Long Story Short (TV series)

Long Story Short
Release poster
Genre	Adult animation Animated sitcom Comedy drama
Created by	Raphael Bob-Waksberg
Showrunner	Raphael Bob-Waksberg
Starring	Ben Feldman Angelique Cabral Abbi Jacobson Nicole Byer Max Greenfield Lisa Edelstein Paul Reiser
Music by	Jesse Novak
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producers	Raphael Bob-Waksberg Noel Bright Steven A. Cohen
Editors	Molly Yahr Brian Swanson
Running time	25 minutes
Production companies	The Tornante Company Vegan Blintzes ShadowMachine Netflix Animation
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22) – present

Long Story Short is an American adult animated comedy drama television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg that premiered on August 22, 2025, on Netflix. Ahead of the series premiere, in July 2025, the series was renewed for a second season.

Premise

The series tells the story of a middle-class Jewish family in a non-linear timeline. Three siblings: Avi (Ben Feldman), Shira (Abbi Jacobson), and Yoshi (Max Greenfield) experience ordinary adult events while looking back on their childhood. ^{[1] [2]}

Voice cast

Main

• Ben Feldman as Avi Schwooper, the oldest child of the Schwooper children. Avi has extensive knowledge of pop culture. He has a daughter named Hannah, whom he shares custody of with his ex-wife Jen. Avi suffers from pattern hair loss.
• Angelique Cabral as Jen Schwooper, she became Avi's girlfriend and became later his wife, but they divorced in 2020.
• Abbi Jacobson as Shira Schwooper, the middle child of the Schwooper children and sole daughter of Naomi and Elliot. Born in 1984, Shira is a lesbian and is married to Kendra, with whom she raises twin boys, Walter and Benjamin. Shira was once best friends with Rachel "Baby" Feldstein in childhood and teenage years, in high school Shira had hooked up with Rachel and Shira believed they are dating, but Shira is hurt when Rachel never saw her in a romantic way, this ended their friendship and Shira now hates her.
• Nicole Byer as Kendra Hooper, Shira's wife, who converts to Judaism as an adult after initially lying about being part of the faith to cover up for a work absence.
• Max Greenfield as Yoshi Schwooper, the youngest child of the Schwooper children and second son of Naomi and Elliot. Born in 1991, he is diagnosed with ADHD, Dyslexia and Executive dysfunction causing him struggles in adulthood with holding down a career. In his late twenties Yoshi starts practicing modern Orthodox Judaism. Yoshi sometimes feels as the youngest (6 years younger) of the siblings and that Avi and Shira are close in age, he feel like the extra one. Yoshi is born with a noticeable beauty mark on his face.
• Lisa Edelstein as Naomi Schwartz, the matriarch of the Schwooper family and mother of Avi, Shira and Yoshi
• Paul Reiser as Elliot Cooper, the patriarch of the Schwooper family and father of Avi, Shira and Yoshi

Recurring

• Dave Franco as Danny Wegbriet, Yoshi's shifty friend
• Michaela Dietz as Hannah Schwooper, Avi and Jen's desensitized teenage daughter, Shira and Yoshi's niece and Naomi and Elliot's granddaughter. Hannah has a good relationship with her uncle Yoshi.
• Gina Rodriguez as Rachel "Baby" Feldstein, Shira's former best friend from childhood. Rachel is bisexual and hooked up with Shira during high school, but perceived the relationship as more casual than Shira and insensitive hurts her, leading to the end of their friendship. Years later in 2015, Rachel reunite with Yoshi, when Yoshi asks her what happened between her and Shira, Rachel says they were young and claims Shira got mad at her for "no reason".
• Danny Burstein as Uncle Barry, Naomi's uncle by marriage with her aunt Sylvia (the sister of Naomi's mother).
• Avia Fields as Walter and Benjamin Hooper-Schwooper, Kendra and Shira's hyperactive twin boys
• Julie Klausner as Carol Schwartz, one of Naomi's sisters
• Zoe Lister-Jones as Susan Schwartz, one of Naomi's sisters

