Once the streaming King, Netflix built its kingdom around fantastic original programming, largely thanks to its former VP of Original Content, Cindy Holland, who was known for championing bold artistic endeavors, including hits like Stranger Things, Orange Is the New Black, and House of Cards. While Holland has since moved over to Paramount, and Netflix’s programming has seen a decline in quality, a trickle of the streaming platform’s early brilliance remains.
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Perhaps the greatest and most unexpected Netflix original of all time (also championed by Holland) was Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s BoJack Horseman, an adult-animated dark comedy following a washed-up 90s sitcom star (and anthropomorphic horse) living in Hollywoo. While Bojack Horseman ended after season six, Netflix recently released the newest Bob-Waksberg brainchild, Long Story Short, which debuted to a rare 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes in August 2025. Years after BoJack Horseman ended, the new show is the perfect follow-up for fans of the Sad Horse, with Bob-Waksberg’s artistic fixations rearranged into a brilliant new narrative.
Why BoJack Horseman Fans Need to Watch Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s Long Story Short
BoJack Horseman, which premiered in August of 2014, featured Will Arnett voicing the washed-up actor. Early episodes seemed to fall squarely into celebrity satire, but Bob-Waksberg’s series (which was designed by illustrator Lisa Hanawalt) quickly evolved into something much deeper and more affecting than anyone expected.
Across six seasons, the show used its cynical comedy to explore the very real cycles of depression, addiction, and generational trauma. The show’s best episodes, like Season 2’s “Escape from L.A.,” Season 3’s dialogue-free “Fish Out of Water,” and the final season’s “The View From Halfway Down” (still the most highly rated TV episode on IMDb) were often wildly experimental, and unafraid to probe the darkest psychology of the ironically very human main character. The ensemble cast, including Amy Sedaris as Princess Carolyn, Alison Brie as Diane Nguyen, Aaron Paul as Todd Chavez, and Paul F. Tompkins as Mr. Peanutbutter, filled out a colorful tapestry of Hollywoo personalities, embodying other common struggles and archetypes of the time and place.
Five years later, Bob-Waksberg’s Long Story Short has arrived on the scene with some familiar themes, though a very different structure. Rather than a single fraught protagonist, the new series follows the Schwooper family and its myriad interconnected characters across various timelines, exploring how small decisions have effects that ripple across years, leaving marks on the circles and lineages of those involved. Bojack Horseman fans will find comfort in the creator’s singular blend of absurd humor and existentialism. Like BoJack, Long Story Short mixes its comedy with uncomfortable emotions, often reflecting life’s tragic or embarrassing absurdity. Where BoJack examined fame and self-destruction within the toxic entertainment industry, the new series focuses more broadly on mundane realities, like friendships drifting apart, ambitions changing shape, and the realization that life doesn’t follow a clean arc.
There could hardly be a more ideal follow-up to the beloved BoJack Horseman saga. Bob-Waksberg once more uses whimsical animation and humor as the sugar in the spoonful of medicine that is a deep and complex character study. Just like decisions made within the Schwooper family have ripple effects, Cindy Holland’s early decisions are still being felt in the Netflix catalog, years after her exit. The consensus of the flawless Long Story Short Rotten Tomatoes score cites a “zany” sense of humor, along with specificity and relatability, as reasons for the show’s success; further proof that this largely underwatched series is the perfect follow-up to the masterpiece that is Bojack Horseman.
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