Following its critically acclaimed and Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh first season, Apple’s hit comedy series “Bad Monkey,” from award-winning executive producer Bill Lawrence, and starring and executive produced by actor, producer and screenwriter Vince Vaughn, has been renewed for a second season.
“I hope that people know that Carl Hiaasen is an idol of mine and an inspiration for me as a writer,” said showrunner and executive producer Bill Lawrence in a statement. “To get to go on telling his story with Vince Vaughn and this great cast, at least the characters who are still alive, is very exciting. I’m very thankful to our partners at Apple TV+ and Warner Bros, as well as the entire team that helps bring this show to life.”
“Since ‘Bad Monkey’ first made its debut on Apple TV+, this highly entertaining series became an instant fan favorite,” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+, in a statement. “Led by the incomparable Vince Vaughn as Andrew Yancy, alongside a brilliant ensemble cast, we can’t wait for everyone to experience more hilarious, sun-soaked, beachy misadventures from the mind of Bill Lawrence as the temperature rises even further in the next chapter of this engrossing murder-mystery.”
Since its global debut on Apple TV+, “Bad Monkey” has been hailed as “the surprise hit TV show of 2024” and “a must-watch for anyone looking for their next binge-worthy show.” Vaughn’s portrayal of lead character Andrew Yancy has been celebrated as “an incredibly winning performance” in “a vehicle tailor-made” for the actor. Developed by Lawrence and adapted from Hiaasen’s New York Times bestselling cult favorite novel of the same name, fans have declared that the series “finally captures the bestselling author’s unique comic vision,” and the series has received praise for its “stellar cast,” “amazing soundtrack” and “laugh-out-loud moments.”
“Bad Monkey” tells the story of Andrew Yancy (Vaughn), who has been bounced from the Miami Police Department and is now a health inspector in the Keys. But after stumbling upon a case that begins with a human arm fished up by tourists, he realizes that if he can prove murder, he’ll be back in. He just needs to get past a trove of Floridian oddballs and one bad monkey.
The season one ensemble cast also includes L. Scott Caldwell (“The Fugitive”), Rob Delaney (“Catastrophe”), Meredith Hagner (“Search Party”), Natalie Martinez (“Ordinary Joe,” “Reminiscence”), Alex Moffat (“Saturday Night Live,” “Holidate”), Michelle Monaghan (“Gone Baby Gone”), Ronald Peet (“First Reformed”) and Jodie Turner-Smith (“Queen & Slim”), with special guest stars John Ortiz (“American Fiction”), Zach Braff (“Scrubs”), Ashley Nicole Black (“Ted Lasso”), Scott Glenn (“The Leftovers”) and Charlotte Lawrence in her television debut.
Hailing from Warner Bros. Television, “Bad Monkey” is developed by executive producer and showrunner Lawrence through his Doozer Productions. Jeff Ingold, Matt Tarses (“Scrubs”), Marcos Siega, Vaughn and Liza Katzer are also executive producers.
The complete first season of “Bad Monkey” is now streaming globally on Apple TV+.
This marks the most recent collaboration between Lawrence and Warner Bros. Television for Apple TV+, following the Emmy-nominated global hit series “Shrinking” and global phenomenon “Ted Lasso.”
Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 535 wins and 2,450 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”
MacDailyNews Take: We watched and recommend “Bad Monkey” season one. Meredith Hagner was a standout psychopathic villain. We’re looking forward to see what they come up with for season two.
In October, Lawrence said he’d pitched the series to Apple as a three-season plan.
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This was a good story. A story about the coming together of a lot of quirky people. And a monkey. There is a monkey. It starts to drag on and on a bit after the middle, so it doesn’t work well for binging. Some aspects of the bittersweet ending I just hated.
Yeah, there are definitely some bittersweet moments that mix in with the dark humor and that’s quintessentially Hiaasen. His sense of humor can be disturbing, and this series was no exception. But surprising as some of it was, I also thought there was a sort of “logic” or karma to it as well.
Bad Monkey is stealth hilarious.
I keep finding myself laughing late as the banter runs at a snappy clip and then hits me almost as an echo in the canyon as I realize what was just said. I love that experience. The script is smart, funny, and fun, in keeping with the dark humor of Carl Hiaasen’s dry Floridian narratives. I would think Hiaasen should be delighted with how things turned out.
Of course, it stars the inimitable Vince Vaughn (as Detective Yancy) and the brilliant and gorgeous Natalie Martinez as Rosa, the Coroner who takes the shirt off a corpse to wear to meet her sister for drinks. The chemistry is consummate as they dance around and try to avoid their subcutaneous attraction to each other.
There’s some superb work by the casting director at play here. The narrator, the boat Captain, played by the crusty Tom Nowicki, hits the sweet spot on tone and voice. Typically, in screenwriting today, the voiceover narrative is unabashedly shamed and dismissed, but it works here, thanks in no small part to Nowicki’s pipes.
As the (proverbial) Eve, Meredith Hagner, the villain who gets Nick (Rob Delaney) to do most of her dirty deeds, is beyond wicked, powerful, and entrancingly funny in the most macabre ways. Delaney is just as bizarre and quirky as the rest of the cast, and somehow, we can actually imagine he’d do these extreme things to please Eve.
Michelle Monaghan, as Bonnie, Yancy’s ex, is full of surprises and, like many of the other actors, does not overplay her part.
This series seems to have a cast of thousands, but I’d be remiss not to mention the Dragon Queen (played by Jodie Turner-Smith). Turner-Smith is so perfectly gorgeous and powerful in the role, that watching her square off with Eve feels like a championship match. The Dragon Queen seems surreal, so physically flawless, as if she was AI-generated. Eve’s attraction to her beauty and perfect skin color is completely believable and adds a unique dimension to their ever-evolving “adversarial” relationship.
Ronald Peet, who opens the series as Neville, is a delightful “Gilligan” of this island but sweet and likable in or out of harm’s way. Scott Glenn’s cameo as Yancy’s dad is easily believable. Alex Moffat from SNL is dastardly dickish as Yancy’s annoying Yellow House neighbor, and John Ortiz, as Yancy’s old partner on the force (his gorgeous lawyer hubby, played by Victor Turpin), is understated and avoids cliche.
There are so many characters that deserve honorable mention; each one is entirely unlike the other. You will not confuse characters in this cast of thousands.
The dumb, likable, naive drug pilot, played by Bob Clendenin, Nina Grollman as the shallow girlfriend who ends up with her Russian boss, Zach Braff has a brilliant, heartwrenching cameo, Todd Allen Durkin as Sheriff Sonny, and the majestic L. Scott Caldwell as Ya-Ya, mentor to the Dragon Queen. The only actor I recall wishing he’d gone more 3-D was the tough guy “Egg,” whose singing was more compelling than his acting.
If you like Carl Hiaasen, you’ll love “Bad Monkey.” I’m thrilled they’ve renewed it for another season. There are so many stories to tell as Hiaasen has written more novels than god. This could end up being a great vehicle to see others fleshed out over 10 episodes.
There are so many writing credits on the series that it’s hard to tell who to acknowledge overall. Still, it’s clear that Bill Lawrence, the showrunner and producer, brought all of this together and deserves whatever awards he might be eligible for.
Definitely the most fun thing I’ve seen in 2024.
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