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code
1	"Yoshi's Bar Mitzvah"	Katie Aldworth Jack Shih	Raphael Bob-Waksberg	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	101
In 1996, the family are in the car after attending Naomi's mom’s funeral. In 2004, a young Avi brings his girlfriend Jen to his childhood home to meet his seemingly dysfunctional family. The couple attend his brother Yoshi's bar mitzvah, where a series of chaotic events unfold at the Jewish Community Center where the celebration is taking place.
2	"Hannah's Dance Recital"	Aaron Brewer	Kelly Galuska	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	104
In 1991, the siblings and Naomi are at Jersey Shore, and Shira almost drowns after Avi leaves her alone in the water to play with his cousins instead. In 2014, Shira and her wife Kendra want to have a biological child. While attending a pageant show starring Hannah, Avi and Jen's daughter, Shira asks Avi to donate his sperm, leading to an awkward fallout between the siblings.
3	"There's a Mattress in There"	Ben Bjelajac	Jordan Young	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	103
In 2006, Naomi and Elliot learn of Yoshi's diagnoses and the cause behind them. In 2013, after being dismissed from his latest job, Yoshi finds short-lived success in selling inflatable mattresses packaged in tubes. Mayhem ensues in the Schwooper household after an unexpected product design flaw comes to light.
4	"Shira Can't Cook"	Katie Rice	Mehar Sethi	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	102
In 2012, Shira meets Kendra Hooper at the market. In 2021, Shira and Kendra are preparing to enroll their twin boys, Walter and Ben, into elementary school. Shira plans to impress the administration of a posh school by cooking her mother's knishes for a prospective parents' potluck. She tries to navigate a challenging recipe several times, much to Kendra's dismay.
5	"Yoshi & Baby"	Katie Rice	Laura Donney	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	106
In 1998, Shira and Baby play a game called "Horse" where if you miss a basketball shot, you earn letters to spell out "Hor." But, Yoshi really wants to play, but Shira won't let him because it is a "teenager game" but lets him into one round. While trying to make a shot, Yoshi accidentally hurts her sister, giving her a nosebleed. In 2015, Yoshi is getting ready to donate his sperm to help Shira and Kendra conceive a child. The night before the donation, he runs into Shira's childhood friend, Rachel "Baby" Feldstein and they spend the next few hours together.
6	"Wolves"	Katie Aldworth	Keyonna Taylor	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	105
In 1997, the family tries to play Avi's board game to the point where he gets mad because they don't understand it. The game ends when Naomi finds out that the game is set in Germany when Avi explains that the game is European. In 2021, Avi tries to get Hannah's school to remove some wayward wild wolves, but he ends up accidentally sparking a movement with busybody parents.
7	"Kendra's Job"	Ben Bjelajac	Rachelle Williams-BenAry	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	107
In 1993, Kendra is given a princess party room on her birthday, but she is not fond of it due to her tomboy style. In 2007, before she met Shira, Kendra was a cut-throat floor supervisor at a children's funhouse who decides to take a management class to get ahead, so much so that she ends up sidelining everything, from her former girlfriend to her younger brother David.
8	"The Intervention"	Aaron Brewer	Elijah Aron	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	108
In 1959, young Naomi manipulates her parents and her big sisters to pay attention to her. In 2019, the family comes together at Los Angeles for Naomi and Elliot's anniversary, which is actually a front for an intervention because Naomi believes that Yoshi is addicted to some substance, only for tensions to rise because of Naomi's fussiness.
9	"Honoring Naomi Schwartz"	Katie Aldworth	Taryn Englehart	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	109
In 2014, Avi and Naomi are at the playground with Hannah talking about the Haim girls who are in a band, and Naomi encourages Avi and his siblings to start a band. In 2002, the family attends a celebration for Naomi at the Jewish Community Center where in the process, Avi learns more about his mother, Shira ditches to be with Baby at the high school prom but realizes that Baby never liked her in a romantic way and Yoshi tries to hide from his overbearing great uncle Barry and eventually get drunk with his friend, Danny.
10	"Uncle Barry"	Katie Rice	Raphael Bob-Waksberg	August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	110
In 2000, Naomi and Avi are visiting Uncle Barry, Barry is going to leave New York to Vegas as he can't be in the big expensive house since he lost Sylvia and gives Naomi to take things from the house, she finds the butterfly brooch that belonged to her mother but Barry wants to keep it. In 2022, when Uncle Barry dies, it leads to many shenanigans at his funeral that soon culminates in the family going to a motel to hold a memorial for both him and Naomi who died in 2020 from COVID-19.

