Murmur Twin posted:Just google a plot synopsis for season 1 and start at s2e1, that’s usually how I tell new people to get into the series and I’ve gotten good feedback from doing that. Though then you miss out on stuff like “get the gently caress out of my house” for context on why Herb’s funeral is especially awkward for Bojack
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Sep 19, 2021 18:47
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I can’t imagine telling people to not even try season 1.
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Sep 19, 2021 18:47
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i'm adequately affectionate of the show i find conceptually skipping the first few terrible. the whole point of that swing is to prime the audience that it's a seth mcfarlaneque dumb sitcom comedy where horrible things are implied or used for punchlines but never actually matter, only for the twist to be it's not a joke at all they're actually all horrible and broken people. and not like peter griffin is.
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Sep 19, 2021 18:49
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You definitely need to watch S1E3. It gives you a good sense of the tone of the first two episodes, it establishes maybe the biggest plot thread of the series, and the convo Diane and Bojack have at the end of the episode sums up one of the main themes of the series. Plus after episode 3 there's not a bad episode episode in the whole season.
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Sep 19, 2021 19:15
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Just rewatch it, even if you remember the plot beats there is no way you won’t catch new sight gags or little bits of wordplay that maybe didn’t occur to you 6-7 years ago when the show came out. It’s not just a riveting character drama, it’s also a very silly cartoon about animal people, it’s fun to watch until it isn’t, but by then you can’t stop watching.
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Sep 19, 2021 19:17
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There's so much that happens that every time a new season dropped I was like "Wait, who was that lady? Do Bojack and Diane hate each other or like each other? Wft is Todd up to these days" I couldn't even get my footing until a couple episodes into any new season.
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Sep 19, 2021 21:17
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Netflix included recaps of previous seasons with each new season released. The show is densely written enough that I would recommend re-watching the whole thing. However, if you absolutely don't want to watch previous seasons, you could just burn through the recaps in like 15 minutes and get at caught up with the major arcs atleast.
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Sep 20, 2021 14:52
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Re Tuca & Bertie, I initially didn’t get Tuca until I realised she’s That One Friend you have who is hyperactively extrovert to the point of mania and kind of drags other people into their orbit. The actual surreal humour either lands or doesn’t; it’s about 50% for me whereas Bojack is a lot higher. Aggetsuko does the same kind of thing with IMO a bit more deftness, but it’s also pretty culturally specific.
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Sep 20, 2021 16:13
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S1ep8 is like the most important episode of the entire show. Things barely make any sense without it, and missing 9 through 12 seems strange they're pretty amazing. You can start at 1ep5 if you really want to skip something but I wouldnt skip anything else, ep 5 is pretty important for understanding Diana's personality.
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Sep 20, 2021 17:38
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CoolCab posted:i'm adequately affectionate of the show i find conceptually skipping the first few terrible. the whole point of that swing is to prime the audience that it's a seth mcfarlaneque dumb sitcom comedy where horrible things are implied or used for punchlines but never actually matter, only for the twist to be it's not a joke at all they're actually all horrible and broken people. and not like peter griffin is. The problem is it's just not funny. Family Guy is legit funnier than the first several episodes of BoJack. It comes off as just another lazy, crass, edgy cartoon for adults like Paradise PD. I also say that, while the first episode is dire and it improves after episode 4, it doesn't really become the show we love until episode 8. *Neal McBeal the Navy Seal is pretty good though.
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Sep 21, 2021 03:11
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This scene was from the very first episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfJBFSWnsOc that's far from the best gag in the series but that already put it way ahead of shows like family guy or fuckin paradise pd what are you even talking about
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Sep 21, 2021 12:43
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Zulily Zoetrope posted:This scene was from the very first episode: In tone and quality that's pretty much literally Family Guy though??? Like it says hey, this is a funny and competent take on Family Guy's style of adult cartoon humor but no more than that.
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Sep 21, 2021 13:31
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I don't like the silent episode of BoJack I think it's too pretentious.
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Sep 21, 2021 13:33
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This thread has always walked an insane tightrope of hyperbole regarding the first couple episodes. To read ITT you’d think the first four episodes were some insanely dire family guy knockoff without a distinct voice or visual style (WRONG), it’s just that when people think of Bojack, they think of what the show will eventually become, and the first few episodes are too busy writing cute animal puns to really set up what’s happening. They never really stop doing cutaways and other animated comedy jokes, and they in fact double down and get even sillier with some of that stuff, but the show just happens to mature at a breakneck pace. Saying it starts off as a Family Guy clone is loving crazy, IMO. Simpsons had cutaways in 1991, it’s a format for writing animated jokes.
