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

The Netflix description which says "He's a curmudgeon with a heart of...not quite gold...but something like gold. Copper?" is so damn misleading, it took me a long time to come round to the show because I had it at the back of my mind while watching episode after episode of him being a complete arsehole.

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2019 season is nominated in the 2019 ILX TV poll:

ILX's Best Television of 2019 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends January 31

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (4 minimum, 25 maximum, organized by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail by end of day today. It'll take five minutes; get to it!

New (last) eps out now!

Some welcome discussion about depress ion/meds so far, to talk about when folks have seen it

ugh can i talk about one of the episodes. i'm not anywhere near done yet and i don't think of it as a major spoiler

I’m game

the Hollyhock storyline probably went how it should but was still heartbreaking

damn just watched all of these, O__o face the whole time

being plunged into diane’s writing process was like watching a horror movie about my own life

Just finished the last 4.

Todd scene on the beach probably my favourite part of the final season.

just finished the penultimate episode

this is the best season of bojack and one of the best seasons of television ever

Can't wait, will dive in this week.

just starting E13

Hollyhock's "leave a message... if you're 100" thing kills me, so glad they've called it back once already

also the shop girls "omg she's taking the call" about Diane

I don't know if they've done this joke before but there was a very funny background reference to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_selfie_copyright_dispute in one of the new episodes

'I could try propositioning some young men on set, that's bound to end well!'

Last few episodes destroyed me.

Virtually perfect final episode

The scene where Diane’s boyfriend’s son gives her book feedback, revealing he both read it and liked it, was great

Amazing sign joke in the last episode

"I'm thinking about going with a different company'

Laughing once again

The scene where Diane’s boyfriend’s son gives her book feedback, revealing he both read it and liked it, was great

Yes! The little effort they put into him here (and many of the minor characters) - loved it.

DIdn't really like the final scene but no idea what I would've preferred.

Do v v much like the Paige Sinclair spin-off formulating in my head tho.

Holy shit missed that Paige is voiced by Paget Brewster. Outstanding.

Amazing

bojack horseman is my favorite show on tv, so in honor of it ending i made bojack-themed posters for this year’s Oscars pic.twitter.com/0btroscFdZ

— demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) February 9, 2020

I've felt burdened for weeks now by the A+ niche background in-joke where, at the comedy club toward the end, there is the wall of comedians' pictures, and Kristen Schaal is on it, and of course ... Kristen Schaal is a horse

I've felt burdened not only because this is the kind of hilarious micro-reference that you really can't share via explanation with anyone else, but also because it's meant weeks spent with the original old "Kristen Schaal is a horse" chant stuck in my head 24/7

I would now like to pass this situation along to anyone else who recalls the whole "Kristen Schaal is a horse" bit from, like, two presidents ago

I like to imagine the entire complex animal-world of this show was invented solely to lead up to a scene in which Kristen Schaal is a horse (Sarah Lynn is an elaborate misdirect)

that's an unbelievable catch. kristen schaal is indeed a horse.

I noticed that Easter Egg, but didn't realize it went that deep.

Another Easter Egg, this time stitched into the finale: Kelsey's superhero movie (discussed in the 6A finale) was made, with both Gina and Courtney, as proven by a billboard seen over Mr. Peanutbutter's shoulder in the last diner scene.

BTW, Here is a screencap w/the Schaal pic.

Another screencap, with added Paul F. Tompkins!

aw, brody stevens and garry shandling

george marlin!

Last few episodes destroyed me.
Virtually perfect final episode

I feel the same way pretty much. I also loved that they made one of the main characters asexual

There are so many lines in this I still feel like they must have copied off of some meme somewhere. First and foremost 'When you look at someone through rose-tinted glasses, all the red flags just look lige flags'. But Dianes thing about how her marriage to Mr Peanutbutter never seems to make sense when you look at it but like a magic painting, if you squint just right, it becomes the most beautiful thing in the world. 'But I'm so tired of squinting...' The show is insanely well written. Free Churro...

