Beef's creator says he has three seasons planned for the Netflix series
There's more Beef where that came from, according to Lee Sung Jin
With Beef’s explosive and violent finale, series creator Lee Sung Jin wanted to finish the first season with a sense of resolution. That said, he definitely has ideas for continuing Danny (Steven Yeun) and Amy’s (Ali Wong) story of malaise in America.
“I wanted it to have a conclusive feel just in case,” Lee tells Rolling Stone, “but there are a lot of ideas on my end to keep this story going. I think should we be blessed with a season two, there’s a lot of ways for Danny and Amy to continue. I have one really big general idea that I can’t really say yet, but I have three seasons mapped out in my head currently.”
In today’s streaming climate, it makes sense to build in some safeguards, because a second season is hardly guaranteed. And when you’re writing a show for Netflix—which is known for regularly gutting series after one season—you can never really be too safe.
It’s something Lee, Wong, and Yeun are all familiar with, considering Tuca & Bertie was canceled by the streamer after its first season before finding a second life at Adult Swim (and even that ended too soon). Lee wrote two episodes for the animated comedy’s first season, which features Wong and Yeun as Bertie and Speckle, a song thrush and robin nested together in Bird Town.
However, Beef’s not in a bad place at the moment, with plenty of buzz and high praise from critics. In our assessment of the show’s first season, Saloni Gajjar called it “one of 2023’s most fascinating new shows” elevated by “tremendous editing, cinematography, and an impressive supporting cast.”
Feverish fans certainly have not stopped Netflix from canceling beloved series before (sorry Warrior Nun stans), and it often feels like there’s little to no method to its madness, but we’ll hold out for Beef’s renewal.