Long Story Short (TV series)

Long Story Short is an American adult animated comedy-drama television series that was created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg and premiered on Netflix on August 22, 2025. Before its premiere, it was renewed for a second season.

Long Story Short is about a middle-class, Jewish family whose narrative is told in a non-linear fashion. The main characters are three siblings—Avi (Ben Feldman), Shira (Abbi Jacobson), and Yoshi (Max Greenfield)—who experience ordinary, adult events while looking back on their childhood.^[1][2]

• Ben Feldman as Avi Schwooper, the oldest of the Schwooper children. Born in 1982, Avi has extensive knowledge of pop culture and music; he works as a review columnist and, by 2021, for a music streaming service. Avi starts dating Jen in 2004, and they later marry and have a daughter named Hannah. By the 2010s, their relationship begins to break down, and they divorce in 2020, sharing custody of the now-teenage Hannah. In his adult years, Avi distances himself from his Jewish religious heritage due to his frustration at his mother's insistence he followed it, and due to his internalized antisemitism. Avi suffers from pattern hair loss.
• Angelique Cabral as Jen Schwooper, Avi's girlfriend and, later, wife. Jen and Avi divorce in 2020, due to Naomi's passive aggression toward her and undermining her, and Avi's parenting, which Avi usually failed to properly stand up to, and her and Avi growing apart. Jen majored in acting, but after the stress of putting on several failed plays in New York City with her friends, Jen secretly wishes for a more regular job. Jen agrees to move to California after Avi is offered a music-journalism internship, though it is hinted she is ashamed she gave up acting. Jen later becomes a theater manager for Hannah's school and later a wine salesperson.
• Abbi Jacobson as Shira Schwooper, the middle of the Schwooper children, and sole daughter of Naomi and Elliot. Born in August 1984, Shira is a lesbian and is married to Kendra, with whom she raises twin boys, Walter and Benjamin. As a child, Shira was best friends with Rachel "Baby" Feldstein, and had a romantic relationship with Rachel in high school. However, after catching her making out with a man, Shira discovers Rachel saw her as a fling and feels betrayed, which ends their friendship. Shira cannot conceive children due to primary ovarian insufficiency, so Kendra bears the couple's children.
• Nicole Byer as Kendra Hooper, a lesbian and Shira's wife, who converts to Judaism as an adult after lying about being Jewish to cover up for a work absence during Rosh Hashanah. Kendra works as a senior manager for B.J Banana Fingers, a children's entertainment fast-food chain similar to Chuck E. Cheese. Kendra gained her role due to her being a former workaholic who over-exerted herself—a habit she picked up from her father—after being accepted into a managerial training program when she was a floor manager. Kendra has a younger brother named David.
• Max Greenfield as Yoshi Schwooper, the youngest of the Schwooper children, and second son of Naomi and Elliot. Born in 1991, he is diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia, and executive dysfunction, which cause him difficulties with managing a career in adulthood. In his late twenties, Yoshi starts practicing modern Orthodox Judaism. Yoshi, since infancy, has tried to connect and spend time with his siblings, but being seven years younger, he feels like an extra child. Yoshi has 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. Naomi is the youngest of three daughters; she lives in a cramped apartment along with their parents, has as arguably narcissistic personality and a tendency to gain attention from her family by manipulating them. While Naomi loves her children, she is overbearing and critical. In 2019, her children confront Naomi about her controlling actions toward them. Naomi worked a social worker; to Avi's surprise, during a ceremony for her, Naomi has helped many people in the community, being more open-minded and supportive to strangers than her own children. In 2020, Naomi dies after contracting COVID-19. Naomi is fluent in Norwegian.
• Paul Reiser as Elliot Cooper, a mathematics professor at Midbay University, is the patriarch of the Schwooper family, and father of Avi, Shira and Yoshi. Unlike Naomi, Elliot has unconditional love for the couple's children.

• Dave Franco as Danny Wegbriet, Yoshi's shifty, stoner, childhood friend.
• Michaela Dietz as Hannah Schwooper, Avi and Jen's daughter. Born in 2009, Hannah has a good relationship with her father but is isolated from children her own age. Hannah finds a friend group at the end of "Wolves". She is passionate about photography, and also has a strained relationship with Jen after her and her father divorce.
• Gina Rodriguez as Rachel "Baby" Feldstein, Shira's bisexual childhood best friend with whom Shira had a romantic relationship during high school. In 2015, Rachel reunites with Yoshi and they spend the night together. Rachel says her former relationship with Shira was "teen stuff" and Shira got mad 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, the hyperactive twin sons of Kendra and Shira.
• Julie Klausner as Carol Schwartz, one of Naomi's sisters
• Zoe Lister-Jones as Susan Schwartz, one of Naomi's sisters

Long Story Short was created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the creator of BoJack Horseman, who was also the executive producer of Tuca & Bertie and Undone. Long Story Short was commissioned as a series in August 2024.^[3] Bob-Waksberg serves as the showrunner, and the show is executive-produced by Bob-Waksberg, Noel Bright, and Steven A. Cohen. The production companies are The Tornante Company and ShadowMachine. 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", denoting generative AI was not used in production.^[5] Shortly before the show's release, it was renewed for a second season.^[6]

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

The review-aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating based on 36 critic reviews. According to the website's critics' consensus: "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 show's first season a rating of 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, saying it "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]

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