''Teenage Bounty Hunters'' is an American

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

comedy drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

television series created by Kathleen Jordan for

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

which was released on August 14, 2020. Blake McCormick and

Jenji Kohan Jenji Leslie Kohan (born July 5, 1969) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the creator and showrunner of the Showtime comedy-drama series ''Weeds'' and the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black''. S ...

are executive producers, along with Tara Herrmann and Robert Sudduth serving as showrunner. In October 2020, the series was canceled after one season.

Premise

After denting their father's pickup truck,

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

high school students and

fraternal twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

Sterling and Blair Wesley fall into bounty hunting for grizzled bounty hunter Bowser Jenkins in order to pay for the truck's repair, and without their parents' knowledge.

Cast and characters

Main

* Maddie Phillips as Sterling Wesley, Blair's fraternal twin sister and a student and debater at Willingham Academy who is trying to balance her life as a bounty hunter with being fellowship leader at her Christian high school * Anjelica Bette Fellini as Blair Wesley, Sterling's more rebellious fraternal twin sister and a lacrosse player who also goes to Willingham Academy and who is also a bounty hunter *

Kadeem Hardison Kadeem Hardison (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. The son of fashion model Bethann Hardison, he rose to prominence after landing the role of Dwayne Wayne on the television series ''A Different World'', a spin-off of the NBC sitcom ''T ...

as Bowser Jenkins, a grizzled bounty hunter and mentor to Sterling and Blair, who also runs a frozen yogurt shop named Yogurtopia *

Virginia Williams Virginia Williams (born March 19, 1978) is an American actress known for playing C.J Hargenberger in the Netflix sitcom ''Fuller House''. Early life Williams first began her acting education in New York, earning a B.A. in Theatre Performance ...

as Debbie Wesley, the twins' mother

Recurring

* Spencer House as Luke Creswell, Sterling's boyfriend *

Mackenzie Astin Mackenzie Alexander Astin (born May 12, 1973) is an American actor. Early and personal life Astin was born on May 12, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Patty Duke and actor John Astin. His half brother is actor Sean Astin. H ...

as Anderson Wesley, the twins' father * Eric Graise as Ezequiel, April's friend * Wynn Everett as Ellen Johnson, the fellowship teacher at Willingham Academy * Devon Hales as April Stevens, Sterling's nemesis who is jealous that Sterling is named fellowship leader * Charity Cervantes as Hannah B., April's friend * Myles Evans as Miles Taylor, Blair's love interest * Carolyn Jones Ellis as Cathy, an employee of Yogurtopia * Cliff "Method Man" Smith as Terrance Coin, a rival bounty hunter to Bowser * Shirley Rumierk as Yolanda, the owner of Yolanda's Bail Bonds; Bowser's boss and ex-sister-in-law * Given Sharp as Horny Lorna, a promiscuous student at Willingham Academy * Jacob Rhodes as Franklin, Luke's golf teammate

Episodes

Production

Development

The series was originally titled as ''Slutty Teenage Bounty Hunters'', created by Kathleen Jordan, and executive produced by Robert Sudduth,

, Tara Herrmann, and Blake McCormick. Sudduth also served as the showrunner. The pilot is directed by

Jesse Peretz Jesse Peretz (born May 19, 1968) is an American film and television director, TV producer and former musician. He first rose to prominence as a bass guitarist and founding member of The Lemonheads, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based band that form ...

. On July 22, 2020, upon series premiere date announcement, the series was retitled as ''Teenage Bounty Hunters'', dropping the word "slutty". The series premiered on August 14, 2020. The official trailer for the series was released on July 30, 2020. On October 5, 2020, Netflix canceled the series after one season.

Casting

On June 28, 2019, Maddie Phillips, Anjelica Bette Fellini,

, and

had been cast in starring roles. Upon the official trailer announcement,

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...

, Myles Evans, Spencer House, Devon Hales, Shirley Rumierk were cast in undisclosed capacities.

Filming

The series was filmed in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

from July to October 2019.

Reception

Kristen Baldwin of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' gave the series a B+ and wrote a review saying, "Brisk and funny, warm and wonderfully oddball, ''Teenage Bounty Hunters'' is a binge everyone— except maybe Old Testament God—can get behind." Reviewing the series for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', Inkoo Kang described the series as "winsome and well-crafted" and said, "''Teenage Bounty Hunters'' is propelled by excellent comic performances by Phillips and Fellini, who don't look all that similar but do share a fizzy chemistry, especially in their crackerjack-timed quips and clairvoyant communications." Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported an approval rating of 93% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 7.23/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Teenage Bounty Hunters'' has snappy one-liners and style to spare, and though its peculiar premise at times fizzles, it's held together by Maddie Phillips and Anjelica Bette Fellini's killer chemistry."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

gave the series a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The series has been included on many best of 2020 television show lists by critics' including ones published on ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

,'' ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

''.

included ''Teenage Bounty Hunters'' on its list on "The Best Overlooked 2020 TV Series". Kathryn VanArendonk praised the show, writing, "It’s snappy and smart, full of sharp twists and emotional revelations but always true to its primary duo, twin sisters Sterling (Maddie Phillips) and Blair (Anjelica Bette Fellini), and their long-suffering bounty-hunter mentor, Bowser (Kadeem Hardison). It has an immediately distinctive voice that supports rather than distracts from the twisty plotting, something mystery shows always aim for and so, so rarely achieve. It’s ''so'' funny, and so legitimately fantastic."

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) 2020 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2020s American black comedy television series 2020s American comedy-drama television series 2020s American high school television series 2020s American LGBTQ-related comedy television series 2020s American LGBTQ-related drama television series 2020s American sex comedy television series 2020s American teen drama television series American English-language television shows Netflix television dramas Bisexuality-related television series Evangelical drama television series Fictional bounty hunters Religious comedy television series Television series about sisters American television series about teenagers Television series about twins Television shows filmed in Atlanta Television shows filmed in Georgia (U.S. state) Television shows set in Atlanta Works about twin sisters Television series about bounty hunters