I’m obsessed with the animated works of Raphael Bob-Waksberg, creator of Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman,” which are all full of humor and humanity. So I’m stoked that the creator has a new show coming once again to Netflix: “Long Story Short” is premiering on August 22, and it appears to be oh-so-Jewish.
The animated show (for adults!) tells the story of three siblings from the Jewish Schwooper family, jumping back and forth in time from childhood to adulthood. It chronicles “their triumphs, disappointments, joys, and compromises,” according to Netflix.
A first teaser just dropped, depicting the three Schwooper (an amalgamation of Schwartz and Cooper) siblings sitting together in the back seat of of their parents’ car, first as children, and then as adults, bickering about personal space. As a toddler in a carseat, the youngest Schwooper brother, Yoshi, pokes his sister Shira; as an adult, gangly and tall, he just can’t help but prod her with his long legs. As they bicker, the older Schwooper brother, Avi, tries to stay out of it — as a child, listening to his Walkman; as an adult, staring at his phone — but can’t help but be drawn into the fight. It’s a familiar scene for anyone who has had to share a backseat with their siblings.
The animation is both adorable and evocative, and the dubbing is especially exciting, because “Long Story Short” has an incredible cast. There’s Paul Reiser as family patriarch Elliot Cooper and Lisa Edelstein as Schwooper matriarch Naomi Schwartz. As for the three siblings, Shira is voiced by Abbi Jacobson (“Broad City,” “No Good Deed”) and the two Schwooper brothers appear to be voiced by Ben Feldman (“Superstore”) and Max Greenfield (“New Girl”) — who, fun fact, also played brothers in a quirky Passover movie.
You may notice that every Jewish character here is voiced by a truly outstanding Jewish actor, who will undoubtedly help this family feel even more grounded and authentic.
“I felt like I wanted it to be a specific family, and I wanted them to be Jewish and from Northern California, mainly because I’m Jewish and from Northern California,” Bob-Waksberg shared in an interview with Deadline.
The Schwoopers won’t just be nominally Jewish, either. Bob-Waksberg said that for the show to feel true to his experience, they also talk about being Jewish quite a bit. “I wanted to tell a story about Jews who feel like being Jewish is a part of their lives. It’s not just an additional flavor label you can throw on. It’s who they are.”
For those who’ve never watched “BoJack Horseman,” it takes place a world in which humans and anthropomorphic beings co-exist, designed by Jewish cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt. The show centered a has-been sitcom star, BoJack, voiced by Will Arnett, in a transcendent commentary about the malaise of being human, touching on addiction, mental illness and childhood trauma with poignancy. While “BoJack” didn’t have Jewish characters, it was, as one Hey Alma writer rightly asserted, filled with Jewish themes.
Bob-Waksberg’s sophomore show, “Undone,” overtly dealt with Jewish themes through its protagonist, Alma, her family’s Holocaust trauma. Just like “Long Story Short,” it very much touched on the nature of time, and remains one of my favorite Jewish shows ever.
Which is to all to say, my hopes are high for “Long Story Short.” I’m so excited to watch this unique show about Jewish family from one of my favorite creators.
“Long Story Short” premieres on Netflix on Aug. 22.
