The Netflix original BoJack Horseman is an animated comedy, entering its fifth season this year.

Photo credit: Netflix

“He’s so stupid he doesn’t realize how miserable he should be;” a quote from the eponymous character BoJack Horseman. “BoJack Horseman” is an animated award-winning and critically acclaimed show on Netflix, currently entering its fifth season and has yet to be confirmed for a sixth. 

The show follows the life of a washed-up ‘90s Hollywoo (there is an in-universe explanation for the D being missing from Hollywood) D-grade actor named BoJack Horseman, played by Will Arnett, who is shown to be a depressed, alcoholic, drug addicted, self-loathing broken wreck of a man. His life is a complete mess, yet he does not know whether the success that he has obtained is something worth bragging about or worth ending it all. He constantly makes mistakes due to a mix of a horrible childhood and his time spent at Hollywoo, which are factors that have contributed to the man he is today. He is an anthropomorphic horse in a world populated by humans and sentient animals that also all live their own lives. 

In addition to BoJack, the show also follows his close associates and friends Princess Carolyn (played by Amy Sedaris), Todd Chavez (played by Aaron Paul), Diane Nguyen (played by Alison Brie) and Mister Peanutbutter (played by Paul F. Tompkins). Princess Carolyn is a cat and is the headstrong member of the group. She enjoys a life of doing hard work but begins to understand that such a workload is beginning to destroy her and the various aspects of her life. Todd is, at times, the source of the show’s comedy. Diane is a ghost-writer and wishes to do more with her life and shares many similarities with BoJack: hating various aspects of her life and wishing to change them or go back and do them over. Mister Peanutbutter is a Golden Retriever and is shown to be similar to BoJack as well, having a show from the ‘90s, yet he has not managed to become washed up or tired of life but does hide his own secrets. 

The show gives each character equal amounts of screen time and every episode attempts to touch upon their traits, thoughts and beliefs without having them feel like copy-and-character archetypes from other shows. While a dark show, it also excels in telling a well-thought-out story while also delivering on comedy and touching moments. 

When the show gets dark, however, it gets dark. Topics such as suicide, drug abuse, depression and abortion are explored, discussed and deconstructed. While heavy at times, it is absolutely worth a watch. 

The show has been recently confirmed to rerun on Comedy Central sometime in the future. However, should you wish to watch the episodes in order and uncensored, Netflix is the way to go.