It's only been a couple of weeks since Lunatics premiered on Netflix. Subscribers of the streaming platform, however, are wondering if the show has been given a second season renewal.
There has been no announcement regarding Lunatics season 2 from the streaming platform as of press time. The show, created by Australian comedian Chris Lilley, has been drawing some controversy on social media and it could impact the show's chances of returning either way.
One of the controversies springing from Lunatics has to do with the political correctness of the characters. According to Elle, some viewers think that Lilley went too far with depicting a woman of color.
This isn't the first time that Lilley used blackface to portray his characters and to make fun of different people, regardless of their age, race and orientation was always his brand of comedy. Though Netflix has not yet commented on the controversy about Lunatics, Lilley's fans argue that the streaming platform must know the kind of comedian they have signed on.
Lilley addressed the Lunatics controversy in an interview, as per Metro. He said that he's not playing different characters just to be trendy.
"When you meet them, you think, "I know that type of person' but then there is a twist, something crazy,'" the actor said. "[In] the end you think, 'Actually, I kinda relate to this, she just did that thing that I do every day.'"
Lunatics features Lilley as six different characters with curious lifestyles and eccentric behaviors. They are the fashion savant Keith Dick, the 7-foot-3 Californian Becky Douglas, the obnoxious 12-year-old Gavin McGregor, the South African pet psychic and lesbian Jana Melhoopen-Jonks, the unsuccessful real estate agent Quentin Cook, and the ex-adult film actress Joyce Jeffries.
Netflix ordered the show to series in 2018, and the production was given a budget of $4.9 million to film in Queensland, Australia as per Deadline. The Prime Minister of Queensland even hailed the decision to do Lunatics Down Under as the production will enable jobs for 250 local actors and 100 crew members. If the show is generating this much help and support, then Netflix might consider giving the series another season.
Lilley wrote, directed and produced Lunatics for Netflix. He based this idea from his other successful mockumentaries like Summer Heights High, which aired in 2007, and Angry Boys, which aired in 2011. The comedian filmed most of Lunatic's first season at the Bond University campus.
