Nothing will ever be exactly the same as Netflix’s BoJack Horseman, but the streamer’s perfect replacement with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score comes pretty close. In the past, animated TV shows made explicitly for adults were treated as low-brow, but BoJack Horseman was a bit of a turning point for the genre.

BoJack Horseman explores the life of a washed-up celebrity who grapples with his worsening mental health, abusive parents, and desire for relevance. He also happens to be an anthropomorphic horse. The show revealed truths about life that were hard to bear but necessary to confront. However, on the other side of the coin, it also encouraged them to laugh through the pain.

There are no words for how beautiful BoJack Horseman is or how much it impacted viewers. Ultimately, Netflix had a high bar to reach when putting out a replacement. Somehow, they put out a show that has the potential to be as iconic as the beloved animated TV show.

BoJack Horseman’s Creator Just Released The Animated Dramedy Long Story Short

Five years after the ending of BoJack Horseman, creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg has released the perfect replacement. His new animated dramedy, Long Story Short, follows a dysfunctional Jewish American family called the Schwoopers across multiple decades, jumping around in the timeline. The story includes their successes, failures, difficulties, and everything in between.

The parents, Naomi Schwartz and Elliot Cooper, are played by Lisa Edelstein (House) and Paul Reiser (Beverly Hills Cop). The Schwooper kids are played by Ben Feldman (Superstore), Abbi Jacobson (Broad City), and Max Greenfield (New Girl). Meanwhile, the in-laws, Jen Schwooper and Kendra Hooper, are played by Angelique Cabral (Life in Pieces) and Nicole Byer (Nailed It!).

The Schwoopers have experiences very specific to Judaism and Jewish culture in Long Story Short, but the story reveals universal truths along the way that anyone can connect with. The main characters of each episode alternate between the three children named Avi, Shira, and Yoshi, though their parents also feature heavily in the episodes.

Long Story Short Has All The Best Traits Of BoJack Horseman

The best part of Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s new show is that it maintains all the best traits of BoJack Horseman. The show delves into mental health with the dysfunction of the Schwoopers and Yoshi’s anxiety. It includes impeccable storytelling with really smart dialogue.

On top of that, it balances comedy and drama perfectly. It doesn’t just focus on the pretty, picturesque parts of life. The perfect example of this comes at the end of the first episode, setting immediate expectations. Rather than moving on quickly, BoJack Horseman and Long Story Short force viewers and characters to sit with their discomfort and painful emotions.

The show can go from comedy to tearjerking drama back to comedy within the span of a single episode, just like BoJack Horseman does. Ultimately, it’s obvious that Bob-Waksberg used his previous successful animated TV show as a model for Long Story Short.