Grade: A-
“BoJack Horseman,” an animated sitcom with a great cast, achieved a perfect tone of clever comedy and heartbreaking drama during its first season. Season two’s premiere episode, “Brand New Couch,” captures this tone perfectly.
Will Arnett plays BoJack Horseman, a washed up actor who was the star of a “Full House”-like sitcom in the 1990s. After years of bitterness and various addictions, he has finally been cast to play his hero Secretariat in a movie. But his newfound positive attitude gets in the way of the harrowing role.
Some of the best comedies on TV have a high density of jokes. “BoJack Horseman” is one such show, and it has many jokes in a wide diversity of styles. The show has a great excess of wonderful puns, sight gags and comedy coming from the characters’ personalities.
“BoJack Horseman” has a wonderfully surreal sense of humor and not just because half of its characters are sentient animals. My favorite character is Vincent Adultman, Princess Carolyn’s boyfriend, who is heavily implied to be three boys standing on top of each other in a trench coat. Alison Brie gives her best performance yet as the childlike Adultman.
The rest of the supporting cast is similarly excellent. Paul F. Tompkins is great as the ebullient Mr. Peanutbutter, who has a great storyline in the episode “After the Party.” Amy Sedaris is very funny and expertly handles some great wordplay.
But what really sets “BoJack Horseman” apart from other brilliant comedies is its aching heart. Few sitcoms, contemporary or otherwise, attain the tragic depth “BoJack Horseman” consistently achieves.
Wendie Malick, as Horseman’s verbally abusive mother, articulates the dark lesson of “Brand New Couch” near the end. She brilliantly delivers a monologue about how Horseman is broken and being broken is an inseparable part of him. The fact this speech helps Horseman does not take away from her message, but merely proves her right.
It’s a more depressing version of the lesson “Inside Out” delivered about the importance of sadness. “Brand New Couch” is not as depressing as the aptly named “Downer Ending,” but it is still a perfect blend of humor and pathos the best episodes of “BoJack Horseman” have.
I’ve seen the first four episodes of the second season of “BoJack Horseman.” The highest compliment I can pay is I am typing this review furiously so I can go watch the remaining eight episodes in one long marathon.
Jesse Pasternack
