‘BoJack’ Creator Reveals the David Fincher Joke That Netflix Cut Over Fear of Upsetting the Director
Zack Sharf
“BoJack Horseman” creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg took to social media this week to reveal a David Fincher joke that he had to cut from his acclaimed Netflix animated series because the streaming giant feared it would upset the “Fight Club” and “Mank” filmmaker. It’s important to remember that Fincher helped bring Netflix into the original content era as an executive producer on “House of Cards,” the first series produced for Netflix, and also directed the first two episodes of the show’s inaugural season. By the time “BoJack” premiered in August 2014, “House of Cards” was already two seasons into its run.
“Still mystified that apparently Dave Chapelle’s deal is that he says whatever he wants and Netflix just has to air it, unedited. Is that normal, for comedians?” Bob-Waksberg asked on Twitter. “Because Netflix once asked me to change a joke because they were worried it might upset David Fincher.”
“Just looked up the cut Fincher joke because I actually couldn’t remember it,” Bob-Waksberg continued. “Turns out it was a whole scene! Netflix was right to note, it’s a dumb scene. My point was it’s silly for a network to pretend their hands are tied when it comes to the content they put on their network.”
The scene in question finds “BoJack” character Princess Carolyn (voiced by Amy Sedaris) meeting David Fincher at a baby shower. Fincher greets Princess Carolyn by saying, “What’s up, slut?” Princess Carolyn calls Fincher a “skinny bitch.” The scene builds to a punchline that references Fincher’s famous “what’s in the box?” scene from “Seven.” The scene was written for the seventh episode of the first season, which Bob-Waksberg reminded his followers “was early in the show’s run and we were still getting out some kinks as far as tone and process.”
All seasons of “BoJack Horseman” are available to stream on Netflix. Read the cut David Fincher scene in its entirety below.
Just looked up the cut Fincher joke because I actually couldn’t remember it. Turns out it was a whole scene! Netflix was right to note, it’s a dumb scene. My point was it’s silly for a network to pretend their hands are tied when it comes to the content they put on their network.
— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 7, 2021
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO’S DONATED SO FAR! We are halfway there! Here’s some info on the scene to get you excited: it was originally written for episode 107, “Say Anything.” It was early in the show’s run and we were still getting out some kinks as far as tone and process.
— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 7, 2021
Can Princess Carolyn go to the baby shower and ALSO find a cool director for her new project? And might that cool director be someone who happened to be concurrently producing a different show with Netflix?! Only fifty more donations to find out!
— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 7, 2021
Yay! THANK YOU! I don’t know if this scene is worth it, but you gave over $2000 to Trans Lifeline today and that’s definitely worth it. pic.twitter.com/i6ztDYxP3C
— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) December 8, 2021
