Bojack Horseman, with Allison Flierl and Joe Lawson

This week on On Story, a conversation on the animated tragicomedy series Bojack Horseman with two of its writers, Alison Flierl and Joe Lawson.

 

The series follows Bojack, a washed-up former sitcom star who's trying to stage a comeback in Hollywood, while fighting against his own addiction and self-destructive tendencies. Bojack is also an anthropomorphic horse inhabiting a world where humans and animals live side-by side. The series, which ran for six seasons on Netflix, features the voice acting talents of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Aaron Paul, and a rotating cast of celebrity cameos. 

 

Before writing for Bojack Horseman, Joe Lawson worked as a writer on Shameless, Modern Family, and This is Us. More recently, Lawson worked as a writer on Rian Johnson's case-of-the-week murder mystery series, Poker Face. Lawson is joined by his fellow Bojack writer, Alison Flierl, whose other writing credits include Conan, and the School of Rock TV series. 

 

Flierl and Lawson sat down with AFF moderator Harrison Glaser to discuss their love-hate relationship with the character of Bojack, and how working in an animated medium allowed them to tackle surprisingly serious topics. 

 

Clips of Bojack Horseman courtesy of BoJack Productions LLC.