Line #4 WesternAnimation/TucaAndBertie


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tuca.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:A relatable show for modern chicks, and other women too.]]
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4	''Tuca & Bertie'' is an American adult animated comedy series created by Lisa Hanawalt, the production designer and supervising producer for ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'', and executive produced by Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Creator/TiffanyHaddish and ''[=BoJack=]'' creator Creator/RaphaelBobWaksberg. The Tornante Company and [=ShadowMachine=], who also worked on ''[=BoJack=]'', produced the animation.
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6	The show follows the friendship between Tuca (Haddish), a cocky, carefree toucan, and Bertie (Creator/AliWong), an anxious, daydreaming songthrush, two thirty-something bird women who live in the same apartment building. As their lives begin to grow in different directions, they learn about the struggles and sacrifices that come with becoming an adult while holding onto old relationships.
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8	Often described as ''[=BoJack=]''[='s=] more upbeat, peppy, colorful, and less dysfunctional sibling, tackling some of the same topics like mental health and sexism but with a lighter touch thanks to its zanier humor, off-the-wall cartoon animation and preference for happy endings. It's also been called the SpiritualSuccessor to ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife''.
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10	The show's first season premiered on Creator/{{Netflix}} on May 3rd, 2019, with ten episodes. Two months later, Netflix announced its cancellation. A year later, Creator/AdultSwim announced on its Twitter that it would be [[UnCancelled producing a second season]], which began airing on June 13, 2021. It is the second series to make the jump from a streaming network to linear television, following ''[[Series/OneDayAtATime2017 One Day at a Time]]'' (cancelled by Netflix earlier the same year), and the first animated series to do so. Ahead of the second season finale, a third season was ordered for the network. The third season premiered on July 11, 2022. On November 2, 2022, it was announced that the show had been cancelled again after two seasons on Adult Swim.
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12	Watch the trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YExrjQSKOUc here]].
13	----
14	!!Tropes Associated With ''Tuca & Bertie'':
15	* ActorIsTheTitleCharacter: The poster for the series, as seen on this page, states that Tiffany Haddish is Tuca and that Ali Wong is Bertie.
16	* ActorAllusion: Creator/SungWonCho voicing a computer in love with a lamp would sound familiar to viewers who also watch his one-man harem spoof ''[[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyHc3W8oSouCG3RFfYaqwGc41myu6lby Chairem Anime]]'', in which at least one of his characters has a mutual crush on a talking lamp (also voiced by [=SungWon=]). Both series even have [=SungWon=] make a pun about light.
17	* AdvertisingByAssociation: The trailer states that this show is "from the team that brought you ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman''".
18	* AerithAndBob: While not quite to the extent of ''[=BoJack=],'' normal names like Dirk coexist with more pet-like names like Speckle.
19	* AllegoricalCharacter: The moss is one for gentrification. It spreads all through Tuca and Bertie's apartment building as people are being forced to move out, and is used more generally to show corruption affecting the lower-income people of Birdtown, like [[spoiler:it lobbying for moving the money that would be used to help the citizens after a flood to revitalization]].
20	* AnimateInanimateObject: Bertie's phone has her own personality, thoughts, and feelings.
21	* ArtShift: Usually used for flashbacks and similar [[ImagineSpot imagine spots.]]
22	** A flashback in "The Sex Bugs" is done using sock puppets.
23	** "Plumage" uses yarn-like animation to illustrate Tuca's family history.
24	** "Yeast Week" changes the style to similarly scratchy black-and-white charcoal slideshows during two brief flashbacks: young Tuca and her aunt waiting in the emergency room after her mother's [[spoiler:fatal accident]], and Bertie watching Tuca be [[spoiler:taken away in an ambulance after drinking too much]].
25	** In "The New Bird," Tuca has a vision conveyed in claymation.
26	** Bertie's younger self in "The Jelly Lakes" is represented in a paper cut-out style, based off Coach Maple's wife's cracked egg art.
27	** "The Dance" features a dance sequence to portray Tuca's relationships with Kara and Bertie. Kara, her romantic partner, changes Tuca's dance to match her own. Bertie, her best friend, encourages Tuca to dance ''with'' her, not ''like'' her. The scene is done in a simplistic, stencil style.
