“9.5 on the buzz meter”
Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter
“beyond comedy and towards something rare…Writers Simon Blackwell, Chris Addison and Freeman himself have given us not only a couple we can honestly believe in but also a drama for modern times”
Euan Ferguson, The Observer
Critically Acclaimed Comedy Series Starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard
LOS ANGELES, May 15, 2020 – FX and Sky’s acclaimed comedy series Breeders has been renewed for a second season, it was announced today by Nick Grad, President, Original Programming, FX Entertainment. Breeders is produced by Avalon and FX Productions for FX Networks and Sky Originals.
Academy Award®-nominee and double Emmy® Award-winner Simon Blackwell served as showrunner and created the series with double Emmy Award and Directors Guild of America Award winner Chris Addison and Emmy and BAFTA®-winning Martin Freeman. Executive producers are Blackwell, Addison, Freeman, Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, David Martin, Jon Thoday, Toby Welch and Michael Wiggs. Ben Palmer is co-executive producer.
“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. “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.”
Added Addison, “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.”
“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.”
“With scripts of this calibre, hilarity and honesty, and a cast lead by the uniquely relatable Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard, it’s no surprise Breeders struck such a huge chord with viewers. Hats off to Simon Blackwell, Chris Addison and the team – we can’t wait to give birth to a second series” said Jon Mountague, Director of Comedy, Sky Studios.
In Breeders, 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 the first season of this honest and uncompromising comedy, Paul and Ally are juggling fulltime 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….
What The US Press Said
“The Poster Child For Pandemic Comedy Television”
Peter White, Deadline
“riotously funny”
Kelly Lawler, USA Today
Top 5 Shows To Watch in Quarantine
Los Angeles Times
“This dark comedy series about the challenges of child rearing couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Peter Libbey, The New York Times
“Us Musts: a show about loving your kids but also wanting to murder them? How pandemicky!”
Us Weekly
“Expect clutter, vomit, exasperation, and cutting one-liners”
Keith Phipps, Rolling Stone
“While “Breeders” was dreamed up as a darkly honest, unfiltered comedy for the best of times, a person can only imagine how relatable it must be in a time when schools and day cares are closed and parents – the lucky ones, I should say – are stuck working at home with children who have no concept of the pressures bearing down on adults.”
Melanie Mcfarland, Salon.com
“It’s so funny and it’s so real, I feel parents everywhere will relate…we love the show and guys, you will love it too”
Lara Spencer, Good Morning America
“hilarious”
Entertainment Tonight
“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 is hilarious, it is refreshing to see a show that is not a typical idea of what childhood looks like, the glossy perfect version”
Keshia Chante, ET Canada
“This new comedy starring Martin Freeman follows a couple enduring some hilarious struggles while trying to raise their two children”
Jessica Toomer, UPROXX
“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
“Breeders tackles the toils of parenting in a realistic and relatable way seldom seen on TV”
TV Best Bets, Staff, Channel Guide Magazine
“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
“Breeders” has a lot going for it, especially in the choices of Freeman and Haggard as its leads… Thanks to its creative team and solid performers, “Breeders” is a reliable comedy”
Caroline Framke, Variety
“hits all the prickly marks, starting with a first-rate cast led by co-creator Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard as Paul and Ally”
Matt Roush, TV Guide
“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
“brutally honest — and hilarious”
Damian Holbrook, TV Insider
What The UK Press Said
“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
“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, Mail On Sunday
“Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard excel in parenting sitcom with bite…Smart, spiky and hilarious” ★★★★
Morgan Jeffery, Radio Times
“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, Financial Times
“The parent-torment sitcom Breeders, now on episode three, ‘No Accident’, is beginning to emulsify nicely…Breeders whizzes by, all zingers and howlers.” ★★★★
David Sexton, Evening Standard
“Refreshingly truthful parenting comedy” ★★★★
Ian Hyland, The Mirror
“a hilariously no-holds-barred look at the real challenges of parenting in the contemporary world…a brilliantly shocking opening that sets the tone for a show, which is beautifully observed and very funny” ★★★★★
Boyd Hilton, Heat Magazine
“honest and uncompromising comedy pulling no punches as it explores the pressures of raising a family. Millions of mums and dads across Britain will sympathise…prepare for laughs, tears and plenty of swearing” ★★★★
Sean Marland, TV Times Magazine
“Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard impress in Sky’s parental sitcom…their tight-knit, witty bitching about rival, “perfect ” schoolgate parents is a delight that never flags… a triumph”
Euan Ferguson, The Observer
“a corker of an introduction…uncompromising but hilarious” ★★★★★
Mike Ward, Daily Star
“last week’s opening double-bill was full of wonderful lines and hilarious situations. In short, it was everything you want from such a show” ★★★★
Daily Star Sunday
“Freeman and Daisy Haggard, who plays Paul’s wife, Ally, are excellent as the couple whose united front cracks as sleep deprivation kicks in.”
Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
“When the great corona-shutdown kicks in, the Breeders crew might find they’ve made the most accidentally zeitgeisty programme of all time”
Victoria Coren Mitchell, The Telegraph
“an unforgivingly accurate depiction of the lesser-spotted aspects of raising kids that will have most parents wincing in recognition… funny, seldom comfortable and worryingly relatable”
Gabriel Tate, The Telegraph
“No-holds-barred ferocity…the show is fearless”
James Jackson, The Times
“Tune in to for Freeman on top form as the wry and exasperated Paul”
Ammar Kalie, The Guardian and The Observer
“Here’s the mother – and father – of all comedies for any parents who’ve endured sleepless nights while bringing up young children…thick with laughs”
Deborah Ross, Mail On Sunday
“How many comedies are honest about what being a parent of young children entails? Maybe Motherland broke the mould, but Breeders takes it to another level… painfully funny”
David Butcher, Radio Times
“Welcome to the set of Breeders, a new show that takes the best ingredients of Motherland and Outnumbered – middle-class dramas about parenting – and adds a large dose of the sheer fury that it can induce…Bitingly funny”
Nicole Lampert, Daily Mail
“Doesn’t pull any punches…it’s genuinely laugh-out-loud funny”
Kate Noble, The Sun
“Dark, honest and made all the more human by the welcome chaos of being a parent. It could be a scene from Breeders”
Guy Kelly, The Telegraph
“Breeders stands as a candid, and hilarious, dissection of modern parenting”
Lucas Hill-Paul, The Express
“lots of fun. It’s refreshingly honest and well-observed…a smart, warts and all comedy”
Sara Wallis, The Mirror
“Finally, a comedy that lays bare the pain of parenting…painful, hilarious and closer to reality than many might care to admit”
Ed Power, The i
“brilliant creation”
Helen Brown, The Telegraph
“I think they’ve written a great thing, it felt really well observed and had good lines…must watch”
Hayley Campbell, BBC Radio5 Live
“I love it…it’s a great, great, show…Watch the first minute of the first episode and if you’re not in after that I don’t know why God gave you eyes and indeed ears…it’s very funny.”
Chris Evans, Virgin Radio
“it’s really really funny, I really love it”
Sara Cox, BBC Radio 4
“Sky’s achingly spot-on comedy, with Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard as a couple driven to distraction by the demands of parenting, hits the funny bone again with reminders of the painful pinch of the “sandwich” generation.”
Gerrard O’Donovan, The Telegraph
“brilliantly uncomfortable”
Hugo Rifkind, The Times
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: Not Going Out (BBC), the UK’s longest running sitcom on air; Taskmaster (Channel 4), the hit entertainment format showing in 100 countries; multi Emmy-winner, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO); The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), the network’s most successful entertainment show launch since 2010; 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); The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show (Netflix); new series of the iconic British satirical puppet show, Spitting Image (BritBox UK); and multiple comedy specials for Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Netflix. Other landmark Avalon shows include BAFTA winning and multi Emmy nominated, Catastrophe (Amazon Prime Video/Channel 4), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV), multi BAFTA-winning 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
ABOUT FX
FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable channel of FX Networks. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in 85 million homes. The diverse schedule features a growing roster of critically-acclaimed and award-winning hit drama series including Snowfall, Pose, Mayans M.C., Taboo and the upcoming Y: The Last Man; the critically-acclaimed limited series American Horror Story, Fargo, American Crime Story, FEUD, Fosse/Verdon and the upcoming Shōgun; acclaimed hit comedy series including Atlanta, Better Things, What We Do in the Shadows and Breeders; the half-hour series Mr Inbetween; a slate of docuseries and documentary features, including The Weekly with The New York Times, The Most Dangerous Animal of All, and the upcoming AKA Jane Roe; and the FX Original Movie A Christmas Carol. FX is the former home of the critically-acclaimed and award-winning hit drama series The Shield, Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me, Damages, Sons of Anarchy, Justified and The Americans. The network’s library of acquired box-office hit movies is unmatched by any ad-supported television network.
ABOUT SKY
With 24 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Our 31,000 employees help connect our customers with the very best of Sports, News, the arts and to our own local, original content. Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, Patrick Melrose, Das Boot and Gommorah we launched Sky Studios and now plan to more than double our investment in original drama and comedy over the next five years.
Our technology allows customers to watch what they want, when they want, how they want, and as we connect millions of families to content they love, it is our responsibility to do it safely – that’s why we offer services like Sky Broadband Buddy and the Sky Kids app. And our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.
We also believe that a company of our scale has a responsibility that goes beyond our business, and into the community. Our Sky Ocean Rescue campaign has reached millions across Europe, we’re on track to be free of single-use plastic by 2020, we’re investing £25million over five years in ocean-saving tech and we’re a proud employer – recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our approach to inclusivity.
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Contacts:
Avalon
Dan Lloyd
Victoria Wedderburn
FX Networks
John Solberg
Jesse Hiestand
Sky
Dom Collett
