''FUBAR'' is an American

action comedy The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the America ...

television series created by

Nick Santora Nick Santora (born 1970) is a writer and producer born in Queens, New York. He won the Best Screenplay of the Competition in the New York City Independent International Film Festival. He has also written for and/or produced ''The Sopranos'', ' ...

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 ...

. It stars

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

in his first leading role in a scripted live-action television series and is produced by

Skydance Television Skydance Media, LLC, also known as Skydance Productions, is an American media production and finance company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company specializes in films, animation, television, video games ...

and Blackjack Films. The series premiered on May 25, 2023. In June 2023, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on June 12, 2025.

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.

Cast

Main

as Luke Brunner *

Monica Barbaro Monica Maria Barbaro (; born June 17, 1990) is an American actress. She began training in ballet at an early age, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from New York University. She began acting soon after college, taking on small roles in ...

as Emma Brunner * Milan Carter as Barry Putt, the CIA technical operations officer of Luke's team *

Gabriel Luna Gabriel Luna is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider on the ABC action superhero series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2016–2017), Tony Bravo on the El Rey Network drama series ''Matador'' (20 ...

as Boro Polonia (season 1), a powerful arms dealer * Fortune Feimster as Ruth “Roo” Russell, the CIA operative of Luke's team *

Travis Van Winkle Travis Scott Van Winkle (born November 4, 1982) is an American actor, best known for starring in the feature film ''Accepted (film), Accepted'' (2006), the 2021 You season 3, third season of the Netflix Streaming television, streaming television s ...

as Aldon Reece, the CIA operative of Luke's team *

Fabiana Udenio Fabiana Udenio (born December 21, 1964) is an Italian-Argentine actress. Born in Argentina to Italian parents, she grew up in Rome. She may be best known for her role as Alotta Fagina in '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' and for p ...

as Tally Brunner, Luke's ex-wife and Emma's mother * Jay Baruchel as Carter Perlmutter, Emma's boyfriend who is a kindergarten teacher *

Barbara Eve Harris Barbara Eve Harris (born Barbara Evadney Reid-Hibbert; March 8, 1959) is a Canadian actress, known for her supporting performances on television. She may be best known for her role as FBI Agent Felicia Lang on ''Prison Break''. Life and career ...

as Dot Okoye (season 1; guest season 2), a regional CIA director who tasked Luke and Emma to work together as a team * Aparna Brielle as Tina Mukerji, the

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

data analyst brought in to support Luke's team *

Andy Buckley Andrew Patrick Buckley Jr. is an American actor and former stockbroker, best known for his role as David Wallace on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' from 2006 to 2013. Early life Buckley is the son of Barbara J. (King) and Andrew P. Buck ...

as Donatello “Donnie” Luna, Tally's boyfriend *

Guy Burnet Guy Burnet is a British actor. Early life Burnet attended Holland Park School where his interest in drama first developed, taking an A level in the subject. Before becoming an actor, Burnet aspired to become a professional footballer. He atten ...

as Theodore "Theo" Chips (season 2), a former MI6 agent who works with Greta and is interested in Emma romantically *

Carrie-Anne Moss Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–present). She has starred in '' Memento'' (2000), for ...

as Greta Nelso (season 2), a former East German spy who had a romantic past with Luke

Recurring

Devon Bostick Devon Bostick (born November 13, 1991) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his main role as Rodrick Heffley in the ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' film series (2010–2012). His other lead roles include ''Adoration'' (2008), '' Dead Before Dawn 3D'' ...

as Oscar Brunner, Luke and Tally's son and Emma's brother * David Chinchilla as Cain Khan (season 1), Boro's right-hand man * Stephanie Sy as Sandy Yoon-Brunner, Oscar's wife * Scott Thompson as Dr. Louis Pfeffer, the operational psychologist that Dot brought in to conduct Luke and Emma's mandatory joint therapy sessions *

Adam Pally Adam Saul Pally (born March 18, 1982) is an American comedian and actor. He first earned recognition for starring as Max Blum in '' Happy Endings'', as Dr. Peter Prentice in ''The Mindy Project'', as Wade Whipple in ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (202 ...

as The Great Dane *

Enrico Colantoni Enrico Colantoni (born February 14, 1963) is a Canadian-American actor and director, best known for portraying Elliot DiMauro in the sitcom '' Just Shoot Me!'', Keith Mars on the television series ''Veronica Mars'', Louis Utz on the short-lived ...

as Reed (season 2), the interim regional CIA director replacing Dot

Notable guest stars

* Tom Arnold as Norm Carlson, a CIA torturer

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2023)

Season 2 (2025)

Production

Skydance Television first announced that it was developing an untitled spy television series for

to star in and make his scripted live-action television debut in August 2020. Shortly afterward,

was cast as the lead opposite Schwarzenegger in the series where a father and daughter are both CIA officers, unbeknownst to the other.

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 Phil Abraham is an American cinematographer and television director. He worked on all six seasons of ''The Sopranos'', initially as a camera operator, then as a cinematographer and eventually as an episodic director. He won the 2008 Primetime ...

was announced as director and executive producer of the pilot episode in May, and a July casting announcement added

. While in production, the series used the working titles ''Utap'' and ''FUBAR''. Filming for the first season began in April 2022 in

Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp (; ; ) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after Tournai and Couvin. With a population of 565,039, ...

around Grote Markt. Additional filming took place in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where Schwarzenegger was seen re-teaming with former ''

True Lies ''True Lies'' is a 1994 American action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a U.S. government agent, who struggles to balance his double life as a spy with his familial duties, ...

'' 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,

was cast to star opposite of Schwarzenegger for the second season. Filming for the second season began on April 29, 2024, and concluded on August 30, 2024, in Toronto.

Release

''FUBAR'' was released to stream on Netflix on May 25, 2023. The second season was released on June 12, 2025.

Reception

For the first season, the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

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 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

's earlier career triumphs, ''FUBAR'' is just OK."

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 ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 48 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average". 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. The second season has a 46% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "''FUBAR'' doesn't mess with its formula beyond recognition in a second season that's not without its charms but still hampered by clunky scripting." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average".

References

External links

* * {{Skydance Media 2020s American comedy-drama television series 2023 American television series debuts American English-language television shows Netflix television dramas American spy television series American spy drama television series Television series about the Central Intelligence Agency Television series by Skydance Television Television shows filmed in Belgium Television shows filmed in Toronto