28	* AuthorAppeal:
29	** In her New York Times article, "Pride and Pestilence," Lisa Hanawalt revealed that she, like Bertie, is obsessively aroused by chaste romantic movies.
30	** Lisa Hanawalt's adoration for horses pops up numerous times throughout the show with Tuca ''and'' Bertie acting especially ecstatic towards horseback riding, and becoming extremely emotional when watching commercials involving horses.
31	* AuthorAvatar: Lisa Hanwalt, like Bertie, deals with anxiety, has experienced sexual misconduct, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking gets turned on by chaste romantic movies]].
32	* BaitTheDog:
33	** Pastry Pete is pretty reasonable when Tuca and Bertie ask for her boyfriend's sugar bowl back, accepting Tuca's ridiculous croissant cookoff; he's impressed when he tastes Bertie's croissants, asking why she's just a "data controller" and offering her a job on the spot. When she politely declines, he gives her an edible business card in case she changes her mind. [[spoiler:Turns out he is a giant jerk that even manhandles Bertie, manipulating her rush on him]].
34	** Kara initially seems perfect for Tuca, warm and fun and understanding of her issues with her aunt, and gently sings her to sleep while Tuca lays her head in her lap. [[spoiler:She later turns out to be extremely controlling and emotionally abusive.]]
35	* BettyAndVeronica: Bertie's two {{Love Interest}}s are her boyfriend Speckle, who is a NiceGuy but a bit bland and boring, and Pastry Pete, who's rich, handsome and charismatic, but also manipulative and disrespectful of boundaries.
36	* BirdPeople: The main cast, including Tuca and Bertie themselves, are birds with humanlike bodies.
37	* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The world of the show has some... strangely built buildings, in comparison to the real world, particularly the buildings with bouncing breasts in the Netflix intro.
38	* {{Bowdlerize}}: Bare breasts did not appear during season 2, in line with the established standards of Creator/AdultSwim.
39	* BrickJoke: In "[[Recap/TucaAndBertieS1E02ThePromotion The Promotion]]", Tuca shouts "Where the Havarti at?" when a client rejects her idea of a dresser filled with ham and cheese. One of the images on Tuca's dating app profile in "[[Recap/TucaAndBertieS2E01BirdMechanics Bird Mechanics]]" shows her with her beak full of cheese and the caption, "Where the Havarti at?"
40	* CerebusSyndrome: While the show maintains its wacky animation style and still has a sense of humor, after "Plumage" reveals Tuca's DarkAndTroubledPast, the show takes a deeper look at the characters' struggle with independence, anxiety, and adult responsibility, and how it affects their relationships.
41	* ChristmasEpisode: The season 1 finale is a [[YouMeanXMas Molting Day]] episode that takes place in the winter (which is interesting for a show released in May).
42	* ComingOfAgeStory: Both the main characters are thirty-something adults still trying to navigate the ins and outs of the responsibilities that come with adulthood.
43	* CostumeTestMontage: Played with in one episode. Tuca is trying to figure out what to wear for her date, but she becomes self-conscious when her mirror starts insulting her body.
44	-->'''Tuca:''' [[LampshadeHanging "Trying on outfit" montages are supposed to be]] ''[[LampshadeHanging fun.]]''
45	* CouchGag: The first dance that Tuca and Bertie does in the opening title sequence of Season 1 changes from episode to episode. [[EvolvingCredits This is particularly noticeable in the gag for "The New Bird"]], where Tuca and Bertie's dancing is ''much'' more subdued, with the two [[spoiler: glaring at each other angrily, reflecting the fight they had in the previous episode.]]
46	* CountryMatters: Per the names of Pastry Pete's two signature creations, the crunt (a cruller crossed with a bundt cake) and the [[SarcasmMode wildly different]] crünt (a bundt cake and a croissant).
47	* CreativeClosingCredits: Starting in season 2, the credits feature an element that matches the theme of the episode.
