The BoJack Horseman Show (episode)

“	Oh my god, 2007? Is that what time it is? I’ve gotta get my Uggs on and get to work!	”
—Princess Carolyn

The BoJack Horseman Show
Airdate	July 22, 2016
Written by	Vera Santamaria
Directed by	Adam Parton
Episode guide
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The BoJack Horseman Show is the second episode of season 3 of the Netflix original series BoJack Horseman, and the 26th episode overall. This episode, along with the rest of Season 3, aired on July 22, 2016.

Synopsis

In 2007, Princess Carolyn finds a new project for BoJack, Diane meets Mr. Peanutbutter at the coffee shop where she works, and Todd kisses a girl.

Plot

The episode begins with BoJack and Princess Carolyn in bed together, as they had slept together, a fact the two feel awkward about. The radio announces that they're in the year 2007.

Princess Carolyn starts to get ready for work, and when BoJack suggests she stay home with him, she sarcastically tells him she has to go help her boss find gigs for him to turn down.

BoJack claims that he's still decompressing from the last show that he did, Horsin' Around, which ended eleven years ago. BoJack and Princess Carolyn then agree to not make what they did "a thing."

Princess Carolyn is driving the street when she drives past a teenage Todd and his friend Emily. Emily asks Todd who he likes, although he claims he doesn’t know, and when she presses him to confess he reluctantly says Kimber, which Emily groans at, because "everyone likes Kimber."

When Todd asks who she likes, she says she isn’t allowed to like anyone, because her dad is super strict. She asks Todd if he knows about the TV show The Sopranos, and she says that’s what her dad does. Todd says that they have to go if they're going to do the flash mob. Emily almost admits she loves him, but quickly changes what she says. They skateboard away past a Starbucks.

Mr. Peanutbutter and his second wife Jessica Biel are in Starbucks, where Mr. Peanutbutter has announced to her he is the new face of Seaborn Seahorse Milk. She is displeased he keeps taking any job he’s offered, as most of them are low-level and she believes they’re beneath him. Diane is the barista and asks for their orders, and Jessica gets annoyed when Diane doesn’t recognize who she is when Diane asks for their names.

Marv calls Princess Carolyn, his secretary for fourteen years, into his office and asks for the scripts he read that weekend. Princess Carolyn tells him about No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood but he rejects both of them. She then tells him about The Life and Loves of Mitch McFadden and his Friends and Family, a tv show script written by veteran sitcom writer Cuddlywhiskers.

She calls it Mitch's Life (as Marv rejected the other two because the titles were too long) and suggests that BoJack star in it. Marv rejects, saying BoJack turns down everything he gives him. Princess Carolyn tries to defend BoJack, but Marv cuts her off and scoffs when she tells him she’d lie to be an agent one day, saying one day she might but for now she’s learning from the best. Marv then says not even the best agent could get BoJack to work, which gives Princess Carolyn an idea.

Princess Carolyn goes to BoJack's house with four Four Lokos. This gets him drunk, and he wakes up in Princess Carolyn's car. She tells him about the new show, and she’s taking him to meet with Cuddlywhiskers. BoJack rejects at first until Princess Carolyn promises if he does it they'll have sex again later.

At Cuddlywhiskers's house, Cuddlywhiskers tells BoJack the show idea came to him when he was in rehab, and unlike his other shows, he wants to dig deeper. His latest show, Krill & Grace, didn’t make him happy, neither did the awards or the money.

Cuddlywhiskers then introduces BoJack to his assistant, Jill, and the two have a "special relationship". He then continues to explain to BoJack that he's trying to do something different and create something that lasts, and to send him an e-mail when he wants to stop being the horse from Horsin' Around.

At Starbucks, Diane is with her boyfriend Wayne and her friend Roxy when she joyfully announces she got a rejection and receives from The New York Times, as she’s happy they actually read it even though it was rejected. Roxy and Wayne make fun of The New Yorker, while Wayne chastises Diane for trying, as Diane reads the letter out loud.

At night, an excited BoJack tells Princess Carolyn, who’s staying the night with him again, about his meeting with Cuddlywhiskers, although he doesn’t want to do the show because he doesn’t think it’s the right time. Princess Carolyn is frustrated with him and asks why he won’t do it. BoJack explains the show sounds incredible and he doesn’t think he is. Princess Carolyn assures him he's amazing and talented, but if he can't see that then he's the dumbest person in the world.