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Sep 21, 2021 13:50
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I will say that that streetcorner/baby joke has a pall of laziness about it because it's just a freeze-frame with most of the content being supplied by offscreen audio. Plus super-fast reaction movement like Family Guy's trademark "fall over really fast" gag. The freeze-frame bit is part of the comedy, I get it, but it's also part of what makes it feel FG-ish.
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Sep 21, 2021 13:54
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Also, Neal McBeal the Navy Seal sets up the beat-for-beat Bojack style of Doubling Down, overcommitting, and eventually shameful bingeing cycle that dictates the entire flow of the show, it’s a perfect microcosm of his behavior that would go on to completely define every season.
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Sep 21, 2021 14:05
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Bust Rodd posted:This thread has always walked an insane tightrope of hyperbole regarding the first couple episodes.  It's insane how many people say not to watch the first four, even though one of them is an absolutely crucial background episode. That one gag is very family guy, but it's also one gag. First four episodes are solid.
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Sep 21, 2021 16:10
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Yes, it's like a lava lamp.
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The first season left me feeling a little strange on a rewatch this past spring. Yes they framed a lot of the things BoJack does as "comical" but he does quite a few of those same things every other season and they get depicted by the show as less funny each time. That and you also get reframing of some of those situations when you know more about everyone in the main ensemble, like PC being upset about him not wanting kids with her actually comes off as even more insensitive after we have learned so much about her history with childbirth, or lack thereof. It reminds me of, in the later seasons, the creators talking about how BoJack isn't a good person and we shouldn't be identifying with him or feeling sorry for him. Maybe some of the "jokes" don't land the same in the early episodes, such as the "BoJack doesn't want kids" cutaway, but I still feel they are pretty important to show the evolution of the show. Lots of shows have rough edges for the first few episodes
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Sep 21, 2021 16:33
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Seth McFarlane does not have some kind of patent on cutaway gags or out-of-frame jokes. If you think that's equivalent to a Family Guy gag you find Family Guy a lot funnier than I do. Plus in that 30 second gag you see Bojack take zero responsibility for his own actions and get away with criminal and reckless behavior because he's a celebrity. It's been in there from episode one, it's just presented as less and less funny as you keep watching it happen.
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Sep 21, 2021 16:42
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Which is also how most people experience those relationships in real life. When you're 22 and your best friend is a chronically late party animal with a drinking problem, hey that's just Ryan, he's a wild guy but decent, he'll pick you up from the airport... but when you're pushing 30 and he's STILL always late and always smells like booze and always bringing up little favors he did to offset the mounting major disappointments, you realize you've actually been sick of them for years.
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Sep 21, 2021 16:48
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Zulily Zoetrope posted:This scene was from the very first episode: You're joking, right? This is the absolute worst joke in the entire show and is 100% a bad Family Guy joke.
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Sep 21, 2021 16:53
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Not everyone made hating Family Guy their entire personality in 2014, a lot of us just laughed because it’s funny and then moved on with the rest of the episode (also it’s ironic because this is the first time Bojack causes a car accident in the show, and just like folks itt have mentioned, it’s way, way less funny the next time he does it!)
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Sep 21, 2021 17:01
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PittTheElder posted:
To be fair didn't this all start with someone that had watched it years ago? They should already know they like it and vaguely know the contents of the episodes. What is important for getting the final season if you don't have time for a series rewatch because you'll just drop it half way through again is to start watching the last season you watched to get back into the swing of it. If you are lost there then start over entirely. And in that context if they remember season 1 well enough they can certainly skip the first few episodes. There might even be a guide to cut "filler" out, but I'd hesitate to call any of it filler as the comedy heavy parts play a key counter balance to the drama.
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Sep 21, 2021 17:31
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Alhazred posted:I don't like the silent episode of BoJack
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Sep 21, 2021 17:37
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Yeah, watch the whole thing. It’s like you fuckers have never seen an episode of television that wasn’t 105% prestigious or whatever. The first four episodes of Bojack are fine, and are still important. If you can watch the slog that is the middle of Twin Peaks Season 2, you can watch the mildly above par adult comedy that is the first four episodes of bojack.
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Sep 21, 2021 18:29
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They're 25 minute episodes. It's not like anyone's asking you to watch 22 hours of a bad season "before it gets good," it's a sitcom that starts as inconsequential and mediocre, then pretty quickly becomes good, then excellent. Watch the first couple episodes, learn who the characters are and get some exposition. Understand that they are merely fine and it gets better. People in here are acting like they never watched a bad pilot for a show or stuck with something rocky for even a minute before it became incredible.
