Bojack Horseman Review: Will Arnett Is A Formerly Famous (And Spardoically Humorous) Horse

A Horse Is A Horse, Yes Of Course

Television is a constantly evolving medium, with color bringing new possibilities to storytelling and marketing in the 50's. The more recent, yet somehow slightly quaint, innovation of a Tivo gave one more ease in recording programs. Netflix has been another evolution for television, and a seismic one in terms of impact. Prior to 2013, the idea of Netflix entering original programming through the streaming service that had helped give birth to their 2011 "Qwikster" debacle seemed like a joke.

But Emmys, acclaim and success greeted their 2013 programs and that kind of tremendous success has only grown in 2014. Orange Is the New Black is nothing short of a phenomenon, and Bojack Horseman hopes to be the next big victory for the streaming service. It attempts to differentiate itself by being an animated program aimed at adults, the kind FOX and Adult Swim have churned out on a regular basis, but few others have found success with. Netflix doesn't buck that trend here, but at least what they have is entertaining enough. 

I watched the first two episodes of the show, which centers around a conceited horse named Bojack Horseman (played by Will Arnett) that used to star in a cheesy sitcom, for this review and they didn't really ignite any sort of major response, positive or negative. I'm glad it mainly avoids the shock value humor of Family Guy that gets tiresome after a while. There's also the prevalent source of humor in the show where animals (who in this universe are the same height as humans, as well as having the ability to talk, have jobs and wear clothes) retaining noticeable animals traits despite their more "evolved" appearance. 

Much of the humor is at its best when it takes a cue from that and relies more on the visual humor possibilities animation brings, like Bojacks struggle with his breakfast. Whenever it goes for more routine sexual or "controversial" humor, things don't work out as well. The second episodes plot revolves around a misunderstanding resulting in people thinking Bojack hating the troops, and it really doesn't work since it's apparent the story is just there to get a reaction out of people instead of furthering the characters or doing something really humorous. Real pity, as those kind of moments waste the talented cast the show has, which consists of great actors like Will Arnett and Allison Brie (though Aaron Paul remains constantly funny in both episodes, for what its worth)

I will give props to the show for trying an interesting approach to storytelling with these two episodes. They seem to be part of a larger story arc revolving around Bojacks memoirs (which does allow the audience a deeper glimpse into Bojacks history without it coming across as gratuitous) It's not like the kind of long-form story that Breaking Bad told, but I am pleased they're taking advantage of Netflix putting all the episodes up at once to tell a bigger story in a season than, say, Family Guy would. It's not perfect, especially in humor which makes up a big portion of the first two episodes, but Bojack Horseman is pleasant enough when it goes for more innovative humor and storytelling which, to the shows credit, are used to good effect in numerous instances.