As Broadcast Comedy Is Having A Moment, Fox Hopes ‘Animal Control’ Will Leap Out Of Its Cage
16.02.2023 - 23:05
/ deadline.com
Fox wants in on the broadcast comedy renaissance and is hoping that Animal Control, a single-camera comedy starring Joel McHale, will provide that bite.
As Abbott Elementary soars on ABC, NBC has a multi-camera hit in Night Court and CBS continues to scare up viewers with Ghosts, Fox is looking for its own comedy pet project, which premieres tonight.
“We believe that Animal Control is going to be the comedy that propels Fox back to the forefront of this comedy renaissance that’s currently underway. That’s why we’re going all in and giving it this huge launch because we really believe in it,” Michael Thorn, President of Scripted Programming at Fox told Deadline.
“I think it’s great for broadcast TV to have several comedies that people are watching and engaging in and I really believe that the majority of the audience wants to laugh right now and the more comedies are working, spells well to Animal Control finding its own place in this landcape right now,” he added.
The series is a workplace comedy following a group of Animal Control workers whose lives are complicated by the fact that animals are simple, but humans are not.
It stars McHale, who hosted Fox reality series Crime Scene Kitchen, as Frank Shaw, 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.
It also stars Michael Rowland as Frank’s new partner Fred “Shred” Taylor, Vella Lovell as awkward boss Emily Price, Ravi Patel and Grace Palmer as Amit Patel