10 years after its premiere, we're living in BoJack Horseman's world

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https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy...th-anniversary

"Which TV show do you think we’re living in?" says Lana Schwartz in marking today's 10-year anniversary of BoJack's premiere. "For Succession fans, every time a media conglomerate buys a smaller, beloved company and lays off half the staff, it’s another day for a s***show at the f*** factory. Or maybe you see the mainstreaming of Christian evangelism and it’s The Righteous Gemstones that’s called to mind. I know every time a streaming service debuts a reality show with an absurd premise, my X (f.k.a. Twitter) timeline is dotted with references to 30 Rock. For my money, though, the world we live in today belongs to that of the half-man, half-horse hybrid, BoJack Horseman. When the show first premiered in August 2014, it was to much critical acclaim. In the first season alone, BoJack tackled depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, generational trauma, and the steep price of regret, as well as skewered fame and celebrity in a way that would become a cornerstone of the show. Although BoJack (the show, not the character) handled all of these issues with impressive sensitivity, I don’t think anyone was prepared for BoJack to cover increasingly dark ground over its six seasons, as BoJack (this time, the character) consistently took a one step forward and two steps back approach to his recovery, alienating those who love him, the creature of his celebrity wielding a long tail that enabled him to mess up again and again and again. When it comes to demonstrating the damage done by BoJack’s actions, the show doesn’t flinch; it’s a clear-eyed look at the way trauma stays with its victims, even if the perpetrators have long since moved on. The rest of the show’s main characters (Diane, Todd, Princess Carolyn, and Mr. Peanutbutter), too, must grapple with BoJack’s role in their lives and the way he’s affected them for the better and for the worse."

ALSO:

• BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg is thrilled that his show is still relevant after a decade: "I am surprised and grateful that people are continuing to discover the show," he says in an A.V. Club interview. "That’s something that I don’t think I quite anticipated, although I could feel even then that new people were still finding it because I remember being mystified why we got canceled. No, no, we still got a ways to go on this! But it is wild to me when I see stuff online from fans who weren’t old enough for the show when it first came out, or just discovering it now. I think I knew that the people who experienced this show while it was on will always have fond memories of it. I do feel like we were one of the good ones and we were definitely appreciated in our own time. It has been really surprising and rewarding for me to see people are still finding it and still falling in love with it in spite of some parts of it feeling a little dated or irrelevant. That, as a whole, it seems like it’s holding up, which is great. And not just as a nostalgic artifact, it holds up as a new thing if you start watching it now."
  
• Kristen Schaal is thankful BoJack Horseman's Sarah Lynn wasn't reduced to a punchline: "She did start as a punchline and she ended as a punch in the gut, huh?" she says. "I’m so thrilled that I got to be Sarah Lynn and let her story evolve in such a beautiful, sad way. I don’t usually get to do that, so I continue to feel honored and happy that they trusted me with her."
  
• Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Will Arnett, Aaron Paul, Lisa Hanawalt and more reflect on BoJack Horseman's legacy
  
• An appreciation of Hollyhock, BoJack Horseman's most valuable supporting player
  
• BoJack Horseman's 2007 flashback was a first-of-its-kind millennial period piece
  
• Season 2's "Let's Find Out" seamlessly combines the two halves of the show’s sometimes fractious soul