Long Story Short TV Review: The creator of BoJack Horseman’s latest is an introspective celebration of religion & family

Plot: This adult animated comedy spans multiple years and explores a dysfunctional family’s shared history, inside jokes, and old wounds.

Review: Oy vey! Suppose you’re one of these people who thinks animation is simply for kids and can’t strike a nerve that will drive your emotions meshuggeneh. In that case, you’re about to learn a harsh lesson in self-reflection thanks to Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s Long Story Short, a slice-of-life dramedy series centered on the Schwooper family, whose deep ties to the Jewish faith inspire laughs and blasphemy in equal measure in the latest geshenk from the creator of BoJack Horseman.

After watching Long Story Short, I’m convinced Raphael Bob-Waksberg is a master of introspective comedy. Where BoJack Horseman explores the downward spiral and rehabilitation of a washed-up sitcom star struggling to make sense of life after the stage lights go dark, Long Story Short deconstructs the complicated relationships within a family who’re closer to one another than they care to admit. Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s new series feels like a meditation on forgiveness, reluctant togetherness, and soul-searching in an often lonely world where the only people who understand you are the ones you try your damndest to keep at arm’s length.

I understand how the narrative structure of Long Story Short could throw some viewers. The chronicles of the Schwooper family do not unfold in a straight line. Instead, Bob-Waksberg shpringens from one decade to the next, touching on pivotal moments of the Schwoopers’ lives, from the Schwooper children’s adolescence to their being full-grown adults with kids of their own. The shift from the 1990s to pandemic times and beyond can be jarring, though it gets easier to follow along with each episode.

Long Story Short hails from Michael Eisner’s The Torante Company, with ShadowMachine providing the art and animation. Striking a different tone and look than BoJack Horseman, it gives Sunday morning comic strip vibes with Peanuts-like facial structures, a 64 Crayola crayon box color palette, and muted backgrounds that highlight the primary cast. While some viewers likely prefer more flash, the show’s aesthetic keeps the visual focus on the Schwoopers, whose personalities come through in clever dialogue peppered with Yiddish slang, exasperated gestures, and instances of self-analysis.

As a Jew on my mother’s side and stepson to a rabbi and cantor, I’m familiar with the religion but have never given myself over to it. Long Story Short stirred unexpected thoughts and feelings about my path, prompting me to wonder if I’ve been missing out. Speaking of the Schwoopers, the series stars Lisa Edelstein as Naomi, the Schwooper family matriarch and source of much frustration throughout the series. She’s a tough woman with strong ideals, a sharp tongue, and more judgment than the Almighty. Edelstein channels every overbearing, hypercritical mother who’s ever walked the Earth for her performance, becoming a familiar source of aggravation with each awkward scenario she inevitably makes worse.

Paul Reiser plays Elliot Schwooper, the respite from Naomi’s thorny disposition, with a penchant for puppetry and salacious jokes. Reiser gives Elliot warmth and joviality. He’s corny and uncomplicated, like a ’90s TV dad with a Jim Henson complex.

Ben Feldman, Abbi Jacobson, and Max Greenfield play the Schwooper siblings, Avi, Shira, and Yoshi, respectively. Feldman plays Avi like a father desperate for his daughter’s approval, who just won second place at the Josh Gad lookalike contest. I find something about Avi’s voice comforting, as whiny as he can often become. Jacobson frequently steals the show as Shira, the middle sibling. When Shira is young, Jacobson plays her like a tightly wound coil ready to spring toward anywhere but home. In her adulthood, Shira is a mother determined not to repeat her mother’s mistakes, and Jacobson’s sincerity cuts through the character’s insecurities like a sharp knife through braided challah bread. Finally, Max Greenfield is an endearing dingbat with heart as the youngest Schwooper sibling, Yoshi. He’s not the brightest candle on the menorah, but Greenfield plays Yoshi like a lovable black sheep with a track record for missing the boat to Brainsville. All three actors bring great energy, fire, and silliness to their characters, and boy, do they know how to argue!

Last, but never least, Nicole Byer is life-giving as Kendra, a workaholic super mom with an infinite fuse and immense love for her wife, Shira, and their twin boys. Byer brings a hilarious incredulity to Kendra, whose sass-hole dial goes all the way to eleven. Byer and Jacobson play well together, giving the series a welcome dose of attitude, anxiety, and bedroom eyes.

Long Story Short doesn’t feature any explosions (though there is a hilarious bit involving a burning shrub at a Bat Mitzvah), talking animals, or stylish chase sequences. It’s an animated series about people and surviving a family that tests your ability not to emancipate yourself from their shenanigans. Just when I thought Long Story Short was all laughs, it hit me with moments of reflection. We’re looking in on these people at some of the most pivotal moments of their lives, and somehow it doesn’t feel like we’ve missed a thing. Because a wildly talented Jewish actor voices every Jewish character in the show, the family feels genuine and oddly familiar. Their problems and insecurities resemble our own, and who among us hasn’t wanted to strangle a family member at some point, gently?

Netflix was smart to green-light Long Story Short for a second season ahead of its debut. While the show takes some time to settle into, once I got there, it was ride-or-die for the Schwoopers. I enjoy shows that challenge the maturity of animation, and Bob-Waksberg’s latest effort goes out of its way to be something special in an art form overrun with CGI slickness and fairytale endings. I couldn’t decide how I felt about Long Story Short until the end, when a quiet moment with the Schwoopers got me feeling verklempt. I’ve met people like them, and perhaps I’m more of a Yoshi than I’d care to admit. A special kind of kishuf comes with Long Story Short, and I can’t wait for audiences to enjoy another winner from Raphael Bob-Waksberg and his talented team.

Source:
JoBlo