Fox picked up Animal Control to series without asking them to shoot a pilot first, and there is a good reason why. The show is the funniest new sitcom of the year.
Tonight at 9p, you will meet Frank Shaw (Joel McHale), a grumpy animal control officer. He is a lone wolf who doesn’t like to work with anyone. But he has to. So he is given a new partner.
Shred (Michael Rowland) is a former champion snowboarder who decided to transition to animal control after injuring his knee. He is a ray of sunshine to Frank’s dark cloud, and his partner hates that, so he will torture him.
And during his first week, Shred screws up when he goes into a house to deal with a weasel on his own. What can go wrong? The weasel runs into the fireplace and comes out on fire. Therefore, the animal sets the living room on fire. On a positive note, at least he escaped when Frank entered the house.
There is another set of partners at the office. Amit (Ravi Patel) is a nice guy who is exhausted from being a dad to kids and animals. He works with Victoria (Grace Palmer), who is more like one of the boys than the boys. Amit and Victoria’s lives are complete opposites which is why they work so well together.
And then there is Emily (Vella Lovell). She is their boss. She is overly nice and fights so hard for her team. That is why they take advantage of her and get her to do what they want.
Together they make a great team who can take on any animal that comes their way, and there aren’t a lot of cats and dogs—something my cat did not like about the show.
Let’s get back to the animals. In the first three episodes, they take on hungry ostriches, bunnies on hallucinogenic mushrooms, and a kangaroo that can kick ass, or should I say nuts? And I can’t wait to see what other animals they have to bring back to base as the season goes on.
And as the season goes on, you will see this work family take care of each other. Shred will keep chipping away at Frank’s ice-cold exterior while Frank rains on his parade. Victoria will get Amit to loosen up, and he will make her more domesticated. And Emily will try to keep them all from getting fired for various reasons because her animal control is more like Animal House.
The show has a lot of heart, chemistry, laughs, and animals! Who doesn’t love animals? Probably the cast after having to work them. But since we don’t, we get to sit back and enjoy the show that is as warm and fuzzy as a bear in a hot tub.
You can watch Animal Control on Fox Thursdays at 9p or stream it on Hulu the day after it airs.
