• Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019
Netflix renews "Grace and Frankie" ahead of season 5 debut
This image released by Netflix shows Lily Tomlin, left, and Jane Fonda in a scene from the comedy series "Grace And Frankie." (Ali Goldstein/Netflix via AP)
  • LOS ANGELES (AP)
  • --

As the fifth-season adventures of "Grace and Frankie " begin, viewers can rest assured there's more to come.

Series creator Marta Kauffman and Netflix said Tuesday that the series starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin has been renewed for season six, due in 2020.

Kauffman said she was hopeful the comedy would keep going, given that "we certainly feel the love" from streaming service Netflix.

But the decision announced before Friday's season-five release "is greatly appreciated," she said. "I don't take it for granted."

When last seen, Grace and Frankie were fleeing a retirement community in a golf cart to resume life in their oceanfront home — only to find a "sold" sign in front of it.

What's in store for the mismatched pals, who were thrown together when their respective husbands Robert and Sol (Martin Sheen, Sam Waterson) declared they were longtime lovers and moved in together?

"Everybody said, 'Oh, that was a real cliffhanger when you lost the house last season,'" Tomlin, who plays Frankie, said. "Well, wait until you see this season."

Kauffman also weighed in, carefully, on how Grace and Frankie will fare in the upcoming 13 episodes.

"Without spoilers, they're going to spend a great deal of time trying to figure out how to get their house back," she said. "But honestly, what they get to very quickly about life at that age is the idea you can finally just say (expletive) it."

"Friends" creator Kauffman had such an epiphany of her own two years ago, at age 60, that she describes as a "startling discovery." It spoke volumes.

"I don't have to finish every book I start," she said. "There are too many books in the world. I mean that's a very small piece of it. But that that is my version of it. ... I am at a certain age and I don't have to put up with anybody's (expletive)."

She was mum on how that plays out on the series, sharing only that romance may lie ahead for the women and the men will have experiences separate from the world of their exes.

For Tomlin, happiness is a given.

"I'm always excited for the show. Because I love Jane, I love playing with her. We have a great family on the set," she said.

AP Entertainment Writer Ryan Pearson contributed to this report.


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