FX Renews Comedy Series for Season 4

Breeders, the comedy series starring Black Panther actor Martin Freeman, was renewed for a fourth season Tuesday, one week after the Season 3 finale aired. The show airs on FX in the U.S., where it is also available to stream on Hulu, and Sky in the U.K. Freeman and Daisy Haggard star as parents raising two children and is loosely influenced by Freeman’s life.

“Breeders has given us the special opportunity to watch the Worsley family grow with each season, and FX is thrilled to order a fourth season that will bring the next chapter of this hilarious yet brutally honest take on being a parent in today’s world,” Nick Grad, President of Original Programming at FX Entertainment, said in a statement to Deadline. “Our thanks to creators Simon Blackwell, Chris Addison, and Martin Freeman, the entire creative team, Daisy and the cast, the crew, and everyone at Avalon, FX Productions, and Sky. Their efforts are what guide and sustain Breeders, and we are happy to be part of that extended family.” 

Freeman and Haggard (Episodes) star as Paul Worsley and Ally Grant, parents of Luke (Alex Eastwood) and Ava (Eve Prenelle). The family was shaken in Season 3 when Luke punched Paul, who moved out. Now living at his mother-in-law Leah’s (Stella Gonet) house, he embraced a simpler life while holding off mending fences with Luke. Ally also struggled with her strained relationship with Ava and the stresses of work and early menopause.

Freeman created Breeders with Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell, who are also executive producers on the show. Blackwell serves as showrunner.Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, David Martin, Jon Thoday, Michael Wiggs, and Ben Palmer also serve as executive producers. All seasons are available on Hulu in the U.S. and will be released on Star+ in Latin America and under the Star banner on Disney+ in other territories.

Breeders Season 1 holds an 83% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics. In 2020, the show won Best Comedy at the Venice TV Awards. Haggard also scored a British Academy Television Award nomination for Best Female Comedy Performance last year.

Although Freeman has multiple jobs on Breeders, he still hasn’t directed an episode. In May, the Sherlock alum said he goes back and forth on the idea of working behind the camera. “Sometimes when I’m on set and I see what a director does, I look at it and go, ‘Yeah, I could do that. I’d be right with this part of it,’” Freeman told Collider. “But then, there are other parts of directing that I’m still not sure I’d have the mental bandwidth for, just with the endless questions and how you have to be across everything. I know I would enjoy the bits where I’m rehearsing with actors. I don’t know how good I’d be at the other stuff, or how much I’d enjoy that stuff. But never say never. If I get the confidence to think I could do it, then maybe so.”