Why Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong never gave up on Tuca & Bertie

Many were devastated when news broke that Tuca & Bertie—one of the best new shows of 2019—had involuntarily flown the coop at Netflix. With its well-drawn characters (both literally and figuratively) and idiosyncratic style, Lisa Hanawalt’s animated comedy had quickly endeared itself to a loyal fanbase who, in the wake of cancellation, flocked to savetucaandbertie.com to sign a petition in support of its future. Its stars remained optimistic, too: During the 2019 Television Critic Association’s summer tour, Tiffany Haddish assured the press in attendance: “I talked to the creator [Hanawalt], and we definitely are going to make it go somewhere. It’s going to go. It’s going to end up somewhere.” Almost a year later, Haddish’s prophecy was fulfilled; Adult Swim had answered the call and announced it would be the new home to the vivacious Tuca (Haddish), the musing Bertie (Ali Wong), and the rest of the colorful denizens of Bird Town.

Ahead of Tuca & Bertie’s June 13 premiere on its new network home, The A.V. Club had the chance to chat with its stars/executive producers Haddish and Wong about the series’ second wind. When asked what kept them hopeful about the series’ future, the pair gave answers hilariously in line with the distinctive, yet complimentary personalities of their feathered alter egos. You can read their responses below, and watch our full interview with Haddish and Wong in the video above, which features Haddish trying out some character work with the help of a few Zoom filters.

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The A.V. Club: I feel like the fans—and the both of you—were always able to stay optimistic about the future of Tuca & Bertie; what gave you hope that you would get to do more episodes?

Tiffany Haddish: We’re amazing—Ali and I are amazing. You would be a complete idiot not to want to work with both of us, not to have us somewhere. Or: You’re broke; you can’t afford us. And, apparently, Adult Swim could afford us and they’re not dumb. They’re quite intelligent over there at Adult Swim, and they picked us up immediately. You know, we were concerned for a moment—but just a moment—and then we realized we’re amazing. [Laughs.]

Ali Wong: I mean, I wasn’t worried I think mostly because the fans were so—like, immediately the Halloween after the show premiered, there were tons of people dressing up as Tuca and Bertie, and that’s kind of better than an award. That’s a real telltale sign that you’ve got something really special, that means so much to people.

Lisa [Hanawalt] is an incredible showrunner and a creator, and she didn’t want to do just one season. She really has a lot more in store for these characters, and she told me that from the beginning: She really wanted to make more episodes. I had heard, though, really early on that Adult Swim was interested in taking the show. [Laughs.] So, I kind of knew it would happen one way or another in my gut—I knew it was going to happen.

Tuca & Bertie’s second season premieres on Adult Swim on June 13.

Image Credit: Adult Swim