LogFAQs > #929847920

Best TV Show of the of the 2010s (Comedy): BoJack Horseman
Runners Up: Silicon Valley, Community, Eastbound & Down, Parks and Recreation

TV is the only entertainment category that I am going to break apart by genre (comedy or drama). Why? Because the formula and construction of a comedy show is just so different than a drama that it's really unfair to compare the two. There is a reason why it's rare to find a straight comedy that lasts for one hour an episode or to find one that's not at least somewhat serialized. And also it's my list so I can do what I want.

Let's touch on TV comedies in general this past decade. The 2000s really saw a revolution in the comedy programming. Traditional laugh-track sitcoms, though still garnering the highest ratings of the lot, really fell out of critical favor after reaching an apotheosis in the 90s through the likes of Seinfeld, Friends, etc. As those shows became more directed at elderly viewers who relied on a simple formula to please their deteriorating brains, shows like Arrested Development, The Office, and 30 Rock began to take form and introduced a smarter, dryer wit to network television. Most of those programs peaked in the past decade and wrapped up their run in the early part of the 2010s; but, to me, most are very 2000s shows and therefore couldn't make the cut for this list.

What did begin to happen when those shows died out was an interesting phenomenon though. Gone were the days of writing teams grinding out 25+ episodes per season, and in were more refined, curated 10-14 episode runs with season-long arcs found in shows like BoJack and Silicon Valley. This formula worked to various extremes, I think. In the best of them (like the winner and each of the non-NBC runners up), you had these amazingly polished, brilliant, and captivating seasons of television that tell a complete story without any weak points to speak of. However, most shows now are not able to match the consistency of these programs, and what we're left with are seasons where you have maybe 90 minutes of good content and a bunch of weak filler. I think audiences are still trying to reconcile this movement.

Anyway, onto BoJack Horseman. If you only watch the pilot or if you go into this show thinking that it will be throwaway Family Guy-esque humor like I did, you will be missing the single-most introspective, experimental, and satisfying sitcom of the decade. The absurdist setting is only there to provide the most subtle of jokes that you can catch on a second or third viewing--but the heart of BoJack Horseman is in its characters and its unique approach to narrative structure. BoJack does callbacks (nearly) as good as Arrested Development, density of humor (nearly) as good as peak Simpsons, and meta-humor as good as Community. All of these elements blend together to form a truly unique show that stands alone amongst its peers. For me, this one wasn't even close. BoJack Horseman is the best TV comedy of the decade, and I am sad to see it come to an end.
---

"A more mature answer than I expected."~ Jakyl25
"Sephy's point is right."~ Inviso