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The 'BoJack' Team's New Show Stars Tiffany Haddish as a Talking Toucan

It's called 'Tuca and Bertie.' Tuca is the toucan, obviously.
Photo of Tiffany Haddish by James Devaney/GC Images

BoJack Horseman, Netflix's exploration of depression and self-loathing disguised as a talking animal cartoon, is one of the best-written shows currently in production, but, good lord, it is sad. But now the team behind the show is creating a brand-new animated Netflix series that, from the sound of the plot, might scale back on the emotional devastation—and it stars Tiffany Haddish as a lady toucan with legs, because what else do you expect from the BoJack people?

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According to Netflix, the upcoming series, Tuca & Bertie, will center on "two 30-year-old bird women who live in the same apartment building." Haddish will play the "cocky and care-free" Tuca who befriends an "anxious, daydreaming songbird" named—yeah, you guessed it—Bertie.

Sure, the basic premise sounds like The Odd Couple with beaks, but with Haddish onboard and judging by how well BoJack Horseman subverted washed-up actor tropes, it's safe to say that Tuca & Bertie won't just be another mismatched duo story. It'll also likely be a bit lighter in tone than BoJack, since the main character is an outspoken toucan and not an alcoholic horse with a self-destructive streak—but these are still the people who made a goofy sci-fi episode that turned out to be about a miscarriage, so Tuca & Bertie will probably find a way to break your heart at some point, too.

There's no word yet on who Netflix is eyeing for the role of Bertie or the rest of the cast, but it's nice to see Haddish has some time to star in the series between scoring an HBO deal, drunkenly talking about WWII, becoming friends with P.T. Anderson, and all the other massive stuff the Girls Trip star has coming her way lately.

Tuca & Bertie was created by BoJack producer and general comics wizard Lisa Hanawalt who confirmed Tuesday that the show will be a stand-alone series and not set in the same universe. So don't expect this to be the start of some sprawling, complicated BoJack Horseman cinematic universe—no matter how much the world needs a Jekyll and Hyde–inspired spinoff focused on Kevin and Vincent Adultman.

The new series is still in its early stages, so we're still a long way from a release date. In the meantime, keep an eye out for season five of Bojack Horseman—which should drop sometime toward the end of this summer, if Netflix keeps up the same release schedule it's used for the past four seasons.

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