English Language and Literature Commons^™

More Man Than A Horse? Bojack Horseman And Its Subversion Of Sitcom Conventions In Search Of Realism, Bradley Simpson

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

As the television market diversifies and fragments, TV show creators in the postmodern era have been pushed to subvert the conventions of various genres to stay relevant. This research uses a combination of genre analysis and close content analysis of the Netflix original series BoJack Horseman to identify several conventions of the situation comedy genre that the show subverts. Through an unconventional handling of irony, tone, unique form, and subject matter, BoJack Horseman manages to transcend generic expectations by portraying a dark, realistic worldview. Contrary to the traditional view of the situation comedy as a media oriented towards escapism, BoJack …