The Bear Season 4 premiered on Hulu via FX on June 25, but the Emmy-winning series returned with less traditional fanfare than expected.
While the culinary dramedy has become one of television’s most acclaimed shows since its debut, its fourth installment landed without the kind of media push usually reserved for prestige TV.
Instead, FX’s strategic publicity choices—and silence from the cast and creators—have raised eyebrows across the industry.
A Softer Marketing Rollout
Prior to The Bear‘s first season, FX saturated New York City with advertising. Subway stations and billboards were plastered with images of Jeremy Allen White, best known then as Lip from Shameless.
By contrast, The Bear Season 4 seemed to downshift on physical marketing, though FX insists its campaign was as robust as ever—just more digitally focused, especially on platforms like TikTok.
The shift in strategy may reflect FX’s evolving media approach.
According to a spokesperson, more than 219 journalists across 108 outlets received screeners for The Bear Season 4, though many critics noted they were excluded.
The streamlined access reflects a trend among high-end platforms like HBO to curate press engagement for prestige series.
Press Access: Limited and Delayed
FX had planned a virtual press junket for June 9 to serve both as promotion for The Bear Season 4 and an FYC campaign for Season 3.
That junket was canceled due to “scheduling issues” and never rescheduled. Attempts to secure interviews with stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach were largely unsuccessful.
White is filming a Bruce Springsteen biopic, Moss-Bachrach is preparing for Fantastic Four, and other producers, including creator Christopher Storer, were unavailable.
Despite their media absence, the cast found time to celebrate together. White and Edebiri hosted a private dinner for the crew at Musso & Frank Grill in Los Angeles ahead of the release.
A Restrictive Review Embargo
Adding to the unusual rollout, FX embargoed reviews of The Bear Season 4 until 11:15 p.m. PT on premiere night—exactly six hours and 15 minutes after the season debuted. The reason? That’s the precise combined runtime of all 10 episodes. FX says the timing was not to shield criticism but to avoid spoiling guest stars and plot developments.
Review embargoes are common in TV, but this level of specificity is rare. It reflects what insiders believe is a strong influence from Storer, who has historically prioritized protecting the show’s narrative surprises. In Season 1, even the casting of Oliver Platt was treated as a spoiler.
Balancing Fans and Media
FX remains widely respected among TV journalists for its transparency and access. Its longtime publicity chief, John Solberg, and network chairman John Landgraf are both seen as industry leaders. Landgraf famously coined the term “Peak TV,” and in 2024 declared its end. Yet, The Bear Season 4 marks a rare moment where FX’s media strategy felt more guarded than collaborative.
FX did ask media to place spoiler warnings atop all The Bear Season 4 reviews and delayed the release of episode titles and descriptions until after the premiere. While protecting fans from spoilers is admirable, the approach struck many in the press as heavy-handed.
Critical Reception: Still Positive, But Diminishing
The Bear Season 4 arrived following a divisive Season 3. Though still well-received, it saw a slight drop in both critical and audience enthusiasm. Early reviews for Season 4 continue the trend: generally positive, but less glowing than the show’s meteoric first two runs.
THR’s Angie Han wrote that the new season feels “burnt out from the effort of trying to outdo itself,” calling it a retreat into familiar territory. “The spark that lit up earlier volumes has dimmed significantly,” she observed.
Still, many fans and critics continue to praise the show’s performances and direction. The question looming now is whether The Bear Season 4 is setting the table for a graceful exit or just catching its breath.
A Season Worth Watching—If You Knew It Was On
With all 10 episodes of The Bear Season 4 now streaming, viewers have ample opportunity to form their own opinions. That is, if they knew the show had returned. Given the muted press rollout and limited interviews, casual fans may have missed the premiere entirely.
Even so, FX and Hulu seem committed to letting the show speak for itself—emphasizing viewer discovery and narrative secrecy over media saturation. Whether this strategy pays off long-term remains to be seen, but for now, The Bear is back, quietly but confidently.
