''Santa Clarita Diet'' is an American

horror-comedy Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series created by

Victor Fresco Victor Fresco (born January 9, 1958) is an American television writer and producer. Personal life Born and raised in Los Angeles, Fresco received his Bachelor's Degree in film and political science from Hampshire College. After graduating, he w ...

for the streaming service

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

, starring

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

and

Timothy Olyphant Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...

. Fresco serves as the

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

, and is an executive producer alongside Barrymore, Olyphant, Aaron Kaplan, Tracy Katsky, Chris Miller, Ember Truesdell and

Ruben Fleischer Ruben Samuel Fleischer (born October 31, 1974) is an American film director, film producer, television producer, music video director, and commercial director who lives in Montclair, New Jersey. He is best known as the director of ''Zombieland'' ...

. The series centers on husband and wife

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

team Joel and Sheila Hammond whose normal, mundane lives change dramatically when Sheila shows symptoms of having become a

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

. The bewildered family seek a cure for her condition while dealing with its consequences, such as Sheila's new craving of human flesh and radically altered personality that has become more primal and impulsive. The

single-camera The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, also known as portable single camera, is a method of filmmaking and video production. The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema i ...

series premiered on February 3, 2017. The first season, consisting of 10 episodes, received generally positive reviews. On March 29, 2017, it was announced that

renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on March 23, 2018. On May 8, 2018, the series was renewed for a 10-episode third season and premiered on March 29, 2019. The series was cancelled after three seasons on April 26, 2019.

Plot

Joel and Sheila Hammond are everyday suburban

agents in

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...

. The couple face a series of obstacles when Sheila undergoes a metamorphosis, becomes

undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...

and starts craving human flesh. As Joel and the family try to help Sheila through this, they have to deal with neighbors and

cultural norm Social norms are shared standards of acceptable behavior by groups. Social norms can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into rules and laws. Social normative influences or soci ...

s, and get to the bottom of a potentially

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

mystery.

Cast

Main

as Sheila Hammond, Joel's wife and Abby's mother. *

as Joel Hammond, Sheila's husband and Abby's father. *

Liv Hewson Liv Hewson (born 29 November 1995) is an Australian actor and playwright. Their written work includes "lots of re-imaginings of fairytales and mythology with a queer and dark slant." They starred as Abby Hammond in the Netflix series ''Santa Cla ...

as Abby Hammond, Sheila and Joel's daughter. *

Skyler Gisondo Skyler Augustus Gisondo (born July 22, 1996) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''Licorice Pizza'', ''Booksmart'', and ''Vacation'', as well as the television programs ''The Righteous Gemstones'' and ''Santa Clarita Die ...

as Eric Bemis, the Hammonds' neighbor, Lisa's son and Dan's stepson.

Recurring

Ricardo Chavira Ricardo Antonio Chavira (born September 1, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Carlos Solis in the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2012). He also played Abraham Quintanilla in the Netflix original s ...

as Dan Palmer (season 1), a sheriff's deputy, the Hammonds' neighbor, and Eric's stepfather who is killed by Joel with a shovel and later eaten by Sheila. *

Mary Elizabeth Ellis Mary Elizabeth Ellis (born May 11, 1979) is an American actress, best known for her recurring roles as The Waitress on the FX comedy ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present), Nick's ex-girlfriend Caroline in the Fox sitcom ''New ...

as Lisa Palmer, Dan's wife, Eric's mother, and Sheila's friend. *

Andy Richter Paul Andrew Richter (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and talk show announcer. He is best known as the sidekick for Conan O'Brien on each of O'Brien's talk shows: '' Late Night'' and ''The Tonight Show'' on NBC an ...

as Carl Coby, the Hammonds' obnoxious boss. *

Richard T. Jones Richard Timothy Jones (born January 16, 1972) is an American actor. He has worked extensively in both film and television productions since the early 1990s. His television roles include '' Ally McBeal'' (1997), '' Judging Amy'' (1998–2005), '' ...

as Rick, a Santa Monica police officer, the Hammonds' neighbor, and Joel's friend. *

Joy Osmanski Joy Osmanski is a South Korean-born American actress. She is best known for her wide range of comedic roles on the TV shows ''The Loop (U.S. TV series), The Loop'', ''Samantha Who?'', ''True Jackson, VP'' and ''Devious Maids''. Joy is also known ...

as Alondra, Rick's wife and Sheila's friend. *

Kaylee Bryant Kaylee Marie Kaneshiro Bryant (born November 1, 1997) is an American actress and model. She is known for portraying Josie Saltzman on The CW television series, ''Legacies'', a role she played from 2018 to 2021. Biography Bryant grew up in Sou ...

as Sarah, a classmate of Abby and Eric's. *

Nathan Fillion Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...

(seasons 1–2) and

Alan Tudyk Alan Wray Tudyk ( ;; born March 16, 1971) is an American actor. His film work includes roles in '' 28 Days'' with Sandra Bullock (2000), ''A Knight's Tale'' with Heath Ledger (2001), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' with Vince Vaughn (2004) ...

