FUBAR is an American action comedy television series created by Nick Santora for Netflix. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first leading role in a scripted live-action television series, and it is produced by Skydance Television 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. In August 2025, the series was canceled after two seasons.
Contents
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
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Luke Brunner
Monica Barbaro as Emma Brunner
Milan Carter as Barry, the CIA technical operations officer of Luke's team
Gabriel Luna as Boro Polonia (season 1), a powerful arms dealer
Fortune Feimster as Roo, a CIA operative on Luke's team
Travis Van Winkle as Aldon, a CIA operative on Luke's team
Fabiana Udenio as Tally Brunner, Luke's ex-wife and Emma's mother
Jay Baruchel as Carter, Emma's boyfriend who is a kindergarten teacher
Barbara Eve Harris as Dot (season 1; guest season 2), a regional CIA director who tasked Luke and Emma to work together as a team
Aparna Brielle as Tina, the NSA data analyst brought in to support Luke's team
Andy Buckley as Donnie, Tally's boyfriend
Guy Burnet as Theodore "Theo" Chips (season 2), a former MI6 agent who works with Greta and is interested in Emma romantically
Carrie-Anne Moss as Greta Nelso (season 2), a former East German spy who had a romantic past with Luke
Recurring
Devon Bostick as Oscar, 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, Oscar's wife
Scott Thompson as Dr. Pfeffer, the operational psychologist that Dot brought in to conduct Luke and Emma's mandatory joint therapy sessions
Adam Pally as The Great Dane
Enrico Colantoni as Reed (season 2), the interim regional CIA director replacing Dot
Notable guest stars
Tom Arnold as Norm Carlson, a CIA torturer
Kevin McDonald as Todd Demps, an activist scientist
Old 97's, performing one of their own songs, portrays the house band in Tallinn when Emma and Chips dance
Episodes
Production
Skydance Television first announced that it was developing an untitled spy television series for Arnold Schwarzenegger to star in and make his scripted live-action television debut in August 2020. Shortly afterward, Monica Barbaro was cast as the lead opposite Schwarzenegger in the series where a father and daughter are both CIA officers, unbeknownst to the other. Netflix 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 was announced as director and executive producer of the pilot episode in May, and a July casting announcement added Adam Pally. While in production, the series used the working titles Utap and FUBAR.
Filming for the first season began in April 2022 in Antwerp, Belgium around Grote Markt. Additional filming took place in Toronto, where Schwarzenegger was seen re-teaming with former True Lies 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, Carrie-Anne Moss 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. On August 1, 2025, Netflix canceled the series after two seasons due to a steep decline in viewership for the second season.
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 website Rotten Tomatoes 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 Arnold Schwarzenegger's earlier career triumphs, FUBAR is just OK." Metacritic, 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".