Live Blogs Pannic's BoJack Horseman Blog

Pannic2016-05-31 17:37:06

So we begin our first episode of the show. Now, one thing that's important to know about this show going in is that the first few episodes are... not the best. It doesn't start to really get good until the second half of the season. Now you might be thinking "so about a quarter of the show isn't very good?" And you'd be, um... I'm really not making the best case. Let's just get going, shall we?

We start with a scene from Horsin' Around, before going to a segment with someone explaining what the show was about; a young bachelor horse who takes in three human orphans. It's a dumb, saccharine show that has little to no substance but is popular with the audience and goes on for nine years. A riff on the likes of Full House (which also bafflingly got a Netflix revival); if you pay attention during the show and look at the Horsin' Around segments, you'll note that the house depicted fits the Standardized Sitcom Housing trope to a tee.

So this introduction gives way to an interview with the star of the show, twenty years after it ended. He... is not in the best shape. He starts off by apologizing for being late and parking in a handicapped spot. And he's drunk. "Is it just me, or am I nailing this interview?"

The interviewer, Charlie Rose, asks him about what he thinks made the show successful with audiences, and Bo Jack answers:

If there's a weakness to the show is that in seems to tip its hand a little early in terms of the character psychology. I find the interview very telling. But it's something that shows that while the show isn't blowing your mind, there's something interesting to watch. It's why I didn't go "eh" and hang up after three episodes.

Then the interview asks what he's done in the 18 years since the show's cancellation. The answer? Nothing.

Roll the intro.

So BoJack looks like he's a fairly typical animated sitcom protag. A fat, lazy asshole who drinks too much. Never seen that before. Only difference is in this show he's a celebrity and also furry. But wait and see...

We then move to Bojack's fancy house, where we are introduced to Todd, played by Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame. If you find the protagonist of this show too insufferable, you might like him. He's a goofy comic relief character. Who is he? Some bum who wandered into his house and stayed.

He says while he mixes a smoothing with carrots and pills. They have a little expository conversation where Todd tells him he thinks he "secretly [has] a good heart."

The dialogue is snappy and Will Arnett nails the role perfectly. The sense of jaded cynicism leads itself well to a lot of great one-liners. Somehow I could also see H. John Benjamin playing the role. That'd be interesting if he could say some of his dialogue, because his attitude and speaking patterns are fairly similar to Archer.

Ah, I love Todd. There's also a running gag about people eating all of BoJack's toaster strudels.

We then cut to a diner (with an animal sight gag of raccoons going through a dumpster; there are lots and lots of animal-related sight gags) where Bojack is talking with his publisher, who's a penguin (who works at Penguin). Bojack is supposed to be writing a memoir, but he hasn't started yet, and the publisher is antsy because they don't have any money. Bojack assures him he's making great progress, which gives way to a Cutaway Gag of him being unable to say anything into a tape recorder for an entire day. This is followed by a joke about how people don't buy books.

Yeah, there are a fair number of cutaway gags in the series. Another thing that probably led a fair few viewers to write the show off. And to be sure, a decent number of them, particularly here, aren't that funny, as we see one where he's talking to his girlfriend, a pink cat named Princess Carolyn, who is upset that he doesn't respect her enough to have a baby with her.

The publisher suggests that he work with a ghostwriter, but Bojack assures him that he'll get him some pages in a week, and that the memoir is a "top priority" for him. Cut to him a week later in a bathrobe watching old episodes of his tv show. He spends a lot of time watching his old show. This is important. He even sings along with the theme song.

Todd speculates that he's bummed out because Princess Carolyn dumped him, which... wait. They do a cutaway gag/flashback within the flashback? Huh. That might not be the best form.

There's an amusing bit where, as the restaurant, BoJack observes that he doesn't like the bread that much, but keeps eating it. Little gags like that, I think, help to make the character more relatable. Of course, his self-absorption leads to Carolyn's frustration as she tries to talk about their relationship.

Actually it was Emily Mortimer. Yes, in the universe of this show, Emily Mortimer fucked a horse.

Also the animal-related gags do not stop. So many puns. Like "Lululemming."