(season 3) as Gary West, a realtor and the Hammonds' co-worker. He is the first person Sheila kills and eats who later turns into a zombie, though only his decayed, severed head remains and is kept by the Hammonds out of guilt. * Natalie Morales as Anne Garcia, a religious sheriff's deputy and Dan's partner who becomes romantically involved with Lisa after Dan goes missing. *

Thomas Lennon Thomas Patrick Lennon (born August 9, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, director, and novelist. He plays Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the series ''Reno 911!'' Lennon is an accomplished screenwriter of several major st ...

as Andrei Novak, the principal of Santa Clarita High School. *

Ramona Young Ramona Abish Young (born in Los Angeles, California) is a Chinese American actress. She is known for her recurring roles on the television series ''Man Seeking Woman'', ''The Real O'Neals'', and ''Santa Clarita Diet''. Young is also known for he ...

as Ramona, a wise Rite-Aid employee who turns out to be a zombie. *

Sydney Park Sydney Park is a recreational area in the inner-city area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The parkland is located in the suburb of Alexandria, sitting along the borders with Newtown and Erskineville. Sydney Park is the third largest p ...

as Winter, a classmate of Abby and Eric's who is in environmental club with them. *

Grace Zabriskie Grace Zabriskie (' Caplinger; born May 17, 1941) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Sarah Palmer in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), Lois Henrickson in '' ...

as Mrs. Bakavić (season 1), Novak's Serbian grandmother. *

DeObia Oparei DeObia Oparei (born 7 December 1971) is a British actor and playwright. He is best known for his roles as the Gunner in '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' (2011), Rongo in ''Dumbo'' (2019), and as Boastful Loki in ''Loki'' (2021). ...

as Loki Hayes (season 1), a convicted felon. He turns into a zombie when Sheila is unsuccessful in killing him. *

Jonathan Slavin Jonathan Slavin (born November 8, 1969) is an American actor and activist. Early life Slavin was born in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Career Slavin portrayed illustrator Byron Togler on the Fox netw ...

as Ron, an asylum inmate, who was later released and who Joel told his little secret to in season 2. Ron later becomes a zombie in season 3, by forcing Gary to bite him. *

Joel McHale Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and television host. He is best known for hosting ''The Soup'' (2004–2015) and his role as Jeff Winger on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015). He has performed i ...

as Chris, a realtor who is married to Christa *

Maggie Lawson Margaret Cassidy Lawson (born August 12, 1980) is an American actress who is best known for her role as Detective Juliet "Jules" O'Hara in the TV show '' Psych''. From 2018 to 2019, she held the recurring role of Nathalie Flynn on Fox's ''Leth ...

as Christa, a realtor who is married to Chris *

Zachary Knighton Zachary Andrew Knighton (born October 25, 1978) is an American actor, most widely known for starring as Dave Rose on the ABC comedy series '' Happy Endings''. Prior to that, he co-starred as Dr. Bryce Varley on ABC's science fiction series ''Fl ...

as Paul (seasons 2–3), Marsha's husband and a descendant of the Knights of Serbia, who has been tasked with ending the zombie outbreak * Jee Young Han as Marsha (season 2), Paul's wife, who is helping him with the mission to end the zombie outbreak *

Ethan Suplee Ethan Suplee (; born May 25, 1976) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''American History X'', ''Remember the Titans'', ''John Q'', '' The Wolf of Wall Street'', ''Without a Paddle'', and several ...

as Tommy (season 3), Paul's brother, former Marine Corps sniper, crossbow enthusiast and a descendant of the Knights of Serbia, who has taken over his brother's mission *

Shalita Grant Shalita Grant (born August 28, 1988) is an American actress best known for portraying NCIS Special Agent Sonja Percy on '' NCIS: New Orleans.'' She is also known from her roles on ''Mercy Street, You, Santa Clarita Diet,'' and '' Search Party.'' ...

as FBI Agent Tess Rogers in season 3 *

Matt Shively Matthew James Shively Jr. (born September 15, 1990)
PopTower.com. No date. Acces ...

as Christian (seasons 2–3), a student at Abby and Eric's school who is also Chris and Christa's son *

Linda Lavin Linda Lavin (born October 15, 1937) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing the title character in the sitcom '' Alice'' and for her stage performances, both on and off-Broadway. After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Co ...

as Jean, a woman Sheila delivers Meals on Wheels to and is later turned into a zombie by Sheila. *

Goran Višnjić Goran Višnjić (; born 9 September 1972) is a Croatian actor who has appeared in American and British films and television productions. He is best known in the United States for his roles as Dr. Luka Kovač in '' ER'' and Garcia Flynn in '' Tim ...

as Dobrivoje Poplović (season 3), a man who works in Serbia who is transferred to Santa Clarita

Guest

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series '' Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for wh ...