48	* CryingARiver: In the episode "The Jelly Lakes", there is a gag where Tuca and Bertie have a post-make-up cry. And they start crying so much that it completely floods their car with tears.
49	* ADayInTheLimelight: "A Very Speckle Episode" is this for, well, Speckle.
50	* DeceptivelySillyTitle: "The One Where Bertie Gets Eaten by a Snake" features [[spoiler:Tuca discovering the extent of Figgy's severe alcoholism and breaking up with him]].
51	* DenserAndWackier: When compared to ''[=BoJack=]'', this series is far more animated and contains zanier scenarios. It also features a greater variety of anthropomorphic creatures, including plants and inanimate objects, with humans being much rarer.
52	* DerangedAnimation: While largely following the same animation style as ''[=BoJack=]'', the show also includes a greater amount of custom poses, smears and wild expressions, as well as generally more fluid character animation, making ''[=BoJack=]'' look like nothing but [[LimitedAnimation still drawings]] by comparison. Even the dramatic moments are heavily exaggerated for effect.
53	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Speckle is ashamed of the incredibly unkinky porn video he shows Bertie because it stars [[RaceFetish a bluebird]].
54	* DoItYourselfThemeTune: The theme is rapped and vocalized by Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong.
55	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the first season, the show had a population of both animals, plants, and the occasional human. But starting with the second season, the humans are a lot less prominent, not appearing at all until "Salad Days" in season three (barring a mention in "Corpse Week" as part of a mythical [[MixAndMatchCritters mix-and-match monster]]).
56	* EngineeredPublicConfession: Tuca is sneaky enough to take a video of Pastry Pete threatening Bertie when she confronts him about stonewalling her in "[=SweetBeak=]." After she puts it up on social media, Pete's business is destroyed.
57	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "The One Where Bertie Gets Eaten by a Snake" is indeed an episode where Bertie gets eaten by a snake.
58	* FoodPorn: The baking scenes are usually detailed and delectable looking.
59	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
60	** Both Tuca and Bertie's {{dark and troubled past}}s are hinted at throughout the series before they're revealed.
61	*** When her boss asks if she went to the beach over the weekend, Bertie says she didn't because she's afraid that a giant crab might have tried grab her butt. As it turns out, she has a history of being afraid of swimming due to having her butt grabbed ''and'' giant crabs.
62	*** At one point, Bertie gets Speckle to spank her and call her a bad girl to spice up their sex life, but she ends up crying in the middle of the play. At another point, when Pastry Pete is inappropriate to her, she later masturbates to the thought. [[spoiler:These are hints to some psycho-sexual trouble and her RapeAsABackstory plot revealed near the end of season one.]]
63	** In Season 2, Tuca meets Kara, a laidback nurse whom she instantly hits it off with. While getting to know each other, Kara makes a flippant remark about her ex "always being the victim." [[spoiler:We later see that Kara is an incredibly selfish invididual who refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing, which hurts Tuca when they enter a relationship.]]
64	* FreezeFrameBonus: Onscreen publications, posters, etc. often have amusing text. For example, when Tuca is watching car crash videos in episode 2, one of the suggested videos is titled "[[CargoShip I want to kiss a car.]]"
65	* FurryConfusion: There are feral animals (i.e. actual lions and jaguars) included in this anthro animal world.
66	** Tuca's Aunt Tallulah has non-anthropomorphic birds in her enclosed garden. Additionally, her butler is an anthropomorphic borzoi ([[FurryReminder who barks excitedly when her guests arrive)]] while she has numerous pet Maltese dogs (who Tuca calls her "babies" -- whether that's literal or just a pet name isn't quite clear).
67	** Draca (an anthropomorphic plant) has a lot of non-anthropomorphic pet turtles.
68	** "Kyle" has Tuca guide a small, non-anthropomorphic mother duck and ducklings across the street to a pond... where they're fed by a large anthropomorphic bird.
69	* FurryReminder:
70	** Characters, more often the bombastic ones, make animal noises when upset or excited.
71	** Tuca's ovaries makes shelled eggs. She becomes egg bound, which is a real condition, and after it's surgically removed she's capable of frying it up.
