It Sounds Like ‘The Sack Lunch Bunch’ Isn’t Coming Back

You can probably unpack that PB&J, chips, and juice box: It sounds like “John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch” isn’t coming back to Netflix — or even to Comedy Central.

Mulaney has called the (excellent) Netflix variety series for children his “favorite thing I ever did,” a sentiment he echoed on “My Next Guest with David Letterman and John Mulaney” — the episode of Letterman’s long-form interview show premiered April 30, 2024 on Netflix.

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Letterman asked Mulaney what that ranking suggests for the future.

“I loved doing it and, you know, Netflix was like, ‘Oh, cool, you gonna do standup again?’” Mulaney said. (The answer: Yes, with the Emmy-winning, post-rehab special “Baby J” in 2023.)

Mulaney’s line got a laugh from the Chicago audience, but it didn’t sound like a joke. In the comic’s retelling, it is clear the streamer had pretty quickly moved on from “The Sack Lunch Bunch” and focused on the comedian’s bread and butter: stand-up. Mulaney has debuted three stand-up comedy specials on Netflix: the (also) Emmy-winning “Kid Gorgeous” (2015), “The Comeback Kid” (2018), and “Baby J” (2023).

A Netflix rep did not immediately respond to IndieWire’s request for comment on Mulaney’s remark.

“The Sack Lunch Bunch” was a send-up of the kids shows Mulaney grew up with, but it was also earnest in its intentions. Mulaney made that clear right up front.

“What you’re about to see is a children’s TV special, and I made it on purpose,” Mulaney says to open the series. “It’s a show for kids, by adults, with kids present.”

“That type of variety programming just didn’t exist anymore and I was really into it and still want to find something to do [with it],” Mulaney told Letterman.

For a little while, it appeared he had. Seven months after “The Sack Lunch Bunch’s” Christmas Eve 2019 premiere, Comedy Central ordered a pair of “Sack Lunch Bunch” specials, including a holiday special that was to reunite the cast. Mulaney had a preexisting relationship with Comedy Central: He was once an intern at its parent Viacom and last had a standup-comedy special there in 2012. Quite the promotion.

Sadly, the “Sack Lunch Bunch” specials never happened. Instead, COVID did — and then Mulaney entered rehab following a fall 2020 intervention confronting him with his drug addiction. His addiction, the intervention, and his treatment were the subjects of Mulaney’s “Baby J” special.

A spokesperson for Comedy Central did not immediately respond to IndieWire’s request for comment on the specials that never were.

Ah well. We’ll always have Jake Gyllenhaal as Mr. Music.

Mulaney’s new live Netflix series, “Everybody’s in L.A.,” is described as a “comically unconventional show” featuring guests and field pieces from the ground in Los Angeles. It is part of the streamer’s annual celebration of comedy, the “Netflix Is a Joke Fest.”

“Everybody’s in L.A.” debuts May 3 on Netflix, with additional episodes streaming nightly from May 6-10. Each episode premieres at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET.

Just remember kids: there’s music everywhere.

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