On June 4, the IndieWire Honors Spring 2026 awards ceremony will honor the creators and stars behind the year's best television series. Selected by IndieWire's editorial team, the IndieWire Honors are a celebration of the creators, artists, and performers behind acclaimed shows. Ahead of the Los Angeles event, IndieWire is highlighting their work with new interviews and tributes from fellow creators.
If you recommend BoJack Horseman to someone, you'll often hear the following response: "Isn't that show... sad?"«
Yes, Raphael Bob-Waksberg's breakout animated series—about a washed-up Hollywood star whose attempt to make a comeback leads him into a protracted existential crisis—generated headlines like, "Is 'BoJack Horseman' the Saddest Comedy Ever?" and "I Watched All of 'BoJack Horseman' in a Month and Now I Want to Die.".
But this early Netflix hit also garnered reviews like, "BoJack Horseman is the funniest show about depression ever," "BoJack Horseman is incredibly funny," and perhaps most truthfully, "BoJack Horseman is known for being emotionally wrenching. But it's also incredibly funny.".
«I think, whether I deserve it or not, I’ve developed a reputation for making challenging, invigorating, provocative, and depressing shows,» Bob-Waksberg said with a laugh in a recent interview with IndieWire. «And yeah, I think that’s part of everything I do. But I think what sometimes gets overlooked is that my shows are amazing… Most people don’t come out of «BoJack» and feel like, «Oh, I get it. This is terrible, this is bad, and I should kill myself.» And I don’t think you’ll feel that way after watching this show either. How’s that for an advertising campaign? You won’t want to drive into oncoming traffic after watching this show!»
The show he's talking about is Long Story Short, Bob-Waksberg's latest animated sitcom about the Schwoopers, a Jewish family from the San Francisco Bay Area whose touching and funny story deserves rewatches—even after just one 10-episode season. I know this because I've watched it many, many times. I watched it twice before writing my first review. I watched it again before naming it the best show of 2025, and I watched individual episodes for no particular reason during the first half of this year.
Every time the series reveals something new. Every time it's incredibly captivating. And every time I ask myself why I keep coming back to these same 10 episodes when I have so little time and so many TV shows to watch—both for work and for leisure.
So I asked the man himself.
«The truth is, we put a lot of thought and care into every episode. I think that’s what makes it so enjoyable to rewatch,» said Bob-Waksberg, who won a Spark Award this season. «There are things you won’t notice the first time you watch it, and that’s okay. We want every episode to work on all levels: if you’re watching it casually, you’ll understand the plot, you’ll understand what’s going on, you’ll understand the relationship dynamics. If you’ve never seen an episode of the show before and you’re just dropping in because your roommate or spouse is watching it and you decided to watch it with them, you’ll get a lot out of it. But the more you know about the characters—if you’ve watched the entire season and are rewatching it—the more you’ll notice.».
«"The show has more visual jokes and irony, and you'll appreciate the art a little better on a second viewing if you were more focused on the plot the first time," he said. "Also, there's a lot of dialogue between two characters; many people are talking at once, and you don't hear everything the others are saying. The more you watch, the more you'll notice things like, 'Oh, that's funny, and I didn't even hear it because three other people are arguing at the same time.' So we want the show to reward repeat viewings without sacrificing the enjoyment of the first viewing, and we achieve that through meticulous attention to detail.".
«"This show wasn't conceived collectively or structured by an algorithm to appeal to the right people in the right way," he added. "It's a bleeding, pulsating lump of flesh that we present to you—with jokes!"»
«"In Short" - Courtesy of Netflix.
Their very structure conveys their personal, passionate approach. Ambitious to the core yet easily digestible, "In Short" is built on a nonlinear narrative. Each episode begins with a flashback and then moves forward to a significant moment in the family's life: whether it's Shira (Abbi Jacobson) trying to enroll her children in a sought-after elementary school, Yoshi (Max Greenfield) reuniting with a childhood friend on the eve of a fateful doctor's appointment, or Avi (Ben Feldman) attending his daughter's Christmas play.
It's a distinct departure from traditional animated sitcoms, which often freeze time to ensure characters never age (think The Simpsons or Bob's Burgers), and it helps explain why Long Shot conveys a sense of instant intimacy.