Todd and Emily are in a closet for 7 Minutes in Heaven. Todd is nervous because he's never kissed anyone before. Emily says that they can practice with each other. They slowly lean in and kiss.

The next day, Marv gets a call from BoJack who has agreed to do the show.

Two months later, Princess Carolyn, who slept with BoJack again, wakes up to find BoJack staring at her. He reveals he didn’t sleep due to being nervous for the first read-through of the script. He gives Princess Carolyn a present - a box with crinkly paper- and thanks her for getting him this gig. She tells him that she's going to be in the audience and will be laughing the loudest, and the two kiss.

After BoJack, Cuddlywhiskers, and the others read through the script, which is met with applause throughout the room, the executives tell Cuddlywhiskers and BoJack they love this show, and they tell BoJack it's going to be as big as Horsin' Around, to his concern.

Back at Starbucks, Jessica is telling Mr. Peanutbutter about her new friend, Justin. Mr. Peanutbutter encourages her to hang out with him and to do all the things that he can't do with her with him. Jessica is getting impatient and asks for service, but Diane is on the phone with her mom telling her about how her article is going to be published on McSweeny's, which her mom starts nagging about the Internet. Meanwhile, Mr. Peanutbutter tells Jessica about his Blockbuster original series, and she continues to be frustrated with him saying yes to everything.

Outside of the TV studio, BoJack tells Cuddlywhiskers he thinks they are playing it too safe because the network loved it, and he doesn’t want to make something that is better than Horsin' Around. Princess Carolyn tries to give advice but BoJack shuts her down and makes fun of her still being an assistant after 14 years. She leaves, and BoJack tells Cuddlywhiskers that they're going to fix the script.

Princess Carolyn goes to Marv and tells him that she wants to be an agent. Marv at first laughs at her, but then tells her she can take his position and office because he quits. He tells her that working here ruined his life and as a result, he has many regrets. However, after he leaves, Princess Carolyn still celebrates becoming an agent.

Meanwhile, BoJack and Cuddlywhiskers stay up all night long fixing the script, adding weird and irreverent ideas as they go, including having BoJack's character taking a dump on a Horsin' Around VHS and giving BoJack's character the catchphrase, "WHASSUP BITCHES?!". When they’ve finished, they rename the show The BoJack Horseman Show.

Another two months later, Mr. Peanutbutter is at a fundraiser as an announcer to raise money for the John Edwards campaign, an event that Diane, Wayne, and Roxy are catering.

Emily and Todd, who have been a couple since they first kissed, are making out in Emily's parents' bedroom when Emily asks Todd to have sex with her.

Todd hesitantly agrees, but just then they hear Emily's dad comes home. Todd begins to panic, as he thinks Emily's dad is a mob boss, as she told him her dad’s job is related to The Sopranos, but Emily reveals he’s actually an editor for The Sopranos. Todd shimmies out the window by using the film of the final episode of The Sopranos as a rope. When he does, a bit of it breaks off. As he runs away, he looks at the film strip and discovers Tony marries Dr. Melfi.

As Todd runs away, he runs past BoJack's house, where he’s throwing a premiere party for The BoJack Horseman Show. Princess Carolyn shows up, as she’s his agent now, despite their fight, which she does bring up. Still, she tells BoJack she’s happy for him, and BoJack is glad to stop being only known as The Horse from Horsin' Around.

He tries to kiss Princess Carolyn, but she stops him, saying she’ll always support him as his agent and friend, but she’s thirty-three and wants to have a family before she turns forty - she can't waste time falling in and out of love with him, and she doesn’t want to wait for things to happen. Before she leaves, she tells BoJack she always liked the "Horse from Horsin' Around," as did everyone, to BoJack's surprise, and worry.

Jessica and Mr. Peanutbutter are arguing in his dressing room at the John Edwards event, which was triggered by Jessica once again getting angry at Mr. Peanutbutter for taking gigs that are beneath him. Mr. Peanutbutter then tells Jessica, after she brings him up, she should continue being really good friends with Justin.