as Dr. Cora Wolf, a scientist focused on the undead. *

Markie Post Marky or Markie may refer to: Nickname * Marky Cielo (1988–2008), Filipino actor and dancer * Marky Delgado (born 1995), American soccer player * Markie Mark (born 1974), BBC Radio director * Marky Markowitz (1923–1986), American jazz trumpete ...

as Becky, a client of the Hammonds'. *

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

as Dr. Hasmedi, a virologist. *

Ryan Hansen Ryan Hansen is an American actor, entrepreneur and comedian. He is best known for starring as Dick Casablancas on the noir drama series ''Veronica Mars'' (2004–2019), as Kyle Bradway on the Starz comedy series ''Party Down'' (2009–2010), and ...

as Bob Jonas, Lisa Palmer's lover. *

Derek Waters Derek Matthew Waters (born July 30, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for his work on the television series ''Drunk History'' (2013–2019), which earned him eight Primetime Emmy Award n ...

as Anton, a conspiracy theorist. * Ravi Patel as Ryan, a convention goer. *

Gerald McRaney Gerald Lee McRaney (born August 19, 1947) is an American television and film actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows ''Simon & Simon'', '' Major Dad'', ''Promised Land'' and ''House of Cards''. He currently stars ...

as Ed Thune, a retired army colonel. *

Leo Howard Leo Howard (born July 13, 1997) is an American actor and martial artist. Howard is known for incorporating his karate skills into his feature film and television roles; as "Young Snake-Eyes" in the 2009 action film '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobr ...

as Sven, a classmate of Abby and Eric's who goes on a date with Abby. * Malcolm Barrett as Morgan, a friend of Ron's in season 3. *

Miraj Grbić Miraj Grbić (born 17 July 1976) is a Bosnian–American film, television and theater actor. Biography Grbić graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo at the University of Sarajevo, where he earned an M.A. degree in acting. Sin ...

as Vlado *

Kerri Kenney-Silver Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series ''Reno 911!'' and previously for her sketch comedy work on MTV ...

as Petra Blazic (season 3), Grand Prior of the Knights of Serbia.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2017)

Season 2 (2018)

Season 3 (2019)

Production

Development

Fresco came up with the premise from wanting to make "a family show with an interesting approach that we haven't seen before". The zombie angle also allowed Fresco to explore the concept of

narcissism Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism exists on a co ...

: he stated "the undead are the ultimate narcissists. They want what they want when they want it and will do anything to just have what they want and don't care about other people's needs." For the setting, Fresco drew from his own experience growing up in

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

Santa Clarita Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17t ...

was chosen because of its

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

residents. The Hammonds' profession as

realtors The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is an American trade association for those who work in the real estate industry. It has over 1.4 million members, making it one of the biggest trade associations in the USA including NAR's institutes, so ...

was chosen because "it gets them out into the world" as well as the "forced friendliness" inherent to the profession.

Promotion

Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod appeared in a Canadian promo for the series, promoting the eponymous "diet" in a parody of their ''Body Break'' series of television

PSA PSA, PsA, Psa, or psa may refer to: Biology and medicine * Posterior spinal artery * Primary systemic amyloidosis, a disease caused by the accumulation of abnormal proteins * Prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme used as a blood tracer for pros ...

s. In February 2017, advertising for the show sparked criticism in Germany, where Netflix promoted the show with posters depicting a human finger sliced up like a

currywurst Currywurst () is a fast food dish of German origin consisting of steamed, fried sausage, usually pork (german: Bratwurst), typically cut into bite-sized chunks and seasoned with curry ketchup, a sauce based on spiced ketchup or tomato paste to ...

, a popular German

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...

dish. After receiving more than 50 complaints that the advertising was glorifying violence and inducing fear, especially in children, the German Advertising Council, a self-regulatory institution, forwarded the complaints to the company. Netflix then decided to end the campaign and remove all posters.

Critical reception

The first season of ''Santa Clarita Diet'' received generally positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the season has an approval rating of 78% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 7.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Santa Clarita Diet'' serves up an excellent cast, frequent laughs, and an engaging premise — but the level of gore might not be to everyone's taste."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

reports that the first season received "generally favorable reviews" with a score of 67 out of 100, based on 30 critics. The second season received generally positive reviews as well. The season has an approval rating of 89% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 7.85/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus states: "''Santa Clarita Diet'' rides the momentum of its freshman season with non-stop comedic gore and a big heart that bleeds — profusely — for its lovable characters." The third season has an approval rating of 100% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 7.78/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Santa Clarita Diet'' third season is a generous meal of entrails, morbid humor, and a touching affirmation of marital love — with Barrymore and Olyphant's pitch-perfect chemistry brightening each blood-soaked installment."

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018) 2010s American black comedy television series 2010s American horror comedy television series 2017 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings Cannibalism in fiction English-language Netflix original programming Murder in television Santa Clarita, California Television series about dysfunctional families Television series about marriage Television series created by Victor Fresco Television shows set in Los Angeles County, California Zombies in television Television series by Kapital Entertainment