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| Season Number: | 2 |
| Showrunner: | Christopher Storer Joanna Calo |
| Num Episodes: | 10 |
| Network: | FX on Hulu |
The second season of the American comedy-drama television series The Bear premiered with all episodes on June 22, 2023, on FX on Hulu. Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo serve as showrunners for the season. FX renewed the series for a ten-episode second season in July 2022. Jeremy Allen White stars as Carmy Berzatto, an award-winning chef who returns to his hometown of Chicago to manage the chaotic kitchen at his deceased brother's sandwich shop.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, and Abby Elliott return from the previous season as the supporting cast, with Matty Matheson promoted to a series regular. In July 2022, following the release of the first season, FX renewed The Bear for a second season, which began filming in February 2023 in Chicago, and wrapped in April of that year. The season consists of ten episodes.
The season received widespread critical acclaim, with many reviewers considering it an improvement over the first. It received eleven Primetime Emmy Awards wins from 23 nominations, making it the season of television with the most wins in a single year for a comedy series until the record was beaten by the series' second season. The Emmy wins included acting wins for White, Moss-Bachrach and Colón-Zayas, and for guest stars Jon Bernthal and Jamie Lee Curtis.
In July 2022, following the release and positive reception of the first season, FX renewed The Bear for a ten-episode second season, with Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo returning as showrunners.[1] [2]
Matty Matheson was promoted to a series regular in this season. Will Poulter was cast as Chef Luca after being a big fan of the series.[3] [4] Jon Bernthal reprised his role as Michael Berzatto from the first season. Jamie Lee Curtis, John Mulaney, Gillian Jacobs, Sarah Paulson and Bob Odenkirk were all cast as members of the Berzatto family, with only Odenkirk's casting being announced prior to the season's release.[5]
Series creator and co-showrunner Christopher Storer wrote three of the ten episodes, and co-showrunner Joanna Calo wrote three episodes. The rest of the episodes were written by Karen Joseph Adcock, Catherine Schetina, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Alex Russell, Rene Gube and Kelly Galuska.[6]
Filming for the second season began on February 21, 2023, and wrapped on April 28, 2023.[7] [8] Storer directed seven of the ten episodes, and Calo directed two. The only episode not directed by Storer or Calo was "Honeydew", which was directed by Ramy Youssef.[9] The episode "Forks" was filmed on location at Chicago's two-Michelin-starred restaurant Ever. The restaurant was shut down for one week and turned off its online reservation system to accommodate the filming schedule. Head chef Curtis Duffy cooked all the meals featured in the episode.[10]
The second season of The Bear premiered on FX on Hulu in the United States on June 22, 2023, and became available internationally in the Star hub on Disney+.[11] Along with other Hulu content, The Bear became available to stream on Disney+ in the United States via the Hulu hub on December 6, 2023.[12]
According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, The Bear was the second most watched program across all platforms in the United States during the week of June 22, 2023,[13] [14] [15] and the most during the week of June 29, 2023.[16] According to JustWatch, The Bear was the most streamed television series across all platforms in the United States during the week ending June 25, 2023.[17] According to FX, the second season was the most-watched season premiere in the network's history.[18] [19] According to Whip Media's viewership tracking app TV Time, The Bear was the eighth most-watched streaming original television series of 2023.[20] [21]
On Rotten Tomatoes, 99% of 109 critic reviews are positive for the second season, and the average rating is 9.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Instead of reinventing the menu, The Bears second season wisely opts to toss its lovable characters into another frying pan of adversity, lets 'em cook, and serves up yet another supremely satisfying dish."[22] Metacritic assigned it a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 based on 42 critic reviews.[23]
For the second year in a row, the American Film Institute named The Bear one of the ten best television programs of the year.[24] The Bear appeared on many publications' lists of the best TV shows of 2023, including Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and People, among others.[25] [26] [27] [28]
The season received critical acclaim, with multiple awards nominations and wins. The season won eleven Primetime Emmy Awards for its 23 nominations, making it the season of television with the most wins in a single year for a comedy series, beating the record set by the first season, which won ten.[29] [30] The following is a list of awards the second season of The Bear has been nominated for or won.
