BoJack Horseman came to a close earlier this year when the second half of its sixth and final season bowed on Netflix at the end of January. The series remains a critically acclaimed show which was equally beloved among fans, including those at Hulu. When you consider all of that adoration, you have to wonder: Should it get a spinoff? BoJack Horseman’s creator has weighed in on the potential.
Of all the shows that Netflix cancelled recently, BoJack Horseman still remains one of the most shocking for many fans. Aaron Paul, who voiced Todd Chavez on the animated series, revealed that Netflix decided to “close the curtains” on BoJack Horseman. On the surface of things, it would make sense if Raphael Bob-Waksberg wanted to continue the series in a spinoff. Asked about one, Bob-Waksberg told Collider:
I guess there have been conversations like, ‘Would you be interested in this?’ And my answer is, ‘No, I think we told a story with our characters, and perhaps there are more stories that could have been told with them, but that’s… we can leave that to everyone’s imagination.’ I think, obviously I’ve enjoyed working on Tuca & Bertie, which is not a spinoff and is similar in some ways and a very different world in other ways. They don’t exist in the same world, but I think there’s more you could do with animal characters. There’s more you could do with Hollywood satire. There’s more themes that you could explore from the show. But I think an official spinoff, I don’t really see the point honestly. I feel like we told the story and we explored this world.
When it comes to a BoJack Horseman spinoff, Raphael Bob-Waksberg does not see the purpose for one. He is content with where his landmark show ended. Bob-Waksberg has been outspoken about the show and Netflix in the past. So, if he wanted to do a spinoff, you would think he would say his piece.
From the sound of things, Raphael Bob-Waksberg feels like BoJack Horseman explored its characters and their storylines thoroughly enough. Hence, Bob-Waksberg’s seeming peace in the celebratory video marking the end of BoJack Horseman. That said, he also believes there is further room to dig into the various themes tackled by the series, including satirizing Hollywood. Continuing to discuss a potential spinoff, Bob-Waksberg said:
You know, I think there might be opportunities to maybe reinterpret some stuff down the road, but I think it’s too early to really do that at the moment. If someone wanted to do the BoJack Horseman opera, that might be interesting to me. That’s a different enough thing. But I think anything that tries to take place in the canon of the show or is an extension of the narrative of the show without completely reinterpreting it, I don’t think I would be very interested in personally. But again, it doesn’t belong to me. Literally it belongs to Tornante. They could decide, ‘We want to reboot this property with a hip, young, new creator,’ and so it goes.
There you have it. The decision to do a BoJack Horseman spinoff is actually out of Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s hands, as he explained that Tornante Television owns the show. As Bob-Waksberg points out, they could decide to move forward without him, a decision that would undoubtedly go over as controversial for fans. For his part, Bob-Waksberg is moving on.
Raphael Bob-Waksberg and BoJack Horseman’s Kate Purdy currently have the Amazon Prime Original, Undone, which features Alita: Battle Angel’s Rosa Salazar. It is a vastly different type of television show from BoJack Horseman. However, those who want to continue following Bob-Waksberg’s work should be curious to check it out, especially since a BoJack Horseman spinoff with him as a creator is off the table.
It has to be a tricky thing to say goodbye to the prospect of doing more in that world, for BoJack Horseman’s creator. He poured six or so years into the series, only to have Netflix cancel it, leading to the disappointment of many. The silver lining for fans is that it sounds as though Raphael Bob-Waksberg got to tell all of the stories he wanted to during its run.
You can binge-watch BoJack Horseman in its entirety on Netflix along with newly arriving 2020 content. While you wait to see if a spinoff or anything of that sort ever comes about, check out this fall’s premieres.
