Time to Grow Up: ‘Big Mouth’ (and the Pains of Puberty) to End After Season Eight

Jon Blistein
·2 min read
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BigMouth_Season5_Episode9_00_11_28_09 - Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
BigMouth_Season5_Episode9_00_11_28_09 - Credit: Courtesy of Netflix

Thankfully puberty doesn’t last forever, but unfortunately the same has to be true of Big Mouth: The animated Netflix series, which has offered a hilarious, unsparing look at the horrors and joys (but mostly horrors) of early adolescence will end after its eighth season.

The show’s end isn’t exactly imminent, with Season Seven set to air this year, and Season Eight premiering in 2024. The stories in the final seasons will dovetail a bit with Big Mouth spin-off, Human Resources, which will end after its upcoming second season.

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Nick Kroll — who co-created Big Mouth with his childhood friend Andrew Goldberg, as well as Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett — joked in a statement, “If you would have told adolescent Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg that middle school would take 8 years to finish, they would have been like ‘yeah, that sounds about right. This seems like it will never end.’”

Netflix’s director of adult animation, Billy Wee, added, “Big Mouth is a towering achievement in animated comedy that will make Netflix history for its longevity. We are thrilled that we still have two more hilarious seasons to share with fans before this brilliant coming of age story reaches its conclusion.”

Big Mouth debuted in 2017 and, when it ends next year, will earn the distinction of being Netflix’s longest-running series (outside its kids and family programming). The show centered around characters based on Kroll and Goldberg, with Kroll voicing Nick and John Mulaney voicing Andrew. The show’s core cast featured Jason Mantzoukas, Jessi Klein, Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele, and Fred Armisen, while recurring and guest stars included Natasha Lyonne, Kristen Wiig, Bobby Cannavale, Ali Wong, Jean Smart, Martin Short, and even Tyler, the Creator (who voiced Jesus in Season Six).

During its fourth season, Big Mouth notably undertook a significant cast change, with Jenny Slate stepping aside as the voice of Missy — a kind, nerdy, biracial character — and Ayo Edibiri taking over the role. The decision came amid greater conversations about representation in TV (Slate is white, Edibiri is Black), and the shift coincided with the Big Mouth writers exploring Missy’s blackness more.

“It’s exciting to me to be on a show that I love with people that I love and respect and look up to,” Edibiri told Rolling Stone at the time. “There was definitely an adjustment period that’s probably still happening. But I feel supported by the people in the cast and crew of the show.”

So far in its tenure, Big Mouth has won a pair of Emmy Awards, both of which have gone to Maya Rudolph for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. The show was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program in 2021.

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