Bojack Horseman‘s reruns are headed to Comedy Central. Viacom’s basic cable network has acquired the exclusive linear TV rights to all current seasons of the popular Netflix adult animated series Bojack Horseman. Season one will premiere on Comedy Central September 26, immediately following the Season 22 debut of South Park. Select episodes will be available to stream on cc.com and the Comedy Central app.
This is a rare off-network syndication sale for a Netflix series. BoJack was one of the first series orders for Netflx when it was still a newcomer in the original programming space and was buying shows from outside production companies. BoJack hails from Michael Eisner’s Tornante Co., which retained the series’ off-network rights for a domestic syndication sale. (Netflix’s first original series, House Of Cards, produced by MRC, had retained domestic and international rights, which are handled by Sony TV.) Those opportunities quickly disappeared, with Netflix demanding full exclusivity worldwide on all of its series.
BoJack‘s rerun rights were shopped by the Lionsgate-owned Debmar-Mercury, founded and run by Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein. The sale to Comedy Central makes it a full circle for Marcus, who made his mark with his then-newly launched independent distribution company, Debmar Studios, by acquiring the rerun rights of another adult animated comedy series, South Park, from Comedy Central. Now Debmar-Mercury has sold to Comedy Central BoJack repeats to air in tandem with South Park. In both cases, the shows have had to undergo some “cleaning up” of racy content.
“Comedy Central has a long history of using potent satire to help make sense of trying times, so BoJack Horseman is a perfect fit in our lineup,” said Tanya Giles, General Manager, Comedy Central. “We’re thrilled to be the first to put BoJack on linear TV, and who better than an animated horse to teach us a thing or two about humanity? Straight from the horse’s mouth.”
Emmy-nominated and critically acclaimed BoJack Horseman premiered on Netflix in August 2014 and will debut its fifth season on September 14. The series revolves around the titular character (voiced by Will Arnett), a legendary but fatally flawed former 90’s sitcom star (who also happens to be a horse) from the family-favorite sitcom Horsin’ Around, who has been trying to find his way through a muddle of self-loathing, whisky and failed relationships. Now, in the presence of his human sidekick Todd (Aaron Paul) and his feline agent and ex-paramour Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), BoJack is primed for his comeback. Alison Brie and Paul F. Tompkins also star.
“BoJack Horseman has been a groundbreaking show, defining the best in adult animated comedy just as South Park was before it,” said Eisner, founder of The Tornante Company. “It is very fitting that the two shows will air back-to-back on Comedy Central.”
Comedy Central has been beefing up its roster of acquired adult animated series. The network just picked up reruns of King of the Hill and The Cleveland Show from Twentieth Television.
The BoJack deal was negotiated by Debmar-Mercury and Viacom Program Acquisitions Group. Here is a Comedy Central trailer for Bojack Horseman:
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