Before Joel McHale got the lead credit in the opening titles of his shows like Animal Contol, he was not even seen in the opening credits of Almost Live. I think we can all agree his hair got better since how he wore it in 1996 when he was 24.
Before Joel McHale was solving murders in The Happytime Murders, he was murdered on Diagnosis Murder. He looks the same now as he did when he was 28 in that 2000 episode.
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.
Joel McHale has been spending more time hosting game shows than acting these days, and that is about to change. That is because Fox just cast him in their midseason live-action sitcom Animal Control.
The series will follow a group of local Animal Control workers whose lives are complicated by the fact that animals are simple, but humans are not. McHale will portray Frank, an opinionated, eccentric Animal Control officer who may not have gone to college but is still the most well-read person in the room. A former cop, Frank tried to expose corruption in his department, but his efforts got him fired, which may explain why he’s so cynical and curmudgeonly. He has an almost superhuman ability to understand animals. Humans…not so much.
This is not the first time he has worked with animals in a comedy. He also co-starred with some exotic ones on The Great Indoors. Hopefully, this program will do better than that one because it only lasted one season.
Fans of Community have wanted a film, and Peacock is giving them just that. Not only will they get a movie, but all six seasons will also be available on the streaming service. Therefore, finally fulfilling the prophecy that the series predicted.
“‘Six seasons and a movie’ started out as a cheeky line from Community’s early seasons and quickly ignited a passionate fan movement for this iconic, hilarious and cool (cool, cool) NBC comedy,” said Susan Rovner, Chairman, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We’re incredibly grateful that 15 years later, we are able to deliver fans this promised movie and can’t wait to get to work with Dan Harmon, Andrew Guest, Joel McHale, Sony and our partners at UTV to continue this epic comedy for Peacock audiences.”
While Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash, and Ken Jeong will all be back, Chevy Chase, Donald Glover, and Yvette Nichole Brown will not be. Who needs them anyways?
Peacock did not say when the six seasons and the movie will be coming, but at least we know they are coming.
