Over the weekend, Netflix released the third season of its acclaimed animated hit BoJack Horseman, chronicling the life of its title character, the former sitcom star, and perpetual alcoholic horse, BoJack Horseman. In our season three review, we noted that while the show definitely takes its story into some pretty dark places, so much of its trademark (and often overlooked) humor can be found in the margins, namely in the signs and characters littered throughout the background. Here’s a look at some of the show’s funniest signs we caught in season three.
Some mild spoilers for BoJack Horseman’s third season contained below.
‘Lost Human’
Starting off very subtly, BoJack meets Jill Pill (Mara Wilson) at the prestigious Manhattan Diner, the kind of place that offers an “Eggs Upper Easty” breakfast special. Inside the restaurant’s lobby is a typical coffeehouse billboard, complete with a ‘Lost Dog’ sign. Given that we’re in the world of BoJack Horseman, there’s also one looking for someone’s ‘Lost Human.’ It also makes it a point to show that Hamilton is popular pretty much everywhere you go.
‘David Hasselhoff’s Floor Burgers’
When we get to the episode that’s set entirely in the year 2007, there’s a scene early on that’s just packed full of references to that crazy time nine years ago. The best one out of all of them, though, is David Hasselhoff’s Floor Burgers, where Todd (Aaron Paul) and Emily (Abbi Jacobson) are having a bite to eat. The reference, complete with an illustration of The Hoff himself, refers to a particularly low point in his career, which also happened back in 2007.
‘Watch John From Cincinnati‘
In that same flashback episode, not only do Todd and Emily makes a couple of references to The Sopranos (the show’s finale aired that year), but we get some skywriting that was plugging HBO’s 2007 attempt at a new hit series, John from Cincinnati. The show only lasted one season, which is why you see it sky-edited later in that same episode.
‘Chubby With A Sport Coat’
When BoJack attends the Pacific Ocean Film Festival, or POFF, he spends the episode in a surreal, near-silent adventure at the bottom of the ocean. Things go about as well for BoJack as you’d expect, starting with his limo driver’s sign describing him in a rather unflattering way. After BoJack picks an argument with the driver about how he looks, he’s dropped off at the Rinse-Carlton hotel, which has a painting depicting a struggle between Captain Ahab vs. Moby Dick in the lobby, like all swanky ocean hotels have. I assume.
‘What To Expect When You’re A Male Seahorse Expecting… Which Is A Thing’
While he’s still under the sea, BoJack finds himself on a bus where he is forced to help a male seahorse give birth. The guy is prepared, though, and gives BoJack a copy of the Seahorse equivalent of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. This does happen to be an actual thing — as the male seahorse is the one that gives birth. The rest of the episode, however, veers away from scientific accuracy, as BoJack is tasked with returning a lost baby seahorse to the father, even though seahorses don’t raise their young. Then again, anthropomorphic horses typically don’t attend film festivals at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, either.
‘Speak’ And ‘How To Share’
Season three spends a bit more time with the characters’ relationships with one another, meaning we spend more than a few intimate moments with Mr. Peanut Butter (Paul F. Tompkins) and Diane (Alison Brie). This includes time with their therapist, Dr. Janet, who’s voiced by Lorraine Bracco in another nod to The Sopranos. Dr. Janet’s office is adorned with a couple of inspirational posters, one is a fairly obvious joke about what kind of therapy your average dog would need. The other is a nine-step (!) list of commands to follow when sharing your emotions, which seems both excessive and unnecessary, especially when you consider that step nine is Repeat.
‘Single Maltin Scotch’
During BoJack’s long, tedious road to the Oscars, he makes the rounds at several smaller awards ceremonies. The best of all these pre-Oscars ceremonies is The Leonard Maltin Awards, where the famous film critic gives out all the awards to people he thought were “pretty good” that year. And it wouldn’t be an awards show without a customized drink menu at the after-party, complete with a five-star rating system.
‘Need Help? I’m A Tool’
BoJack reaches out to his former Horsin’ Around co-star Brad (Adam Conover), who’s looking to launch his reboot/spin-off sitcom Ethan Around, centered on his old sitcom character. If Brad spending his post-fame life working in a hardware store in Olympia, Washington wasn’t enough of a cue, the embroidered letters on his vest clue us in to how well things have been going for him since his time as an actor. Though, to be fair, Brad doesn’t seem to mind, even giving his new life a solid “B+.”
‘First Aid For Choking’
Let’s take a moment to admire that even the workplace safety notifications that are required by law are representative of this interspecies world. Although performing CPR on a snake like that really doesn’t seem like the best idea.
‘Movies Are Super Important’
As the Oscars grow near, BoJack and company start to see the light at the end of the awards show tunnel. In the meantime, we get this great little bit of insight on what the Motion Picture Academy really thinks of itself.
‘Now Leaving California: America’s Sideburn’
In the show’s closing moments, BoJack begins to speed down the highway, his existential crisis beginning to take hold and his old life in Hollywood starting to disappear in his rearview mirror. During this very somber moment, the show manages to squeeze in one last joke plastered on a sign alongside the highway, forever changing how we’ll think about California when we see it on a map somewhere.
