‘Tuca & Bertie’ Creator Lisa Hanawalt on Exploring Period Pain and Reproductive Health in Season 3: ‘Doctors Dismissing You is Very Common’
Michaela Zee editor Although “Tuca & Bertie” navigates difficult subjects such as mental health and sexual assault, creator Lisa Hanawalt isn’t trying “to be overtly political or topical” with her series. “I’m just telling stories from my point of view — things that affect me and my friends, and the things we’ve experienced,” she said. The adult animated sitcom revolves around best friends Tuca Toucan (Tiffany Haddish) and Roberta “Bertie” Songthrush (Ali Wong), two anthropomorphic bird women living in the fantastical city known as Bird Town. In the recently completed third season on Adult Swim, the series highlighted two topics seldom covered on screen: menstruation and reproductive health. “So many of the women I know suffer from endometriosis, from PCOS [polycystic ovary syndrome], from cysts,” Hanawalt said. “It’s such a huge problem, and it’s surprisingly difficult to diagnose.”