Let's talk about BoJack Horseman, the new Netflix animated series (starring Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Amy Sedaris, Aaron Paul, etc)

I'm ready to take on Hippopopolous and topple this monstrous acropolis which ensconces us!

Last 2 episodes were so brilliant and sad

Could never imagine it turning out that way from how it started, wow

(Talking about season 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VESKjoxAmZg

spoiler: it looks great

I started watching this on the advice of my daughter, who frankly doesn't have a 100% hit rate for these things, but really kind of loved it. It was the simple jokes that did it for me in the end:

• The first banner with CONGRATULATIONS DIANE AND MR. PEANUT BUTTER PEANUT BUTTER IS ONE WORD DON'T WRITE ONE WORD floored me but then the two callbacks I spotted (as noted upthread) were just great.

• In ep 1 and 2 of S1 Mr Peanutbutter greets Bojack with "what is this, a crossover episode?" while Bojack accuses him of plagiarism. Then in S2 it turns out Hank Hippopolalous said it to them at the 1994 Animal Choice awards first.

• "Hey, I Think You Can Dance" and "Hollywoo Stars and Celebrities: What Do They Know? Do They Know Things?? Let's Find Out!" make me laugh every time.

• Actually, continuing to refer to it as Hollywoo does as well.

• In the S2 finale when Mr Peanutbutter is on the phone to Diane, then says that there's someone that looks really like her in the restaurant.

• Rutabaga Rabbitowotz's constant attempts to grease down his ears.

• Everything sticking to Charlie Witherspoons' hands.

• Every time Vincent Adultman opens his mouth.

So, S3 then. I'll avoid spoilers but:

• More great banner jokes.

• The underwater episode is a joy from start to finish.

• There's a joke that takes all season to pay off. And a callback joke from previous seasons.

• The episode from 2007 uses the same ideas as previous flashback episodes (generic music and shopfronts) and is none the worse for it.

• As with previous seasons, episode 11. Man.

• The Sextina Aquafina episode is possibly my favourite, especially Diane's inability to say "brrap brrap pew pew".

• Although the Oscar nominations episode.

• I could watch a whole season set in the Labrador Peninsula.

apparently i have not been paying close enough attention when watching this.

Watched the the underwater one last night, unexpected but really nice.

(we always pause when there are a bunch of storefronts/billboards/etc in the scene btw, so many good throwaway jokes)

I've found its very easy to zone out and miss a lot of the jokes AND important plot points in this, it requires an amount of focus when I'm used to letting shows like this kind of wash over me. You sort of have to retrain yourself to pay attention vs most tv, I also found myself rewinding not just to catch jokes but also moments where a character inadvertently says something profound about depression or bj's psychology etc

I'm not entirely sure what I think of this show sometimes it's a weird one but the moments of pathos draw me in more than the humor to an extent, it's a very strange juxtaposition

paul f tompkins as mr peanut butter is so good

I really like this show as a comedy but man some of the attempts at dramatic beats are terrible

i feel the opposite. sometimes the comedy is distracting!

i like that it pushed way from being "what if archer was a horse"

Watched season 3, don't know what I think about it. I think the netflix schedule is not for me, the choice is between watching a whole season in a weekend which feels empty, or waiting and having half of it spoiled on twitter. I think I need to rewatch, though, because so much went over my head. Who is Erica and why can't she vote, for instance? Went back and watched the pilot, and there's Erica again, who the heck is she?

Just watched the second episode as well. Because jellicles can and jellicles do.

Wow, I had missed Erica completely.

Rewatching season 1, the common wisdom says it gets much better towards the end, but so much of the first half is classic. Neal McBeal the Navy Seal. Todds rock opera and the introduction of Character Actress Margot Martindale. The stealing of the D. Most of all, it really takes it's time to introduce the concept that BoJack (and Diane) are depressed. The whole Zoe and Zelda spiel is the show in a nutshell. The humor is too Family Guy at times, with stupid cutaways, and the animation got a lot better, but the show was pretty great from the beginning, just patient.

paul f tompkins as mr peanut butter is so good

Peanutbutter is one word

Wife and I gave the very first (and maybe second?) episode a shot. Besides everyone being animals, neither the comedy nor the story really seemed very innovative or creative. Does change much down the road? I'm not sure I understand the appeal based on the start alone, though we weren't inspired to keep going.

The comedy and story does change a bit, it becomes less Family Guy cut-away based. But there continues to be plenty of sitcommy escapades in all three seasons. People watch it for the world and for the characters, who continue to get deeper and deeper.

It Gets Better

I've only watched the first two episodes of S3 so far but the depth of what they're able to do in every single episode continues to amaze me, from throwaway sight gags to slapstick to parody to genuine pathos.

(It wasn't until a couple of hours after watching the first ep. that the joke with the string breaking on the Greg Kinnear marionette, and being instantly replaced, hit me. Because she's a spider.)

Also this is a great read: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/magazine/the-world-according-to-bojack-horseman.html

full of amazing details:

At first, Hanawalt thought the BoJack idea sounded sad and cynical, but she liked the horse part. As a kid, Hanawalt was so obsessed with horses that she sometimes walked on all fours. Her classmates called her Horse Poop and Lady Horse.

ep 4 was good i think but gave me something like claustrophobia or seasickness or something

The last couple episodes of this show are devastating. It's amazing how much I care about these characters despite (or maybe because of) how silly this show is

This underwater episode was awesome.

