(Credits: Netflix)

Netflix just dropped Long Story Short, and it is one of those shows that sneaks up on you. At first, you think it is just another animated family comedy, but a few episodes in, and you start to feel like someone spied on your childhood and made it into a TV show.

It follows the Schwooper siblings, and instead of doing the usual start-to-finish story, it jumps all over the place. One minute, they are kids throwing tantrums over nothing. Next, they are adults trying to fake it like they have got their lives together. But the back-and-forth is not confusing. It actually feels natural, like the way memories pop up out of nowhere. Families do not happen in neat chapters, and the show nails that.

What makes it funnier is how accurate the humour feels. It is not built around big punchlines or cheesy setups. It is those quick remarks and sarcastic digs that siblings throw around without even thinking. The kind of thing that makes you laugh while also bringing up a grudge from 2006. Watching it feels like sitting at your own family dinner where everyone is talking over each other and nobody’s willing to admit they are wrong.

The cast makes it even better. Lisa Edelstein, Paul Reiser, Abbi Jacobson, Max Greenfield, and Nicole Byer. You know the intensity of a slowly crumbling family group chat, it feels like this group has been encased in that hell for years. An undeniable warmth provides comfort to the constant bickering, but while they clearly love each other, the wish for everyone to just be quiet is clear from the outset. The real charm here is how naturally it plays out for an animated series.

The show has the ability to deliver emotional punches while still keeping the laughs rolling. It’s probably an expectation most will have when realising that it is Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the creator of Bojack Horseman who is running things. But it still hits hard as throwaway lines unfurl into deeply sensitive scenes. This lgiht and shade is what colours the entire production and allows it to liove longer in the memory than any usual comedy might.

That balance is what sets Long Story Short apart. It is not a comedy that lets you escape into some perfect TV family where every fight ends with a hug. It is a comedy that mirrors your own family. It is sometimes exhausting but still full of love underneath.

The show works because it does not try to polish any of it. The siblings don’t suddenly fix decades of arguments. The grudges don’t just vanish. And most importantly, the humour doesn’t feel scripted. It is relatable because it is chaotic, and that chaos is what makes families feel real.

So if you are scrolling through Netflix looking for something light but not brainless, Long Story Short is the one. It will make you laugh, it will hit you with some feelings you weren’t ready for, and it will probably remind you to call your sibling just to fight about who actually broke the PlayStation controller back in 2006.