72	** Bertie shouts "CLOACA!" as a curse word at one point. The cloaca functions as a bird's anus and reproductive organ.
73	* GirlbossFeminist: Winter Garcia is a successful pastry chef and businesswoman who is known for her line of mass-produced store-bought baked treats. While she does give Bertie the opportunity to work for her, she also sees nothing wrong with collaborating with Pastry Pete, a known predator and abuser. Winter even helps him cover up his past transgressions by helping him with a woman's mentorship program, fully knowing that Pete has no real interest in helping elevate women and is just looking to sweep his accusations under the rug.
74	* GroceryStoreEpisode: "The Sex Bugs".
75	* GrowingUpSucks: Explored in the sense that Tuca and Bertie are navigating the hurdles that come with being in their 30's, but we see that they had plenty in childhood and college. A subtle theme of the show is that "growing up" never really ends.
76	* HardTruthAesop:
77	** Navigating sexism in the adult world is not as easy as it looks. Bertie even mentions that it would be easier if guys were brimming with red flags, but most aren't. Dirk gets away with StealingTheCredit and fondling women in the workplace because the HR representative has a crush on him and says that he was "just joking" when Bertie reports him; Bertie has to call a sexual harassment seminar and loudly accuse him for every other woman to reveal he also "goosed" them as well. Then there is Pete, a VillainWithGoodPublicity that uses his status to take advantage of Bertie.
78	** "The Deli Guy": PoorCommunicationKills, so you better learn to communicate your wants and desires in a relationship! Tuca ruins her date with the Deli Guy because she can't allow herself to relax and trust someone who has a lot in common with her, especially while sober, and she runs off on him apologizing. Meanwhile, Bertie wants to spice up her sex life with Speckle, at the risk of triggering some trauma. She doesn't have the words, however, to say what she wants, and tries to indulge Speckle's interests first. It takes until the end of the episode for her to admit to Speckle that she just wants to be surprised and add some variety to their routine. Once Speckle realizes that he can surprise her in safe, sane, and sexual ways, the spark in their relationship returns as he transforms their apartment into a British romantic drama roleplay.
79	* IncrediblyLameFun: Bertie asks to see Speckle's favorite porno movie in the hopes of finding out his deepest, darkest desires so she can spice up their sex life. Turns out it's about a loving couple who move in together and have extremely unkinky and respectful sex with each other. The only reason he feels guilty about being turned on by it is because the woman in it is a bluebird. The two of them end up watching the rest of the video like a regular movie, even commenting that the woman is a good actress.
80	* InkSuitActor: Pat, Coach Maple's wife, looks like her actress, Isabella Rossellini.
81	* InternetStalking: In "Vibe Check," Tuca spends a long time scrolling through her new crush Kara's social media, and becomes worried when she likes a very old photo. Thankfully Kara seems cool with it and comments on Tuca's photos teasing her about it.
82	* IkeaErotica: How Bertie describes her formulaic sex life with Speckle, complete with an ArtShift illustrating her descriptions like an IKEA instruction manual.
83	* LampshadeHanging: In "Bird Mechanics", Tuca finds a tube of lip balm on the bus. When she points out that she doesn't have lips, a dog character points out that "none of this makes any sense", at which point she calls him the "logic police".
84	* LaserGuidedKarma:
85	** Pastry Pete's immoral behavior eventually catches up with him when Tuca posts a video of him abusing Bertie, resulting in his bakery getting boycotted. [[HumiliationConga And then he]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext gets shit on by a giant hawk]]. However, [[spoiler:his career resurrects after a phony apology in Season 2]].
86	** All the drinking Tuca's emotionally abusive aunt does finally catches up to her in the Season 1 finale, where it's revealed that she's now in the hospital for cirrhosis.
87	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In the season 2 premiere, the therapist believe that Tuca and Bertie's names sound wrong together and rambles about their names sounding terrible together... cue theme song.
88	* LighterAndSofter: While still not afraid to delve into serious topics, ''Tuca & Bertie'' is considerably far more idealistic and cartoony when compared to ''[=BoJack=]''.
