“We were lost and now we’re found, and we’re…Horsin’ Around!”
While it wasn’t given the prestigious push that House of Cards received, or the genre fan acceptance that Hemlock Grove inspired, Netflix’s raunchy animated comedy BoJack Horseman made its surreal, boozed-up debut on the streaming service this past weekend. (Maybe you heard me laughing in the night and wondered what the freakish sound was.) Netflix must have been impressed with the initial response, as they’ve already signed up for Season 2.
Unsurprisingly, Netflix hasn’t released any numbers detailing just how many people have hit the site to tune into the series since BoJack’s August 22 debut, but it must have been pretty sizeable. Critics have been pretty kind to the series, with most championing its weirdness and twisted take on the life of a formerly famous person – or horse, in this case. Plus, it’s got one of the best ensemble casts this side of Arrested Development. (Netflix synergy!)
Will Arnett plays the titular BoJack Horseman, the former star of the cheeseriffic sitcom Horsin’ Around, in which he takes care of three human children. Think Charles in Charge, only with Charles as a pun-spewing sweater-wearing horse. (“A horse of a different…cruller?” is probably my favorite joke in the whole series.) Just give a listen to this fabulous theme song.
Now a past-his-prime alcoholic living in a swank-ass mansion, BoJack intends to reinsert himself into pop culture with a tell-all autobiography, only he’s too lazy to write it himself, so a ghostwriter named Diane (Alison Brie) joins him. On the business/romance side of things, BoJack has an on-and-off sexual relationship with his agent Princess Carolyn, a cat voiced by the ever-wonderful Amy Sedaris, but he wouldn’t say neigh to getting Diane in the sack. She just happens to be dating his rival, Mr. Peanutbutter, a fellow former TV star voiced with indubitable glee by Paul F. Tomkins.
BoJack’s housemate Todd, voiced with perfectly subdued mania by Aaron Paul, just kind of hangs around all the time, judging BoJack’s Horsin’ Around obsession while sometimes getting into trouble. There’s a revolving door of guest stars as well, including Patton Oswalt and Kristen Schaal.
Created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg (The Exquisite Corpse Project), BoJack Horseman seems like it received one of the quickest season orders ever, but Netflix is known for this kind of thing. They ordered a third season of House of Cards before Season 2 was even released. I can’t wait to see what kind of awfulness these characters get into, though I’ll have to wait an entire year to do so. In the meantime, I’m just going to sit here looking at the intentionally awful BoJack website while singing along with the theme over and over again. No visitors, please.