When you look at someone through rose-tinted glasses, all the red flags just look lige flags

I'm pretty positive I had heard that (or a v similar variation) before tbh

I just binge watched the whole season over the last 2 nights. felt strangely comforting for some reason.

for some reason the "lied about dating Natalie Portman" presumably a piss-take of Moby on the whiteboard really cracked me up

Nearly finishing season one. It's very funny but in a very Simpsons-y way at times. Just an FYI question...from the opening post when exactly does this get better, or does something new?

I recently did a big rewatch of the whole thing over a couple of weeks but do find it hard to pin down when it really gets good as there are certain storylines I disliked over the first few seasons. But if you're not sold enough by episode 4 of season 3 then that's probably that.

It gets better at the end of S1E7 but S2 is a marked improvement overall and then S3 and S4 are very great. Last two seasons not so much but still have their moments

4 = 3 > 2 > 6 > 1 >>> 5, where 1 is 'good'

I thought the whole thing was fine, not great, never noticed any particular jump in quality. By 'not great' I guess I mean it didn't speak to me personally, I enjoyed the wordplay and sight gags more than the tale of a depressed substance abusing washed up horse actor.

The show explores more of the other (far more sympathetic than Bojack) characters flaws and feels as it develops which really helps but that's a problem/challenge from the outset with most shows (animated or not) that only seem to get greenlit in the first place because they're initially revolving around a destructive abusive male.

I'm now more conflicted about S6 in retrospect. had some amazing episodes/bits, but it really did relitigate previous plotlines entirely too much, it was laborious and overly punishing, and there's a revelation about a previous event that makes BH entirely too much of a heel - it didn't need to go there

they could have condensed S5 and S6 into one season and wrapped it up - they didn't need to have TWO 'Bojack gets cancelled' seasons in a row

6pt2 > 2 = 3 = 4 = 6pt1 > 5 = 1pt2 >>>>>> 1pt1

first stretch by far the weakest in the series, I can see why so many people give up after a few episodes, assuming it's something else entirely

quality pretty consistently high from late s1 onwards imo, some things improved on rewatch. I get thinking 5 is a slight dip but the notion that it's actually bad or something is just weird. unless you just reeaally hate any kind of meta awareness on the show (which felt pretty necessary by that point tbh)

BJ didn't even get cancelled at all until late s6 despite everything, even then seems to be only temporary, which felt grimly realistic

i think it's sorta unsatisfying bc it mostly eschews character growth esp for bojack who i feel like maybe they intended at some pt to redeem but instead decided it would be more satisfying to just have him suffer for his sins. everyone is pretty miserable at the end.

maybe more "realistic" to depict "once a fuck-up always a fuck-up" but consequently less fictionally resonant somehow?

if he's "redeemed" somehow it feels a bit much given everything he's done, if he's appropriately punished it undermines the whole thing about powerful men getting away with shit that runs through the whole show, etc.

there are signs he may genuinely do better after the finale (he seems a bit more thoughtful, he likes honeydew now), his public rehabilitaiton seems inevitable, but possibly as an edgy Louis CK type figure, he may relapse and fuck up again, who knows, if you wanted closure i guess it's disappointing

i think the philbert stuff in 5 is really tiresome, like the question of "are we condoning this shitty dude behavior if we write a character whose whole personality is shitty dude behavior" is maybe the least interesting question the show asks in its entire runtime

6 nailed the cancellation plot imo

unless you just reeaally hate any kind of meta awareness on the show

lol maybe this is me. i don't think it was written particularly well though

but it really did relitigate previous plotlines entirely too much

for me it was like they spun a bunch of previous plot threads into this total car crash, it was both riveting and horrible (in a good way) to watch

of course, audiences hate meta [plotlines], when will [cartoon comedy-drama] writers learn?

I may be too kind to s5 bc I sympathise with the impulses behind it idk. still think “BJ the Feminist” is essential, Vance is such a great/horrible character, even more so in his return

Thanks all I'll carry on for a bit longer (instead of re-watching Seinfeld)

i’m more horse than a man (I’m more man than a horse)