89	* LiteralMinded: While trying to spice up their sex life, Speckle starts spanking Bertie and calling her "a bad bird who needs to be punished." Bertie takes it too literally and starts crying.
90	* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: The series is mostly populated by {{Funny Animal}}s (and Funny Plants, and Funny Inanimate Objects...), but humans occasionally pop up (Lisa Hanawalt has admitted that FurriesAreEasierToDraw for her).
91	* ALizardNamedLiz:
92	** Tuca is a toucan.
93	** Could also double as [[PunnyName Punny Name]], Bertie is a birdie.
94	** Draca is a Dracaena plant.
95	* TheManInTheMirrorTalksBack: A RunningGag of "Mean Mirrors," an actual brand of mirrors that throw a person's deepest insecurities back at them.
96	* {{Mooning}}:
97	** In the episode "The Sugar Bowl", Speckle moons Bertie while talking about how great it is to be able to walk around with his butt out. Bertie wonders aloud why everyone she lives with likes going pantsless.
98	** An example done by proxy happens in "The Deli Guy", where Speckle and Bertie are making love and Speckle decides to press Bertie's bare ass against the window so that everyone in the city can see it.
99	* MoreInsultingThanIntended: In [[Recap/TucaAndBertieS2E07Sleepovers "Sleepovers,"]] Kara playfully teases Tuca about her messy eating habits, snarking, "Who raised you?" This really hurts Tuca's feelings, presumably because, unbeknownst to Kara, Tuca was orphaned at a young age and is still dealing with that trauma. Kara assumes Tuca's just overreacting since [[JustJokingJustification it was intended as a joke]].
100	* NameAndName: ''Tuca & Bertie''.
101	* NaiveNewcomer: Dakota is a tongue-in-cheek version of this kind of character, a young woman in her early twenties from the midwest going to the big city for the first time and eager to start a glamorous career in baking. She drops the naïveté and becomes completely assertive the second Pastry Pete tries to make a move on her.
102	* NoAntagonist: Season 3. Both season 1 and season 2 had unsympathetic characters who helped drive the personal conflicts of the show, such as the familially/finanically abusive Auntie Tallulah, the patriarchally abusive Pastry Pete, and emotional abuser Kara. Season 3 largely does away with overt HateSink antagonists (the central cause of conflict in the season are Tuca's own biological issues) and in fact dedicates episodes to rounding out previously two-dimensional abusers such as Kara and Tallulah, giving them shades of sympathy they'd never had before.
103	* NonMammalMammaries: Not only do the birds and PlantPeople have human-like breasts, but are shown to have nipples when topless too. One of Bertie's breasts even comes to life.
104	* NonMammalianHair: {{ZigZagged\|Trope}}. Owing to Hanawalt's drawing style and the characters' real-world counterparts, neither Tuca nor Bertie have hair. On the other hand, "Sex Bugs" pretty much confirms that Tuca has pubic hair, which goes with the sexual freedom tone of the show. Come season 2, and several more exceptions pop up: Speckle's sister Dottie is a robin with a hair bun, Tuca's twin siblings Tim and Tam both have black moppy hairstyles, Kara has a ponytail, and Bertie used to have a small ponytail herself during flashbacks to when she started dating Speckle. Justified with the family members, who would otherwise look identical to the main cast. It also seems that this "hair" is more highly stylized feathers than actual hair.
105	* NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: Played with. A big reason Bertie can't get Dirk in trouble for sexual misconduct is that the HR woman at her office finds him attractive, making it harder for Bertie or any of the other women she works with to convince her to do something about it. However, when she's manhandled by Pastry Pete, the guy she actually has a crush on, she has to excuse herself to masturbate, and it doesn't hit her just how wrong it is until she sees it happening to [[spoiler:Dakota]], who absolutely sees it as sexual harassment when it happens to her and is furious that Bertie didn't warn her. Bertie later admits to Tuca that [[spoiler:a camp lifeguard took advantage of her when she was twelve]], which led to psychosexual habits and made it harder for her to recognize red flags. Even when confronting Pastry Pete about his misconduct and stonewalling, Tuca needs to push Bertie to see him as the bad guy.