Jessica yells back that she will marry Justin, and she breaks up with Mr. Peanutbutter as she storms off. As she does, Diane walks in with water for Mr. Peanutbutter, and he recognizes her from Starbucks. She explains that she works catering to make ends meet. She then assures him she admires that he puts himself out there by doing the gigs he takes without worrying what people will think of him.

Mr. Peanutbutter says if you worry about what people think of you all the time, you’ll never accomplish anything, which seems to resonate with Diane. The two officially introduce each other, with Diane revealing her real name is Diane and not "Blarn", which is what she put on her Starbucks name tag as a joke. As Mr. Peanutbutter leaves, He tells Diane to add him on Myspace, although he calls her "Diana".

Back at BoJack's house, he rushes inside his living room to Cuddlywhisker's and tells him to call off the show walks into his house for the premiere, as he just realized how terrible the show might be and it could ruin his reputation even further. Cuddlywhiskers calms him down and tells him that he can't guarantee that the show will be a hit, but he knows that people will remember it because it’s "real and edgy", and no other actor could have pulled it off. Together, they go and watch the show, which begins with BoJack's character shouting "WHASSUP BITCHES?!".

Cast

Actor		Character
Will Arnett	...	BoJack Horseman
Amy Sedaris	...	Princess Carolyn
Paul F. Tompkins	...	Mr. Peanutbutter /Marv
Aaron Paul	...	Todd Chavez
Jessica Biel	...	Herself
Wyatt Cenac	...	Wayne
Fielding Edlow	...	Roxy / Executive
Jorge Garcia		Himself
Abbi Jacobson	...	Emily
Melissa Leo	...	Ma Nguyen
Mara Wilson	...	Jill Pill
Jeffrey Wright	...	Cuddlywhiskers

Trivia

• Mr. Peanutbutter mentions that "Michael Vick made me a very strange offer." This is a reference to a scandal from 2007 in which Vick and four other men were convicted for dog fighting.
• Character Actress Margo Martindale is present at the script reading of "The Life and Loves of Mitch McFadden and His Family and Friends". She played a character named Angel.
  • She appears again at the premiere party after it was turned into The BoJack Horseman Show.
• Princess Carolyn presents two scripts to her boss, No Country for Old Men (2007) and There Will Be Blood (2007), but this episode takes place in 2007, the year both of those films came out. Both would have been long into post-production by this point. Additionally, Paul F. Tompkins, the voice of Mr. Peanutbutter, actually appeared in a small role in There Will Be Blood.
• When walking on the studio lot BoJack, Princess Carolyn, and the Producer walk past a sign next to a red light that reads, 'When red light is on, we are definitely not in the middle of something, Derek!'.
• When Todd is being lowered to the ground from the second story window by his girlfriend using the final reel for The Sopranos, the end of the film breaks off which results in the infamous 'screen goes black' scene to end the series.
• List of references during the generic 2007 sequence:
  • "Generic 2007 pop song" resembles The Blank Eyed Peas.
  • "Home Loans: No Job, No Credit? No Problem!" references the irresponsible mortgage sales that were a prime factor in causing the 2008 financial crisis.
  • Britney Shears Hair Salon - references how in 2007 Britney Spears had a publicized mental breakdown, including one instance in February where she went to a hair salon and shaved her head.
    • There is also a sigh inside that reads "Bald is Beautiful"
  • I'll Flip For You Flip Phones
  • Velour Track Suits - a fashion trend in the mid-2000s
  • My Chemical Spray Tan - a reference to the alternative rock/punk/emo band My Chemical Romance.
  • Umbrealla Ella Ella's - a reference to the Rihanna song "Umbrella", which was released that year
    • The song also plays in the background of the radio broadcast that plays when BoJack's alarm goes off in the beginning of the episode.
  • Don't Taze Me Fro-Yo! - a reference to the viral video Don't Taze Me Bro!/the University of Florida Taser incident, where the video stemmed from.
  • "Eel or No Eel" (Deal or No Deal)
  • "Wii Remote Straps Warehouse" references the popularity of the Wii console that was released in 2006, in which the controller included a wrist strap to be used for safety during active gameplay.
    • It may also be referencing the fact that many Wii owners didn't like to use the wrist straps.