FUBAR (TV series)

FUBAR is an American action comedy television series created by Nick Santora for Netflix. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first leading role in a scripted live-action television series and is produced by Skydance Television and Blackjack Films. The series premiered on May 25, 2023. In June 2023, the series was renewed for a second season.

Premise
Luke Brunner and his daughter Emma have lied to each other for years, with neither of them knowing that the other is a CIA operative. Once they both learn the truth, they realize that they do not actually know anything about each other. They are required by their superiors to work together on dangerous operations, leading to challenges when Luke treats Emma as a child and when he becomes overly concerned for her safety and relationship conflicts.

Main

 * Arnold Schwarzenegger as Luke Brunner
 * Monica Barbaro as Emma Brunner
 * Milan Carter as Barry, the CIA technical operations officer of Luke's team
 * Gabriel Luna as Boro Polonia, a powerful arms dealer
 * Fortune Feimster as Roo, the CIA operative of Luke's team
 * Travis Van Winkle as Aldon, the CIA operative of Luke's team
 * Fabiana Udenio as Tally Brunner, Luke's ex-wife and Emma's mother
 * Jay Baruchel as Carter, Emma's boyfriend who is a kindergarten teacher
 * Barbara Eve Harris as Dot, a regional CIA director who tasked Luke and Emma to work together as a team
 * Aparna Brielle as Tina, the NSA data analyst brought in to support Luke's team
 * Andy Buckley as Donnie, Tally's boyfriend
 * Carrie-Anne Moss as Greta Nelso (season 2)

Recurring
In addition, Rachel Lynch costars as Romi, Oscar and Sandy's daughter.
 * Devon Bostick as Oscar, Luke and Tally's son and Emma's brother
 * David Chinchilla as Cain Khan, Boro's right-hand man
 * Stephanie Sy as Sandy, Oscar's wife
 * Scott Thompson as Dr. Pfeffer, the operational psychologist that Dot brought in to conduct Luke and Emma's mandatory joint therapy sessions

Notable guest stars

 * Adam Pally as The Great Dane
 * Tom Arnold as Norm Carlson

Production
Skydance Television first announced that it was developing an untitled spy television series for Arnold Schwarzenegger to star in and make his scripted live-action television debut in August 2020. Shortly afterward, Monica Barbaro was cast as the lead opposite Schwarzenegger in the series where a father and daughter are both CIA officers, unbeknownst to the other. Netflix won the rights for the project that November and had ordered eight episodes of the series by May 2021. The cast was expanded in April 2022, announcing several regular and recurring roles. Phil Abraham was announced as director and executive producer of the pilot episode in May, and a July casting announcement added Adam Pally. While in production, the series used the working titles Utap and FUBAR.

Filming began in April 2022 in Antwerp, Belgium around Grote Markt. Additional filming took place in Toronto, where Schwarzenegger was seen re-teaming with former True Lies co-star Tom Arnold. In September 2022, filming wrapped up with the series now titled FUBAR.

On June 17, 2023, Netflix renewed the series for a second season. On May 13, 2024, Carrie-Anne Moss was cast to star opposite of Schwarzenegger for the second season.

Release
FUBAR was released to stream on Netflix on May 25, 2023.

Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 51% approval rating with an average rating of 5.4/10, based on 57 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "With jokes that fall flat and a story that borrows liberally from star Arnold Schwarzenegger's earlier career triumphs, FUBAR is just OK." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 48 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The series was the overall most streamed television series for the week of its release, May 22–28, 2023, according to the Nielsen streaming rankings.