Netflix Renews Zombie Comedy ‘Santa Clarita Diet’ For Another Season
Netflix has ordered another season of gory zombie comedy Santa Clarita Diet that’s slated for release in 2018.
In a video published on its YouTube channel, the online streaming media company has confirmed that the series, which stars Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant as husband-and-wife realtors, will have a follow-up by next year. Production will start this summer, reports Geek Exchange, while Deadline reporter Nellie Andreeva says the show’s writers are already working on Season 2’s story and script.
Netflix couldn’t be clearer with the announcement, as it shows a video of an off-screen person’s hand assembling a flat lay of dismembered fingers, an ear, eyeballs, and bits of organs in the shape of the number two. It then transitions to a clip from Season 1 in which Sheila Hammond, Drew’s character, was jumping up and down, with husband, Joel. “I’m excited,” Sheila enthused in the clip.
Barrymore also shared the video on her Instagram account with the caption, “BON E APPETIT!!!!!!! #tgif #cantwait #bandbacktogether #thankyounetflix.” You can watch it below.
BON E APPETIT!!!!!!! #tgif #cantwait #bandbacktogether #thankyounetflix
A post shared by Drew Barrymore (@drewbarrymore) on
Santa Clarita Diet follows the story of average mom and real estate agent, Sheila, who acquires an appetite for human flesh after coughing up a shriveled red ball resembling an organ and throwing up a ridiculous amount of vomit. Her husband and daughter struggle to cope with the changes going on with her, but slowly eases into understanding her condition with the help of young neighbor, Eric. Together, they plan ways to satiate Sheila’s hunger, often targeting criminals, without success.
TMW date night gets a little messy. pic.twitter.com/YQcwupxtRl
— Santa Clarita Diet (@SCDiet) March 23, 2017
The series is the brainchild of “Better Off Ted” showrunner Victor Fresco. Santa Clarita Diet is also executive produced by Barrymore and Olyphant. Other executive producers include Kapital Entertainment’s Aaron Kaplan, who was behind Secrets and Lies, and The Mysteries of Laura; Tracy Katsk for Kapital-based company, KatCo, and Chris Miller, and Ember Truesdell under Barrymore’s production company, Flower Films.
Australian actress and playwright, Liv Hewson, stars as Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant’s only child, who’s friends with the next door neighbor’s son, Eric, played by Skyler Gisondo. Ever delightful Arrested Development star Portia de Rossi also appears on the series as scientist Cora Wolf, who specializes on the undead.
Meanwhile, Ricardo Antonio Chavira, better known as Carlos Solis from Desperate Housewives, stars as Dan Palmer, a sheriff’s deputy and step-dad to Eric. Patton Oswalt (The King of Queens, United States of Tara), Nathan Fillon (Castle), and Mary Elizabeth Ellis (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia) also get to show off their acting chops with the stellar cast.
In case you still haven’t seen the series, Season 1’s trailer is worth checking out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjRnbOgoAUQ
Santa Clarita Diet was well-received by critics and audiences, with a fresh 71 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and 7.18 out of 10 average rating based on 55 reviews. The majority of the top critics praised the show for its original take on the zombie genre, and snappy banter. “Something about it appealed to me. The nonsense premise, the overcooked acting, the concussed story beats, the way that it relentlessly drives forward from episode to episode. I wasn’t planning to say this, but it tickled me,” The Guardian’s Stuart Heritage said of the series.
Geek Exchange reports that Santa Clarita Diet is Drew Barrymore’s first TV series role. She also recently worked on Ellen DeGeneres’ docuseries, First Date, as its narrator. The show will premiere on NBC on April 7.
Netflix also renewed One Day at a Time, and A Series of Unfortunate Events last month, according to Metacritic’s TV renewal scorecard for the 2016-2017 season.
[Featured Image by Netflix]
