Part of what helps sell all of this so successfully are the incredibly lucid boundaries in place, as the show is set in a hybrid world where anthropomorphic animals and humans intermingle, with it never being questioned or addressed, even with a single line of exposition. This is the perfect tone and entry point for the series.

In fact, what I found myself thinking about more and more through my watchings was the short-lived animated series, Ugly Americans, a show that exhibited similar free-floating creature-based humor. A surprising amount of humor is extracted from this idea as a homeless anthropomorphic raccoon may be seen rummaging through a dumpster before another raccoon sticks his head out as he tries to get some sleep; an editor from Penguin Books is appropriately enough, a penguin; a funeral home is run by a maggot. It all works, even when it’s on the nose.

There’s a moment in one of the earlier episodes of BoJack Horseman where it’s revealed that BoJack has orchestrated an elaborate ruse involving Margo Martindale, a popular violent video game, and a space rock opera where you’re kind of just like, “Yeah, this is a pretty wonderful animated series we’re getting here. This is some weird, brilliant, innovation in motion.” And that’s not even necessarily the strangest of the storylines.

If the concept alone wasn’t enough to hook you, there’s really a murderer’s row of excellence when it comes to the voice cast. Will Arnett commands Bojack, and it’s interesting that his signature voice doesn’t exactly match BoJack in the way that Arnett’s other roles have, but it still works and adds to the surrealism of it all. He continues to get increasingly comfortable in the role too, and the further you get, you can definitely see him infusing more into the character.

Rounding out the rest of the cast is Aaron Paul as Todd, BoJack’s freeloading roommate and one of the few humans we encounter. Amy Sedaris plays Princess Carolyn, a cat as well as BoJack’s ex-flame and current agent, with precision. Paul F. Tompkins does boundlessly enthusiastic work as Mr. PeanutButter, a hapless golden retriever who stared in “Mr. PeanutButter’s House” which had an identical plotline to BoJack’s, with a pinch of Sister, Sister. Tompkins’ joy in Mr. PeanutButter’s oblivious lines are a highlight of any episode that features him. Alison Brie completes the ensemble as BoJack’s ghostwriter, Diane, with Brie doing very different work here as she offers a pretty fresh performance, whereas everyone else seems to be pushing out the voice and character that you’d expect from them.