Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim has become a mover and a shaker within the cable television landscape. For years, not only has the programming block introduced fans to legendary animated originals such as Rick & Morty and The Smiling Friends, but the adult-oriented umbrella has also resurrected some surprising series. In the past, Adult Swim has brought back series with new seasons, proving that the Warner Bros animated platform has been more than willing to breathe new life into cancelled projects. In a wild announcement, a series that began on Netflix and finished on Cartoon Network is returning to the airwaves, and it’s dropping sooner than you might expect.
Tuca & Bertie, the animated series focusing on two female birds living in an anthropomorphic world, first premiered on Netflix in 2019. Following the first season debut, the streaming service was canceled by the streaming service, but was luckily saved from the grave by Adult Swim. After netting the animated series for two additional seasons, the show was subsequently cancelled by Cartoon Network in 2022. While no new episodes are planned for Adult Swim, Tuca & Bertie will return to the schedule beginning on Monday, April 13th. Replacing Ha Ha, You Clowns at 1 AM Eastern, the show will air Mondays through Thursdays for the foreseeable future.
Tuca & Bertie’s Potential Return
In 2022, when Tuca & Bertie announced its cancellation, the series creator Lisa Hanawalt commented on the end of the series, “Tuca & Bertie has sadly been cancelled. To all our fans – we love you and can’t thank you enough for your support over the years. Please never stop making weird fan art (and dressing up as the characters for Halloween!), it brings me endless joy. Working with Adult Swim was very creatively fulfilling, our execs were all smart and thoughtful, and I’m grateful that we got the space to make all these wild and heartfelt episodes about things that matter to me very much. I’m so proud of the work done by all my talented coworkers and collaborators on this show.”
Hanawalt also confirmed that she does have an ending in mind for the series, giving the titular characters the grand finale they deserve. “I still have a beautiful and weird ending to [Tuca & Bertie] in mind; hopefully, someday we’ll get the chance to finish this story. In the meantime, I’m not done creating. I’ve witnessed so many people connecting with this show on a profound level, and I intend to keep telling stories like this, no matter what.”
The animated series, for those who haven’t had the opportunity to check it out, is a surreal slice-of-life comedy that sees the two avian characters trying to navigate their way through the more mundane challenges we all encounter. While there are plenty of eye-popping visuals, the heart of the show was making light of relationship problems, work issues, and everything in between. As of the writing of this article, Tuca & Bertie’s first season can be streamed on Netflix, with the subsequent two available on HBO Max.
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