Say neigh to critics of Bojack Horseman.

"I know that I can be selfish and narcissistic and self-destructive, but underneath all that, deep down, I'm a good person, and I need you to tell me that I'm good."

Wasn't my horse pun hilarious!?

In 3 days I've completed season one of Bojack Horseman and I absolutely loved it. I was hooked after just a few episodes and made sure to finish the season as soon as I could. With my optimism regarding the show in mind, I was quite surprised to see the critic’s stance on it was negative to mixed at best. The show is currently averaging some incredibly low scores over at big name review sites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, which are compiled together from many different professional reviews. The user score on the other hand is generally very positive, which begs the question, what were the reviewers expectations and how much of the show did they actually watch?

 

Critics have panned the show for being unfunny and have specifically called out the main character for being incredibly unlike-able... I couldn't disagree more! This is not your typical type of show, it's not funny in the same way adult themed cartoons usually are, sure there is an abundance of hollywood satire, complete with numerous sex, drug and alcohol references; but the show is much more than that. The episodes link together in a much different fashion to shows like Family Guy which unfortunately I feel it has drawn comparison to. The irony is that the latter show has been beating a dead horse for approximately half as long as the Simpsons has.

Bojack Horseman is a show which is quite evidently designed for marathon style viewing, it is exclusive to Netflix and all the episodes are available to be watched in one sitting. That’s where it’s strength lies, it’s very similar to the most recent season of Arrested Development by comparison, the true enjoyment cannot shine through without watching the rest of the episodes. If you just pick up one episode out of nowhere the show probably won’t hook you. This could be a problem if you were likely to watch a random episode out of the blue, but it is a Netflix original, if you watch one on there you can watch them all. This type of format adds to the show incredibly. Again, much like Arrested Development, running gags are established very effectively with each passing episode. But that still isn't where I think critics have misjudged the show most.

The show makes a switch very early on in it's vibe and it creates such a unique and odd viewing experience. It becomes as much of a drama as it is a quirky little comedy and some of the things Bojack deals with are actually quite hard hitting. I actually managed to get emotionally invested in it which was a real shock to me, I was emotionally invested in Will Arnett playing the role of a talking horse man. As previously mentioned some critics have panned the character of Bojack for being too unlikeable, and I think that is truly funny. He's one of the most messed up characters I've ever seen in a cartoon, but despite being an anthropomorphic talking horse he is much more human then any other cartoon lead character I've seen before. There's a real unexplainable monster in his being and I really wanted to see his story unfold.

This is by no means the best show I've seen, but I do recommend watching it regardless of what critics have been saying. It's an interesting original show which highlights that cartoon animation can still provoke something without being outright stupid. Watch the first few episodes, if you're anything like me you'll be hooked in no time.

Thanks for reading.

P.S Both the Intro and End Credits to this show are so awesome.