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Sep 21, 2021 19:34
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Xealot posted:Watch the first couple episodes, learn who the characters are and get some exposition. Understand that they are merely fine and it gets better. People in here are acting like they never watched a bad pilot for a show or stuck with something rocky for even a minute before it became incredible. Most people have heard "just stick with it, it gets good a few episodes in" a million times about different shows and if you're lucky those recommendations pan out maybe 1 time in 3, it's understandable why people are gunshy about shows with weak starts.
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Sep 21, 2021 19:45
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Which is incredibly dumb, because a show with a strong start and a weak finish is universally hated and seen as bad forever, whereas shows with weak pilots and strong finales become beloved cult classics who appreciate over time. You should be more wary of shows with big setups that seem like they would be impossible to pay off (LOST, Game of Thrones)
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Sep 21, 2021 19:49
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honestly just put BoJack on in the background & start reading this argument from the initial post; by the time you get to this post the rough bits will be over and you'll be set
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Sep 21, 2021 19:56
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It’s more fair with something like Parks and Recreation where the first season is only six episodes, has a much different tone, and half the characters are nothing like they are in the rest of the show, especially Leslie Knope. And the first episode of the second season does a good job of recapping what the wanted to keep and ignoring what they wanted to get rid of.
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Sep 21, 2021 19:58
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Bust Rodd posted:Which is incredibly dumb, because a show with a strong start and a weak finish is universally hated and seen as bad forever, whereas shows with weak pilots and strong finales become beloved cult classics who appreciate over time. You should be more wary of shows with big setups that seem like they would be impossible to pay off (LOST, Game of Thrones) Watching every show that seems mediocre at first just in case it turns out to be great later on seems like a recipe for watching a lot of bad TV. It's not like every show with a weak start is destined for greatness, most of them just start bad and stay bad. Also, it's not like starting strong dooms a show. The Good Place started with a great hook and definitely ran out of steam towards the end and it's still some of the best TV of the last decade.
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Sep 21, 2021 20:08
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I typically wait for the first 3-5 episodes of show depending on the length. By then the general vibe of the show comes out and you can tell whether or not something is going to be for you. There are so many amazing shows that are already out with 40-60 hours of content, I can't imagine how someone could possibly try to watch everything.
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Sep 21, 2021 20:16
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Just watch the early episodes in 1.5x speed if your time is that valuable imho
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Sep 21, 2021 20:26
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I understand not wanting to get into a show right away unless you’re really interested. We’ve tried to do that over the years and usually succeed, but every once in a while a Game of Thrones or Westworld or Stranger Things comes along. But we’ve waited a couple seasons for stuff like BoJack, the Good place, and Schitt’s Creek and it’s worked out.
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Sep 21, 2021 20:32
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Dias posted:Just watch the early episodes in 1.5x speed if your time is that valuable imho Like this idea. 👍
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Sep 21, 2021 20:38
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I wasn't suggesting to skip the first few episodes, but that many people will need a disclaimer to push through them. I did. In 2014 I attempted to watch and turned off the first episode after about 10 minutes, deciding it was another low effort "edgy" adult sitcom and not worth my time. I didn't give it another shot until after season 2 premiered in 2015 and I was seeing lots of critical acclaim for it. I've also had to convince a few friends to keep watching, which they did and eventually did love the show. In similar vein, The Office and Parks and Rec also need this disclaimer for new viewers as their first seasons are bad, though with The Office you can pretty much skip season 1 entirely and not even lose any plot development.
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Sep 21, 2021 20:51
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the holy poopacy posted:Also, it's not like starting strong dooms a show. The Good Place started with a great hook and definitely ran out of steam towards the end and it's still some of the best TV of the last decade. I thought the end of The Good Place was fantastic. I remember feeling like a handful of episodes were spinning their wheels on odd, nonsensical lore for no particular reason, but the finale is one of the best finales for anything IMO. The scene where Chidi describes the ephemeral nature of consciousness as a wave is far better and more emotional than an NBC sitcom had any right being.
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Sep 21, 2021 20:54
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The The Good Place's ending was really good. Not even sure what there is to object to 
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Sep 21, 2021 21:02
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PittTheElder posted:The The Good Place's ending was really good. Not even sure what there is to object to
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Sep 21, 2021 21:59
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The ending of The Good Place was loving perfect.
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Sep 21, 2021 22:05
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