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AACTA International Awards | Best Comedy Series | The Bear | [31] | ||
| Best Actor in a Series | Jeremy Allen White | ||||
| AARP Movies for Grownups Awards | Best Actor | Oliver Platt | [32] [33] | ||
| Artios Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Comedy Pilot or First Season | Jeanie Bacharach, Mickie Paskal, Jennifer Rudnicke, AJ Links | [34] | ||
| American Cinema Editors | Best Edited Single Camera Comedy Series | Joanna Naugle | [35] | ||
| Adam Epstein | [36] | ||||
| American Society of Cinematographers Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Episode of a Half Hour Series for Television | Andrew Wehde | [37] | ||
| Art Directors Guild Awards | Excellence in Production Design for a Half Hour Single-Camera Television Series | Merje Veski | [38] | ||
| Astra TV Awards | Best Streaming Series, Comedy | The Bear | [39] | ||
| Best Actor in a Streaming Series, Comedy | Jeremy Allan White | ||||
| Best Actress in a Streaming Series, Comedy | Ayo Edebiri | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series, Comedy | Ebon Moss-Bachrach | ||||
| Matty Matheson | |||||
| Oliver Platt | |||||
| Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series, Comedy | Abby Elliott | ||||
| Liza Colón-Zayas | |||||
| Best Guest Actor in a Streaming Series, Comedy | Bob Odenkirk | ||||
| Jon Bernthal | |||||
| Best Guest Actress in a Streaming Series, Comedy | Jamie Lee Curtis | ||||
| Olivia Colman | |||||
| Sarah Paulson | |||||
| Best Directing in a Streaming Series, Comedy | Christopher Storer | ||||
| Best Writing in a Streaming Series, Comedy | |||||
| British Academy Television Awards | Best International Programme | The Bear | [40] | ||
| Cinema Audio Society Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Series – Half Hour | Scott D. Smith, Steve "Major" Giammaria, Patrick Christensen, Ryan Collison | [41] | ||
| Costume Designers Guild Awards | Excellence in Contemporary Television | Courtney Wheeler | [42] | ||
| Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Comedy Series | The Bear | [43] | ||
| Best Actor in a Comedy Series | Jeremy Allen White | ||||
| Best Actress in a Comedy Series | Ayo Edebiri | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | Ebon Moss-Bachrach | ||||
| Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series | Christopher Storer | [44] | ||
| Ramy Youssef | |||||
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy | The Bear | [45] | ||
| Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy | Jeremy Allen White | ||||
| Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy | Ayo Edebiri | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | Ebon Moss-Bachrach | ||||
| Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | Abby Elliott | ||||
| Golden Reel Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Broadcast Short Form | Steve "Major" Giammaria, Andrea Bella, Matt Snedecor, Evan Benjamin, John Werner, John Bowen, Annie Taylor, Leslie Bloome, Shaun Brennan | [46] | ||
| Outstanding Achievement in Music Editing – Broadcast Short Form | Jason Lingle, Jeff Lingle | ||||
| Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards | Best Contemporary Make-Up in a Television Series, Limited, Miniseries, or Movie for Television | Ignacia Soto-Aguilar, Nicole Rogers | [47] | ||
| Best Contemporary Hair Styling in a Television Series, Limited, Miniseries, or Movie for Television | Ally Vickers, Angela Brasington, Melanie Shaw | ||||
| NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Ayo Edebiri | [48] | ||
| People's Choice Awards | The Show of the Year | The Bear | [49] | ||
| The Comedy Show of the Year | |||||
| The Male TV Star of the Year | Jeremy Allen White | ||||
| The Comedy TV Star of the Year | |||||
| The TV Performance of the Year | Ayo Edebiri | ||||
| Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Comedy Series | The Bear | [50] | ||
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series | Jeremy Allen White | ||||
| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Ayo Edebiri | ||||
| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | |||||
| Ebon Moss-Bachrach | |||||
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Liza Colón-Zayas | ||||
| Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | Christopher Storer (for "Fishes") | ||||
| Ramy Youssef (for "Honeydew") | |||||
| Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series | Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo (for "Fishes") | ||||
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | Jon Bernthal (for "Fishes") | |||
| Bob Odenkirk (for "Fishes") | |||||
| Will Poulter (for "Honeydew") | |||||
| Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series | Olivia Colman (for "Forks") | ||||
| Jamie Lee Curtis (for "Fishes") | |||||
| Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour) | Eric Frankel, Lisa Korpan, and Merje Veski (for "Omelette") | ||||
| Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series | Jeanie Bacharach, Maggie Bacharach, Jennifer Rudnicke, Mickie Paskal, AJ Links | ||||
| Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) | Andrew Wehde (for "Forks") | ||||
| Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Series | Steven "Rage" Rehage, Lariana Santiago, Courtney Wheeler (for "Fishes") | ||||
| Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling | Angela Brasington, Melanie Shaw, Ally Vickers (for "Fishes") | ||||
| Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) | Justine Losoya, Zsofia Otvos, Nicole Rogers, Ignacia Soto-Aguilar (for "Fishes") | ||||
| Outstanding Picture Editing for a Single-Camera Comedy Series | Joanna Naugle (for "Fishes") | ||||
| Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation | Steve "Major" Giammaria, Andrea Bella, Evan Benjamin, Jonathan Fuhrer, Annie Taylor, Jason Lingle, Jeff Lingle, Leslie Bloome, Shaun Brennan (for "Forks") | ||||
| Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation | Steve "Major" Giammaria, Scott D. Smith, Patrick Christensen, Ryan Collison (for "Forks") | ||||
| Producers Guild of America Awards | Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy | The Bear | [51] | ||
| Satellite Awards | Best Comedy or Musical Series | The Bear | [52] | ||
| Best Actor – Comedy or Musical Series | Jeremy Allen White | [53] | |||
| Best Actress – Comedy or Musical Series | Ayo Edebiri | ||||
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Lionel Boyce, Jose Cervantes Jr, Liza Colón-Zayas, Ayo Edebiri, Abby Elliott, Richard Esteras, Edwin Lee Gibson, Molly Gordon, Corey Hendrix, Matty Matheson, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Oliver Platt and Jeremy Allen White | [54] | ||
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series | Jeremy Allen White | ||||
| Ebon Moss-Bachrach | |||||
| Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series | Ayo Edebiri | ||||
| Television Critics Association Awards | Program of the Year | The Bear | [55] | ||
| Outstanding Achievement in Comedy | |||||
| Individual Achievement in Comedy | Ayo Edebiri | ||||
| Jeremy Allen White | |||||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Comedy Series | Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Kelly Galuska, Rene Gube, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Alex Russell, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer | [56] | ||
| Episodic Comedy | Joanna Calo and Christopher Storer (for "Fishes") | [57] | |||
| Alex Russell (for "Forks") |