106	* OcularGushers: Used frequently, varying between waterfalls from the eyes to giant, golfball-sized gobs of tears. "The Jelly Lakes" includes a gag where Tuca and Bertie have a post-make-up cry, which floods their entire car with tears.
107	* OneHourWorkWeek: Lampshaded when Bertie floats by her office during the Birdtown flood.
108	-->'''Bertie''': Oh yeah, I forgot to go to work the past couple of weeks again.
109	* OrganAutonomy: After Dirk hits on her in "The Promotion," Bertie's breast literally leaps off her body and spends the next 24 hours getting drunk.
110	* PartiallyCivilizedAnimal: Tuca's pet jaguar is as wild as can be expected of such an animal but, after being taken in by Draca, is seen reading with glasses. She never speaks, though.
111	* PlantPerson: There is an anthropomorphic Dracaena named Draca. Other anthropomorphic plants appear as background characters. They have human bodies like the animal characters, but plants for heads and no eyes.
112	* PrecisionFStrike: Though not to the extent of ''[=BoJack=]'', which famously uses exactly one f-bomb per season for 110% drama, the show tends to reserve its use of "fuck" for when it can have the most comedic effect. The first episode of Season 2, however, uses "shit" several times.
113	* PromiscuityAfterRape: Discussed. When [[spoiler:Bertie]] was a teenager, she was sexually assaulted by a life guard she trusted. As an adult, she has shown and expressed a high sex desire which includes understandable requests like wanting to be more adventurous with her [[spoiler:boyfriend Speckle]] to the disturbed like masturbating after being sexually harrassed by [[spoiler:Pastry Pete]]. During a therapy session, she expressed fear that her sexual assault shaped her sexual preference as she gets aroused fantasizing about predatory men. Though, her therapist does try to comfort her that her sex preference could have developed naturally regardless if she was raped or not.
114	* RapidFireComedy: While the show certainly knows when to slow down for drama, it's generally gag after gag after gag. And even the dramatic scenes have some business that, while played for drama, are still meant to be jokes.
115	* RuderAndCruder: When compared to ''[=BoJack=]'', there is much more casual use of nudity and swearing, especially the word 'fuck', whereas the latter only uses it once per season.
116	* ShoutOut:
117	** The porno that Bertie and Speckle watch in "The Deli Guy" is titled ''Two Birds, One Nest'', a reference to the notorious porn video ''Two Girls, One Cup''.
118	** The Donut Dive in "Yeast Week" ends in hot oil being splashed over some of the audience members, scalding their heads into fried foods just like Patrick did from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' does in "The Fry Cook Games".
119	** The vampire rabbit in "Planteau", with his fangs and white fur with black markings that resemble a cape, is basically [[Literature/{{Bunnicula}} Bunnicula.]]
120	** "Nighttime Friend" has Tuca attend a midnight showing of "Vintage Sexy Campy Movie," an interactive musical which is clearly parodying ''[[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow The Rocky Horror Show]]''. Tuca also introduces her sex lecture by parodying ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', shouting "By the power of attorney!" in the same manner as Adam's [[ByThePowerOfGrayskull power-activating catchphrase]].
121	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Far on the idealistic side. While not without its more cynical or dramatically-grounded moment, this is a show where ThePowerOfFriendship and ThePowerOfLove prevail more often than not and hope exists to amend personal shortcomings.
122	* SpeciesSurname: Bertie's full name is Roberta Songthrush, Tuca's is Tuca Toucan, and their neighbor is a dog named Dapper T. Dog.
123	* StopCopyingMe: Occurs in "Bird Mechanics":
124	-->'''Therapist''': To manually reset your socially neurotic brain, repeat whatever it is your conversation partner is saying.
125	-->'''Bertie''': Repeat whatever it is your partner is saying.
126	-->'''Therapist''': Okay, stop repeating me.
127	-->'''Bertie''': Stop repeating me.
128	-->'''Therapist''': ...you are a very handsome therapist?
129	-->'''Bertie''': [[FlatWhat What?]]
