Adult animated series to watch if you like ‘BoJack Horseman’
If you finished the gut-wrenching series ‘BoJack Horseman,’ don’t despair. Here are five adult animated comedy series to binge-watch for your dysfunctional family drama fix.
5 Adult animated series to watch if you like ‘BoJack Horseman’
Into a world where anthropomorphic animals, dysfunctional families, and supernatural beings reign supreme, these series showcase the medium’s boundless potential.
1. F is for family (Netflix, 5 seasons)
Photo Credits: IMDb “F is for Family”
Created by Michael Price (The Simpsons) and stand-up comedian Bill Burr, the cynical comedy series F is for Family joins Netflix’s slate of adult-oriented T.V. animations.
The adult animated series centers around Frank (Burr), the stressed-out patriarch, who finds himself caught between politics at his low-paying job, a yelling contest at home with his wife Sue (Laura Dern), and unruly children Kevin (Justin Long), Bill (Haley Reinhart), and Maureen (Debi Derryberry).
One of the strengths of the half-hour program is its roster of whacky characters that match its pre-political correctness attitude of the 1970s. To list a few, there is Goomer (Trevor Devall), who defecates in the woods, breaks into Frank’s home and wears his clothes, and Smokey Greenwood (the late Michael K. Williams) —a foul-mouthed business owner who intentionally pokes holes in condoms he sells.
Smokey also has redeemable acts despite trading his son to the local circus, as he comes out too “albino” for his Black family. He employs Frank for his vending machine services when his airline job takes a nosedive and helps Rosie to win as the first black Alderman in Rustvale’s history when the all-white city council tries voter suppression tactics.
His funniest line, “Balloons, flags, Uncle Sam hats. Get your patriotic [expletive] made in Taiwan by children without options,” while he hustles to sell items in the Fourth of July parade, is unmatched.
2. Solar Opposites (Hulu, 4 seasons)
Photo Credits: IMDb “Solar Opposites”
Hulu’s hit animated series features a quasi-family of Schlorpians that crash land on Earth after a meteor wipes out their planet. Co-created by ousted Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan, the adult animated sci-fi series shares the DNA with Rick and Morty – but better.
It follows the misadventures of Korvo (Dan Stevens replaces Roiland) and Terry (Thomas Middleditch), the canon couple and de-facto parents’ of the replicants Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) and Jesse (Mary Mack), on caring for the Pupa and settling down in their newfound home.
Apart from the shenanigans of aliens in the ‘burbs, “the wall” plotline, where Yumyulack stores his shrunken prisoners inside an ant farm-like terrarium, becomes a standout. Without giving away spoilers, Tim (Andy Daly), one of the wall’s protagonists thrown inside for simply wearing a red shirt, leads the rebellion against the Duke’s (Alfred Molina) tyranny. The drama brewing inside the wall’s miniature society balances the aliens’ downright outlandish schemes. Some fans also see the potential of the revered “B Plot” to become a full-fledged spin-off series.
The upcoming fourth season will premiere on August 14 with 11 episodes, followed by a Valentine’s Day special in 2024. Ahead of the season release, Hulu already renewed the show for a fifth season.
3. Disenchantment (Netflix, 4 seasons)
Photo Credits: IMDb “Disenchantment”
“The Simpson” and “Futurama” creator Matt Groening has another hit animated series under his belt with Fantasy comedy Disenchantment. Set in the medieval realm of Dreamland, the series draws hilarity from the escapades of the booze-loving Princess Bean (Abbi Jacobson), cheery elf friend Elfo (Nat Faxon), and cat-like personal demon Luci (Eric André).
It also follows Bean’s relationship with his tyrant father, King Zøg (John DiMaggio), and her estranged mother and antagonist, Dagmar (Sharon Horgan).
Netflix’s half-hour series comes with a bag of fantasy jokes mixed with bawdy humor. It retells the Hansel and Gretel story in one of the show’s episodes as homicidal killers who hang their victims’ heads in the candy house rather than bright-eyed children held captive by the witch. In addition, the attractive mermaids who seduce sailors are walruses.
Disenchantment also has a set of side characters that steal the show. Some of them include an elderly man who rips out Belle Delphine’s business mode and sells “me flavored water” while soaking in a barrel and Prime Minister Odval (Maurice LaMarche), who frequently has orgy fests at the castle.
4. Close Enough (HBO Max, 3 seasons)
Photo Credits: IMDb “Close Enough”
If you like Regular Show as a child, you might want to check out J.G. Quintel’s new Max adult comedy Close Enough. Instead of two best friends, it’s about thirty-something parents Josh (Quintel) and Emily (Gabrielle Walsh) Ramirez taking care of their daughter Candice (Jessica DiCicco), cramped in an apartment with a divorced couple to save rent.
Close Enough’s episodes span from getting publicly executed in an under-30 bar to being trapped in a sitcom house.
Another standout episode is when the show brilliantly takes the mundane situation of banning hot sauce in Candance’s school cafeteria and elevates it to a full-blown Scarface homage. The half-hour episode tracks the five-year-old going full-on “Sauceface,” creating an elaborate scheme of pushing hot sauce packets to the school. The scene of students getting high on the product is masterfully done and surely not pass Quintel’s former children’s network.
5. Inside Job (Netflix, 1 season)
Photo Credits: IMDb “Inside Job”
From the mind of “Gravity Falls” writer Shion Takeuchi, Inside Job brings your strange tin-foil hat-wearing uncle’s conspiracy theories to life.
Even in an unconventional workplace where encountering orgy-loving shape-shifting lizards is part of the job, anti-social tech genius Reagan Ridley (Lizzy Caplan) struggles to connect with her co-workers. Now, she has to team up with former frat boy and yes-man Brett Hand (Clark Duke) to oversee the operations of Cognito Co. An organization that solely functions to cover up all things shadow government.
Ridley also deals with her conspiracy-mongering father and ex-CEO of Cognito Co., Rand Ridley (Christian Slater), who now plots revenge on those who booted him. Like Ridley, her father is exceptionally intelligent, but his narcissism and alcoholism hold him back, which also explains his daughter’s incapability to express vulnerability.
Inside Job’s next installment was supposed to come out in November 2022, but Netflix pulled the plug and overturned the renewal of season 2.
These adult animated series earn high praise and a cultist following for masterfully executing drama, tragedy, and comedy to our small screens.
