Breeders, a dark parental comedy series, stars Martin Freeman, Daisy Haggard, Alex Eastwood, Eve Prenelle, Joanna Bacon, Alun Armstrong and Stella Gonet.
The series explores the paradox every parent knows but will never admit - you would be willing to die for your children, but often you want to kill them too. Paul (Freeman) is a caring father who discovers he's not quite the patient man he thought he was. His parenting partner is Ally (Haggard), a nurturing mother, loving wife and a skilled businesswoman who has everything under control until it is no longer so. The third season begins a few days after teenager Luke (Eastwood) punches his father. Paul has moved and is staying with his mother-in-law Leah (Gonet). He should be lonely, but actually the simpler life has its appeal. In the end, Luke should be okay again. Meanwhile, Ally has her own problems - with work, her early menopause and her increasingly strained relationship with her teenage daughter Ava (Prenelle). Gallows humor and large glasses of wine only help so much to tame the fear.
The series was created by Martin Freeman, Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell.
The third season of Breeders, which airs Monday nights on FX, averaged 0.04 in the 18-49 demographic and 140,000 viewers in the live+same day ratings (including all DVR viewing until 3 a.m.). Compared to season two, that's a 45% drop in the demo and a 34% drop in ratings. Because the series is a co-production with Sky One, Breeders is less expensive for FX to produce than other scripted series.
The fourth and final season of Breeders consists of ten episodes and starts on Monday, July 31. The episodes will be streamed on Hulu the next day.
The new episodes pick up five years after Paul and Ally were on the verge of breaking up. They face their biggest parenting challenge yet when eighteen-year-old Luke (Oscar Kennedy) drops a massive bomb at Christmas dinner. No longer in her brother's shadow, sixteen-year-old Ava (Zoë Athena) has her own bombshell moment when she meets the charismatic Holly (Jessie Williams) and falls instantly in love. Meanwhile, Paul and Ally keep trying, failing and trying again as they face their latest parenting challenges.
Watch a trailer for Breeders below.