130	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
131	** One episode has Bertie pining to get a higher position in her office, but she has to overcome workplace sexism and her own shyness. She finally prevails in the end... only to find out that the higher position leaves her very busy and keeps her in her office, away from everyone else.
132	** In that same episode, Bertie hosts a mandatory presentation on sexual harassment at her job under the assumption that all of the women Dirk has hit on will come forward about his inappropriate behavior and he'll be guilt-stricken enough to confess all of his crimes then and there. Not only does Dirk have no remorse for anything he's done, but none of her female co-workers feel any obligation to speak up until Bertie tells them they can.
133	** Another episode has Tuca using the boba from a bubble tea as {{bullet seed}}s which, from her perspective, shoot out like regular bullets. Cut to reality, where they all land less than a foot away from her.
134	** Bertie goes on an impromptu, days-long road trip in the middle of the night to deal with some complicated emotions, ends up facing a childhood fear and rekindling her friendship with both Tuca and a former camp councilor, then returns home feeling invigorated and confident to her loving, supportive boyfriend... whom she didn't contact at all during said trip. This causes an AngerBornOfWorry FreakOut from Speckle, who's sick of having to shoulder the burden of every emotional hangup his girlfriend has and doesn't automatically stop being mad when he sees her again. It's what makes Bertie realize that she has to deal with her emotional problems in a way that doesn't hurt her loved ones in the process.
135	** Acknowledged when Speckle and Bertie have make-up sex in "[=SweetBeak=]." Speckle tells Bertie that their relationship isn't automatically "fixed" with make-up sex and that he needs some time, letting her know that she's still going to have to work on her personal issues from here on out.
136	** Earlier, Bertie has to choose between attending an extremely exclusive dinner with Pastry Pete and the rest of the baking world elite or rushing home to Tuca, who's in the hospital having emergency surgery due to ignoring a very clear medical problem. [[spoiler:She chooses the latter. While this would typically be a heartwarming moment of Bertie dropping everything to help her friend, it's instead deeply upsetting for Bertie, who's tired of helping Tuca deal with the consequences of her own actions. Her realization that Tuca lives in a chaotic, disgusting mess of an apartment is the last straw that tips them over into a vicious argument.]]
137	** At the end of season 1, Pastry Pete has been outed for being a total creep and for manhandling several women. [[spoiler: In season 2, it's revealed that he did a half-assed online "apology" and is back in business, having suffered [[KarmaHoudini no apparent long-term consequences for his actions.]]]]
138	** "The Dance" features Tuca realizing her relationship with Kara isn't healthy, as Kara constantly pressures Tuca into changing herself to Kara's liking. With encouragment with Bertie and some self-reflection, Tuca finally speaks up, and Kara seems to consider her words and acknowledge Tuca's feelings. The conversation ends on a hopeful note. [[spoiler:However, come the next episode, Kara has ignored Tuca for two days and continues to do so even when they are face-to-face--ending their relationship by ghosting Tuca. Sadly, one conversation does not guarantee that someone as selfish as Kara will change their ways.]]
139	** In "The One Where Bertie Gets Eaten By a Snake", Bertie pitches some bug shaped cakes to Chef Garcia, who immediately and without ceremony shoots them down. Bertie worked harder on said cakes and believes they're the better idea, and that Garcia would have loved the idea if only she'd pitched it [[ItMakesSenseInContext while inside of a snake]]. She calls Garcia back for a second pitch of the exact same idea, which she fumbles through embarrassingly, and finally gets up the nerve to communicate how much faith she has in her bug concept, to which Garcia...is ''very'' annoyed and unimpressed, telling her in essence that she didn't go with the pitch and it's not Bertie's job to figure out why.
140	* SurrealHumor: For starters, even inanimate objects are anthropomorphized and/or have distinct personalities.
141	* TheStinger: Each episode features one, usually a BrickJoke related to a minor character from earlier.