We are then introduced to Mr. Peanutbutter, a cheerful yellow Lab and fellow actor. He's friendly towards BoJack, who doesn't reciprocate because A. he's kind of dim, and B. Mr. Peanutbutter had a show that had almost the exact same setup as his, which he resents. Obviously a lot of comic foiling going on, with the cheerful idiot and the snarky cynic.

So after Mr. Peanutbutter butts in and then butts out, Princess Carolyn definitively breaks up with him.

BoJack drives Carolyn home, mumbling about how he ate nine baskets of bread and is "going to feel like a fatass all week"

"Dumb guy eats bread, gets fat, the end."

Back with Todd. He suggests that BoJack throw a party so he'll feel better. BJ doubts this, suspecting that all he'll do is eat cotton candy until he barfs. Cue Cutaway Gag.

Then comes the reveal that BJ didn't take her to her home. So BJ drives her to the general location before literally kicking her out of the car. Then BJ gets a call, and... it's Princess Carolyn. She's not just his (ex-)girlfriend. She's his agent. Prides herself on being able to separate her personal life from her professional life.

He agrees to meet, and we cut to the Penguin publishing house, which is run down because no money. Pinky Penguin is shocked to find that BJ hasn't written anything. He says they're going to hire a ghostwriter, Diane Nguyen (whose last name causes him some pronunciation trouble). Turns out she also write the biography for Secretariat, one of BJ's idols (this will be important later).

Back at the apartment, BJ bemoans his situation, while Todd tries to calm him down. BJ says his problem is he wants everyone to like him, which surprises Todd. Todd suggests that he invite her to the party, which frustrates BoJack, who wants to know why Todd is so obsessed with having a party. "Because parties are fun?" Todd asks, after two cutaways involving him getting on the wrong side of a central American drug cartel boss who threatens him if he can't get a place for his daughter's quinceanera. I'm guessing this is an allusion to Aaron Paul's role in Breaking Bad.

BJ is uneasy about handing the book off to a stranger, because it's important to him. PC (who's at his house because they had sex the night before) asks him why he's written "literally nothing in a year and a half." BoJack says that it's a lot of pressure; his memoir is his one chance to preserve his legacy. And this causes him to collapse.

We then cut to a hospital, where the doctor pronounces him dead. Then he goes out of the room to tell the orphans from Horsin' Around that he died of a broken heart because they didn't love him enough, and they're going back to the orphanage.

Cut to the hospital room with the very alive BoJack is lying, watching the episode.

I like the banter between BoJack and Carolyn a lot. Their snarky cynicism lets them bounce very well off each other.

The doctor enters and informs him that it was a mild anxiety attack, and that he simply needs to take it easy, Carolyn protests that he spends all his time sitting on his ass, wondering how he could possibly take it any easier than he already is. This turns again to the ghostwriter, causing him another anxiety attack.

At Todd's final insistence, BoJack agrees to the party, as long as there isn't a cotton candy machine.

A promise that the next scene reveals that Todd doesn't keep. BoJack finds himself indifferent, apart from mildly taking offense to a piñata. And also the presence of Mr. Peanutbutter (who repeats his "crossover episode" joke). However, he does meet the ghostwriter, Diane (Alison Brie).

Their conversation starts awkwardly, but they manage to get along. It goes along to BoJack explaining why he doesn't like Mr. Peanutbutter: he had a show called Mr. Peanutbutter's House, which as I mentioned earlier, had the same premise as BoJack's own show.

Diane tells him about the actor who played the dad on The Brady Bunch to try to make him feel better. Honestly, in terms of, like, character drama, this is the best scene in the episode. The two of them interact well and it gets into an introspective tone that will define a lot of the show in general. It also leads to the best cutaway gag in the episode.

However, they agree to the ghostwriting deal. If you might find yourself shipping the two, it turns out that Mr. Peanutbutter is her boyfriend. Cue BoJack vomiting all that cotton candy. This gag, like a Family Guy gag, goes on for a bit too long.

The first episode of the show is not particularly funny. There's a lot of good snark and dry cynicism, and the main character himself makes a decent first impression, but none of the jokes are very laugh-out-loud funny and you'd be forgiven for thinking of it as just another adult animated sitcom. But stick with me and the show, and we'll see how it progresses.

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