«"In that sense, I drew inspiration from other sources," Bob-Waksberg said. "If you watch the movie Boyhood, it's not about anything specific. It's just about a guy growing up over the course of 12 years. But every time we reach a new age, it's breathtaking—the sheer passage of time. Or, for example, Chris Ware's Building Stories comic, which my friend Kate Purdy gave me—it's a collection of stories about different characters over the years, and they're kind of disjointed.".
But how effective this approach to sitcom storytelling would be was never certain.
«"I remember at the end of 'Mad Men,' there was a commercial, a sort of retrospective—like, 'Here's the story so far.' You get to see all these characters grow and change in two minutes, and it's really touching, even in a commercial format," Bob-Waksberg said, noting other shows that have featured similar recaps (including 'BoJack Horseman'). "So yeah, ['Long Shot'] breaks the norm for sitcoms, and certainly for animated sitcoms, but I felt like there was enough precedent to suggest it could work. I've seen versions that were really touching and interesting and funny.".
While the emotions run high and may bring a few tears of joy, it's important to note that "Long Story," or "Eventually," is not another "BoJack Horseman." Bob-Waksberg's first series was perfectly suited to the antihero era, combining comedy with biting satire on Hollywood egomania and toxic men, but "Long Story" is a family sitcom. It's built on relationships. It's delightful, as Bob-Waksberg put it, by design.
«The beauty of traditional sitcoms is that over time, you really get to know the characters,„ he said. “There’s not a lot of coming and going. There’s not a lot of change. You get to know them, and sometimes you get to know them really well. It feels like you’re with old friends. To some extent, every comedy becomes a sitcom. It’s all about, »Oh, let’s see what Monica and Phoebe are up to this week.’”.
«"In short, one of the calculations we had was, how do we accelerate the process of building affection or a sense of familiarity with these characters, given that we're probably not going to get to 100 episodes? That we're not going to hit the coveted number for a sitcom? So by jumping through time and telling these characters' stories at different ages, from different perspectives, and in different combinations, we were trying to ensure that by the end of the first season, viewers felt like they really knew these characters—really knew this family.".
This, perhaps, is the true magic of the series. "In Short" achieves incredible intimacy in a very short time. Its permeable structure quickly absorbs numerous empathetic moments. The comedy helps make each Schwooper family memory as memorable for the audience as it is for the characters. The dialogue and acting work hand in hand, creating a distinctly familial atmosphere.
Bob-Waksberg is also quick to praise the animation, created by Lisa Hanawalt and Alison DuBois, for being "warm and inviting, in some ways like a children's book and in some ways like a memory.".
«"In Short" - Courtesy of Netflix.
«The artists are very careful to avoid straight lines,» he said. «Even if they could draw a straight line by hand, [they’d] blur it a little—make it more jagged. We don’t always color within the lines. We don’t have to stick to the character models all the time; they can squash and stretch in different ways, which makes them a little more random, although, of course, it’s very purposeful and deliberate. I think that conveys a certain level of honesty. It feels more personal. It feels like we did it for you.».
Despite all the touching and heartfelt quality of "In Short," this series is also—repeat after me—really, really funny. In one episode, Yoshi tries to prove his worth to his parents by selling mattresses in a tube. Another episode focuses on Shira's graduation, which coincides with a celebration for her mother at the Jewish Community Center. The finale takes place at a funeral, but it's a funeral. in Las Vegas .
So yes, "In short, 'Long and Present' is rewatchable for the simple reason that people like to laugh. They'll return to stories and characters that bring a smile to their faces, and Bob-Waksberg's latest film always does just that.
«"My main goal is to create something entertaining and enjoyable. My main goal is not to address social issues. If that were my main goal, I think my shows would be very different," Bob-Waksberg said. "Of course, I'd like to touch on some social issues while we're at it—I'll take that opportunity if it comes up—but my goal is not to make you feel bad.".
«"If you liked the first season, you'll love the second. It's been a real joy for me to delve deeper into the world of these characters, to explore other corners of the universe. I'm being selfish when I say that I want people to love these characters because I fell in love with them, and I hope I get to spend a million seasons with them.".
I agree. Although in some ways it feels like I've already done that.
The movie "Long Story" is available on Netflix.
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