142	* StrawFeminist: {{Downplayed\|Trope}} with Women Taking Up Space, the feminist group Bertie joins, who are disjointed and unfocused, but not irrational. Their leader is well-intentioned, but doesn't teach other women about standing up to misogyny so much as drill them on unwritten laws of feminism which she expects them to already know (not giving into peer pressure, not saying sorry, etc.). The other members, who are either too assertive or not assertive enough, don't make much progress this way. They end up forming an angry mob outside of Pastry Pete's bakery after the discover that he harassed Bertie, showing that they ''can'' be effective when dealing on a specific, immediate issue.
143	* TrashOfTheTitans: Tuca's apartment is a filthy mess of discarded food containers, furniture and decorations she's dug out of the garbage and various other bits of junk she refuses to throw out. The season 1 finale sees her taking a major step in maturity by cleaning her place up.
144	* UltimateJobSecurity: Becomes something of a running gag for Bertie as the series progresses. Over the course of the second season her job at Conde Nest is given increasingly less focus, to the point that the season finale has her lampshading this by commenting she "forgot to go to work for the past couple weeks again". Come season 3 she's seemingly left Conde Nest and become a baker full time under Winter Garcia...until TheStinger of Salad Days reveals she never actually quit her job at Conde Nest and her old boss Holland is still patiently waiting for her to come back from her "sabbatical"
145	* UnusualPetsForUnusualPeople:
146	** In one episode, Tuca gets a pet jaguar.
147	** Draca is shown to have many, ''many'' pet turtles. Then she takes in Tuca's jaguar.
148	* VisualPun: When Bertie goes to confront the biker, Tuca tells her to watch out in case they have a butterfly knife ("The most dangerous, yet adorable type of knife!"). In a later scene, the same biker is seen carrying a shopping bag with a picture of an actual butterfly knife... With butterfly wings.
149	* VoiceClipSong:
150	** The theme song is Tuca and Bertie saying each other's names over and over to a beat.
151	** The musical score in the first episode while Tuca and Bertie are chasing after a turtle uses samples of Tuca saying "Dirty turtle" and Bertie saying "Go!"
152	** When Pastry Pete's EngineeredPublicConfession goes viral, one person turns it into a remix.
153	* VomitDiscretionShot: After taking a look at the bulge in Tuca's side in "Yeast Week," Speckle gleefully excuses himself and goes into the hallway to retch.
154	* WomenAreWiser: {{Averted\|Trope}}. While plenty of male characters are depicted as being chauvinistic and none-too-bright, female characters are just as accident-prone and arrogant, including the two main characters. One of the running themes of the show is how toxic masculinity often go unpunished not only because of patriarchal societal values or other men who don't want to take responsibility for it but also women who don't recognize it for harassment when it happens or, when they do, aren't sure exactly how to defend themselves from it, if they don't [[NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization enjoy it]] enough to permit it. Even active feminists, while fundamentally well-intentioned, are shown to be somewhat unfocused.
155	* WrittenSoundEffect: Pops up all over the place.
156	* WunzaPlot: One is a quiet songbird who may be too passive for her own good (and her ambitions). The other is a lively toucan whose histrionic public displays should have gotten her in trouble many years ago. Probably one of the first examples to be animated and to deal with this in a mundane fashion and a surreal setting.
157	* YouMeanXmas: Christmas is replaced with Molting Day, about a bird named St. Oriole who refused to migrate with his family, died, and became a ghost who distributes sweets to remind people to love each other. Other than that, it functions almost identically to Christmas: children sing songs like "Silent Night" with slightly tweaked lyrics, Santa Claus can be seen on a poster, and one woman is implied to not celebrate it because she is Jewish.
158	* YouNeedToGetLaid: Tuca believes this of Bertie in "The Deli Guy." Bertie assures her that she's getting laid, just that her sex life is too formulaic.
159	-->'''Tuca:''' Girl, you horny as shit! Speckle not puttin' out?\
160	'''Bertie:''' No, Speckle's puttin' ''in''! Every Tuesday and Thursday, at 7:45 PM.
161	* ZanyCartoon: ''Oh yes!'' While ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' is a dramedy that happens to be animated, this show is a ''cartoon''! Characters bounce around and move quite fluidly, inanimate objects come to life, and the world generally has many colorful quirky details, like the train being a giant snake.

Context WesternAnimation / TucaAndBertie