Production

The series is created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the creator of BoJack Horseman and executive producer on Tuca & Bertie and Undone . The series received a series order in August 2024. ^[3] Bob-Waksberg also serves as the showrunner. The series is executive produced by Bob-Waksberg, Noel Bright, and Steven A. Cohen. The Tornante Company and ShadowMachine are the production companies. The main voice cast includes Ben Feldman, Abbi Jacobson, Max Greenfield, Lisa Edelstein, Paul Reiser, Angelique Cabral, and Nicole Byer. ^[4] . Each episode's credits contain the disclaimer "This Program Was Made By Humans", indicating that generative AI was not used in production. ^[5] Shortly before release it was renewed for a second season. ^[6]

Release

Long Story Short premiered on Netflix on August 22, 2025. ^[4]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating based on 36 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Tackling emotionally mature themes with an ingeniously zany sense of humor, Raphael Bob-Waksberg's Long Story Short welcomes viewers into a highly specific—and extremely relatable—family unit." ^[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave a score of 89 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". ^[8]

Jenna Scherer of The A.V. Club , gave the first season an A- and wrote, "The series is all about how people change over the years—and the fact that, no matter how far you run, the past always returns to haunt the present." ^[9] Reviewing the series' first season for The Guardian , Stuart Heritage gave a rating of 4/5 and said, "Again and again, the show reminds us that everything is an echo of what came before. This is a testament to Bob-Waksberg’s writing. This level of granular, non-linear character development must have been a feat to construct, and yet it feels effortless." ^[10]

References

1. Zahed, Ramin (July–August 2025). "'Long Story Short' Supervising Producer Lisa Hanawalt Delves into the Bonds & Memories Behind the Show". Animation Magazine . Vol. 39, no. 6. pp. 29–31. ISSN   1041-617X . Retrieved August 20, 2025.
2. Murray, Noel (August 6, 2025). "The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix in August" . The New York Times . Retrieved August 12, 2025.
3. Otterson, Joe (August 22, 2024). "'BoJack Horseman' Team of Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Tornante Company, ShadowMachine Reunite for Netflix Animated Series 'Long Story Short'". Variety . Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
4. Milligan, Mercedes (May 5, 2025). "Netflix Reveals Cast of 'Long Story Short' from 'BoJack Horseman' Creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg". Animation Magazine . Retrieved August 19, 2025.
5. Kessel Odom, Dani (August 23, 2025). "Netflix's New BoJack Horseman Replacement Features A Sad Reality About AI". ScreenRant . Valnet. Retrieved September 1, 2025.
6. Gillis, Drew (July 31, 2025). "Have an early season 2 renewal with this Long Story Short trailer". The A.V. Club . Paste Media Group. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
7. "Long Story Short: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved September 18, 2025.
8. "Long Story Short: Season 1". Metacritic . Retrieved September 18, 2025.
9. Scherer, Jenna (August 22, 2025). "Just like BoJack, Long Story Short feels entirely new". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
10. Heritage, Stuart (August 22, 2025). "Long Story Short review – TV so funny and clever it could run for ever". The Guardian . Retrieved August 26, 2025.

External links

• Long Story Short on Netflix
• Long Story Short at IMDb