BoJack Horseman: “The BoJack Horseman Story, Chapter One”

(In fact, the best joke of the episode comes from a glimpse at Horsin’ Around’s final episode. BoJack—who raises three human children in the series—meets a premature death, and the three youngsters are blamed for his passing. “He died of a broken heart because you didn’t appreciate him enough,” a doctor informs the kids in a hospital waiting room. They then become wards of the state.

BoJack’s sidekick is the human Todd, voiced by Aaron Paul. Paul’s character is eerily similar to Breaking Bad’s Jesse in both appearance and disposition. Disheveled and unmotivated, Todd is an inept drug dealer with a propensity to fall in with the wrong crowd. The casting seems less like a coincidence and more like a not-so-sly instance of art imitating art.

Amy Sedaris plays BoJack’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, Princess Carolyn, a feline who also serves as BoJack’s agent. Here, too, the delivery is lackluster. In part, the series’ weakness may lie in animation. A spate of Arnett’s lines, if imagined delivered by the uproarious Gob Bluth, seem suddenly clever and alive. But when Gob is replaced by a cartoon stallion, the humor dissipates.

The inaugural episode sets up a number of pins to be knocked down in later installments: BoJack’s quest for relevance, a pending autobiography, a rivalry with fellow 90s idol Mr. Peanutbutter, and a budding romance with Alison Brie’s awkwardly charming character, Diane. True, BoJack Horseman’s first episode houses only one or two guffaw-worthy lines. But rare is the show that begins brilliantly — hopefully, BoJack will find the success its protagonist so dearly desires. 

Kevin Zawacki is a New York City-based writer and reporter. You can find him on his website.