#bhs5

“You say you want to get better and you don’t know how.”

In a statement, BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg offered a few more details about Season Five. “This season finds BoJack starring in a new TV show called Philbert, playing a character with disturbing parallels to BoJack’s real life, echoes that force BoJack to confront himself and his past in ways large and small, but the main thing that happens this season is Diane gets a haircut,” he said. “We spent a lot of time figuring out the haircut – the style, the volume, the bounce, the sheen – and we’re really proud of the way it came out.” 

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BoJack Horseman Season 5 (available September 14)

Why Should I Watch? BoJack Horseman is the story of a horse who used to be a TV star, isn’t all that famous anymore, and now just gets drunk all the time to keep living in the past. This, in an of itself, is a pretty funny premise. Sure, Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s animated series can delve into existential darkness with the same force of a Mad Men or a True Detective, but it remains a comedy throughout — frames are filled with visual jokes, interstitial transitions are quick, silent puns, and the charming character design always evokes a light, calming tone. How the great series balances its heavy material with laugh-out-loud comedy makes it uniquely powerful, as well as a must-watch, year after year. Bonus Reason: BoJack Horseman has been on every single best-of-the-year list IndieWire has written (No. 10, No. 5, No. 1, and No. 5, respectively). It won top honors in 2016, and it’s never seen a significant drop-off in quality. There’s no reason to think Season 5 won’t be one of the year’s most resonant programs, so do yourself a favor, and put this at the top of your to-do list.

BoJack Horseman was always planning to show the dark side of show business

Next week, season five of BoJack Horseman will premiere on Netflix and, judging by the trailer, this season will find our equestrian protagonist returning to those same self-destructive cycles of abuse he seems incapable of escaping. But before we dive into the questions we have going into this new season—like, “What did BoJack screw up this time?” and “Why is he being shot in that one promo image?”—let’s take a look back the inception of this unlikely hit show with an oral history from Vulture, which, much like the show itself, features a lot of nuts-and-bolts Hollywood production talk but is centered around a kernel of artistic passion. The biggest takeaway from reading stories from producers, animators, and actors, is the singular voice of BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg. From the very beginning, it was apparent that he had a unique idea for a TV show and that only he could help bring that particular show to life. While pitching the premise for BoJack to former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, Bob-Waksberg was asked if the show could instead be about a former athlete or race horse instead of a former actor. But, even in those early stages, Bob-Waksberg had confidence in his vision for the show and pushed back against the industry veteran. “I think he was impressed by Raphael’s conviction, and he was won over,” says executive producer Steven A. Cohen. “Who knew Raphael Bob-Waksberg would deliver such a brilliant, clever, funny, and emotional script, with the brilliant series to follow?” Eisner tells Vulture. “That kind of talent shows up about once a decade.” But, while producers had full confidence in the show’s creator and a fairly clear outline of what the first season would look like, Netflix audiences didn’t quite knew what they were going to get with BoJack. It was a comedy, but it dealt with fairly dark themes. Some of the character’s arcs were silly, but some were downright tragic. Initially audiences bristled at a cartoon about anthropomorphic animals that seemed to want them to reflect on the human condition so much, but, for everyone working on the show, that was a feature, not a bug. “Raphael could have made that show just a funny cartoon for grown-ups, and it probably would have been fine,” says Paul F. Tompkins, who voices Mr. Peanutbutter (one word). “But I just think the fact that he challenged people’s perceptions and did it the way that he did it was very courageous.” Bob-Waksberg’s willingness to take the showbiz comedy into darker territory is mentioned again and again throughout the oral history, and further speaks to his ability as a writer. Fans who appreciated the show for what it was and stuck with it know that that darkness isn’t played for cheap emotion, but is rather rooted in real character moments and story. You can read Vulture’s full oral history here, which includes some early character designs from the show’s chief production designer Lisa Hanawalt.