South Park And BoJack Horseman Are Best Television Shows Of 2015

2015 gave us a lot to watch on television and the Internet. However, two adult-oriented animated series proved to be the most relevant and enjoyable to watch. Both South Park and BoJack Horseman have provided many people with laughs, while allowing them to question the world we live in.

South Park has been going on since 1997 and many people thought the show was going downhill. Entertainment Weekly recently described why the just-ended 19th season of South Park is such a success.

“But the best thing about South Park season 19 is that the show clearly realizes that the central point of its comedy — our new politically correct culture — is also the central point of the new wave of reactionary animosity.”

The article then goes on to talk about how this season of South Park brilliantly does a satire on gentrification, alleged privilege, and politically correct hypocrisy. Most shows are afraid to take on how our culture has become oversensitive to the point of slashing any type of meaningful dialogue. South Park, which has been politically incorrect all throughout its 18-year run, is the perfect show to do this.

Like South Park, BoJack Horseman deals with present-day issues in order to make us laugh and make a point. BoJack Horseman is the best web series in years and you really have to get past the first couple of episodes to understand why. Actually, you have to get past the first season to understand why. While the first season had its moments, it wasn’t until the second season was released to Netflix in July of 2015 that the show began to take on more importance.

By the beginning of the second season, the viewer no longer is freaked out by the world in which all animals, insects, and humans work with each other, live with each other, and even have sex with each other. Now that the viewer has adjusted, the storyline takes over and it doesn’t just make us laugh; it makes us cry as well.

In the second season, we learn more about BoJack’s past and his horrible upbringing. In one episode, where he is playing the race horse Secretariat, a director has a hard time making BoJack cry. After the scene, Mr. Horseman goes out to have a cigarette and let out all his tears in private. It is, perhaps, the most touching moment on the series yet.

We are also introduced to a character named Hank Hippopopalous, a Bill Cosby type character who has been called out by many assistants for sexual harassment. Diane Nguyen, BoJack’s friend and biography writer, learns the hard way when she calls him out in public. She is called names, harassed everywhere she goes, and even the people she loves are threatened. It’s very sad, but also very eye-opening.

In the old days, cartoons were just for kids; they were funny, easy to understand, and didn’t deal with issues that really provoked. Starting with The Simpsons, that has changed. Then, Family Guy took it to a new level. Now, shows like South Park and BoJack Horseman not only entertain, but make people think, question themselves, and question why society accepts certain behaviors that it shouldn’t.

[Photo by AP Images/PRNewsFoto/Netflix, Inc.]