series of set-ups and positive punchlines” Tom Faber, The Financial Times
“crafted to perfection, Blackwell supplies a steady stream of laugh-out-loud lines and Freeman and Haggard immediately gel as a finely tuned double act playing off each other with exquisite timing” ★★★★ Mark Wareham, The Mail On Sunday
“Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard excel in parenting sitcom with bite…Smart, spiky and hilarious” ★★★★ Morgan Jeffery, The Radio Times
“Martin Freeman makes a perfect imperfect parent…a bit of a classic” ★★★★ David Sexton, The Evening Standard
“a triumph” Euan Ferguson, The Observer
“sublimely funny” Josh Stephenson, Metro
★★★★★ Heat Magazine ★★★★★ The Daily Star ★★★★ The Daily Star Sunday ★★★★ The Daily Mail
About Avalon
Avalon is a multi-award-winning talent management, television production and live promotion group with offices in London, Los Angeles and New York.
The Company represents a prolific roster of artists including comedians, actors, presenters, writers and directors and produces numerous ground-breaking television shows. Series currently in production include: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO); Not Going Out (BBC); Taskmaster (Channel 4); The Russell Howard Hour (Sky); Starstruck, a new sitcom from the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Rose Matafeo (HBO Max/BBC); Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, from creator Josh Thomas (Freeform); Breeders, a new sitcom starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard (FX/Sky); The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show (Netflix); and multiple comedy specials for Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Netflix. Other iconic Avalon shows include Catastrophe (Amazon Prime Video/Channel 4), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV), TV Burp (ITV), and seven seasons of Workaholics (Comedy Central USA). Avalon also distributes its catalogue of programmes to over 150 countries worldwide.
As a leading promoter of live comedy, Avalon produced Newman and Baddiel: Live at Wembley, the UK’s first arena comedy show; Jerry Springer: The Opera, the first West End show to win all four UK ‘Best New Musical’ awards; and has continued to produce and promote live shows globally, as well as promoting more winners and nominees of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award than any other company.
For Avalon news visit: www.avalonuk.com/press or follow @avalonent