Finished the third season now. Incredible

It's the underwater episode my mind keeps coming back to. Not even any particular thing that HAPPENED in that episode. Just the feel of it.

i liked that it was all an elaborate setup for a corny joke

no it wasn't and i will fight u

been singing the theme song around the house so much that my 5 year old has been asking my wife to sing "the tv" and now she's singing it too.

finally onboard with this. really impressed that after all this flourishing of indie moody animation that this show has found a new place to take it. feel like the jokes and silly animal touches are basically there to give some padding for the otherwise tremendously bleak outlook of the show. like also how thus far (mostway thru season 2) it feels like its mellowed from utter performative disaster into contemplative melancholy.

The whole list of oscarnominees on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BoJackHorseman/comments/4ufdc9/spoilers_the_complete_list_of_oscar_nominees/

It's pretty amazing. Nominees for best song include: Play That Funky Yahtzee, Nazi and Spotlight Bling (Theme from Spotlight)

I finally finished watching out this season. Good lord did that get bleak. Finding out he didn't get the Oscar nomination was one of the bleakest things I've seen on TV in years. Walking Dead-level bleak.

Got excited when I saw this bumped as thought they'd announced another Christmas special

we just finished all three series inside about five days

um

why is this thread not 500 posts long

I really really enjoyed this after it hit its stride later on in S1

not sure what else I have to say at the moment but the underwater episode is one of the finest animated half hours of TV I've ever seen

People watch it for the world and for the characters, who continue to get deeper and deeper.

― Frederik B

this gets at the appeal, I think. so many subtle references...

(warning: fanboy video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia8IchAc6Fo

roughly speaking, rick and morty:bojack horseman::family guy:the simpsons

so hyped for the new series!

i haven't seen that much rick and mordy but it doesn't seem to be very similar to bojack other than being a cartoon with an alcoholic protagonist

p much

tbf same with family guy and the simpsons right?

Trailer out for the new season. Bojack missing could be a good plot mechanism, because more Mr Peanutbutter.

It's weird how between this and The Leftovers the two best shows on tv are explorations of depression and how it's ok to live that way. (Not counting Twin Peaks because it's transcended tv in many ways.)

hmm, The Leftovers instantly added to interest pile

We've been rewatching all three seasons. It's completely amazing. I have no idea, as I said before, why this isn't a 500-post thread, because this show seems almost precision-tailored to ILX. Oh, and it also follows an exciting arc: each season is slightly better than the previous one. Can they keep that going?

My Family Guy/Simpsons comparison to Rick & Morty was with the aim of showing up the latter in comparison to this tbh, but it's fine to like both I guess

Yeah surprised that ILX not all over this. Judging by my circile of friends - a lot of people (me included) were turned off by the first half of teh first season and it's been a struggle to convince them to give the show a second chance. I admired S03 but felt S02 remained the emotional apex

It's literally series 1 episode 7 (i.e. the exact start of the series' second half) where this goes from amusing to amazing

Kind of off-topic, but new season of live action The Tick starts soon

I can only speak for myself, but after hearing a hundred good things about this show I watched the first few episodes and thought, huh, this is not amazing and in fact I didn't like it at all. So when months/years later I heard the show gets better I just thought, well, I bet it does!

I guess some people just don't deserve this show

lol

" . . . why is this so hard?"

No, I said "D" as in "Birthday Dad"

not sure why fans are compelled to post the most didactic and moralizing bits from it all over twitter tho

I'm sure this show is great and all (seen 3 or 4 episodes, some bits are funny, should probably watch more) but yeah that "all the red flags look like flags" line gets posted everywhere and makes me rmde every time

first few episodes are mostly not great and put me off for a long time but they set up important stuff so you can't skip them either - I imagine a lot of people who'd love what the show becomes have given up too soon because of the generic "edgy adult cartoon" vibe early on

the emotional or moralising moments don't hit nearly as hard when presented out of context though

overall I probably prefer tuca & bertie though I wish I liked the 3rd (apparently last) season more - the first 2 are so good

The first season (especially the first half) is mostly set up because it's not a wrap-it-up in 22 min show. Its multi-ep arcs over season arcs, over multi-season arcs, over series arcs, and over a million other relevant and seemingly irrelevant arcs. Densely layered sight gags, goofy jokes, incredibly smart jokes, devastating subtext, and moments that will make you feel so seen you'll cringe. You need the setup.

I don't think the point of it is to be edgy. It's just not catchy like other adult cartoons. The jokes aren't always easy and neither are the storylines. They're long and complicated, although often they're not. I guess I'm trying to say watching this show is a commitment and you'll probably need to do it a couple of times. Watching a few episodes really isn't going to give you a clue.

And, yeah, the most quoted lines (red flags, etc) aren't going to hit like they would if you first heard them in context but they're such a small part of the series and aren't worth judging it on.

Tuca & Bertie is great, really sucks that it got canceled.

I need to watch Tuca and Bertie. Was it taken down in the great Netflix cancellation flood a few years ago?

I think it predates the flood. It was only carried for 1-2 seasons before getting picked up elsewhere

Season 1 is on Netflix, season 2 & 3 are on HBO 'Max' I believe

ahh okay. Yeah, im just mindlessly watching youtube supercuts these days so I might start this.