Animal Control

Joel McHale struck gold with this sitcom. I actually enjoyed the premise about animal control officers in Seattle, Washington. The unit is headed by a charming attractive woman, Emily. McHale is paired up with younger Shred who was an athlete and idealistic. There is another pair of officers with a female officer from New Zealand and an Asian Indian character Patel. The four of them get into all types of trouble like attacking rabbits, snakes, peacocks, raccoons, possums, squirrels etc. I think it's a fine sitcom model and I have a preference for the standard multi camera model. Unlike a studio sitcom, Animal Control works best outside the standard norms. I still look forward to it every week.

I like the premise of Animal Control. And there have been a few genuinely funny moments (albeit very silly ones).

I'm finding the interaction between Joel McHale and Michael Rowland to be really fun. Michael Rowland is a break-out star in this series, in my opinion. He plays his character with such a sincerity that you can't help but like him. And it makes Joel McHale tormenting him all the more funny.

The reason I'm giving this a 6 instead of something higher is because of some of the weak points:

1) The show lacks some energy. It's almost there, but not quite. I think as the characters become more three-dimensional that will improve, though.

2) Grace Palmer's character needs to be dialed back a couple of notches on the sex talk. It's just not funny. Her character is just sex and drugs with an interesting Kiwi accent. However, Grace Palmer's character isn't very likeable, even though I can see that her comedic timing could be good.

3) Ravi Patel's character is B-O-R-I-N-G.

I'll continue to watch for now. I'm hoping most of my complaints above will be resolved as the show gets its legs under it. Time will tell.

I went into this show not expecting much, I loved community and Joel Mchale. Wasn't sure if it would be just a comedy or not and pleasantly it's also a bit of drama. This show took a few episodes to get into the characters but now I'm hooked and always want one more episode. Once the character Rick gets introduced is when it really started to pick up. Maybe its a little predictable but I genuinely appreciate having a show to watch that gives me something to look forward to. If you enjoy Upload, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Community or The Office then I believe you'll like this one too. Can't wait for the second season to come out.

The premise is pretty simple: a team of animal control professionals getting into antics that require a fair amount of suspension of disbelief to enjoy. Personally, I am able to suspend my disbelief enough to have a fun time watching the show. I don't think the show is trying to do anything ground-breaking, and I don't need every show to do that. Animal Control mostly follows the proven formula for workplace comedies, such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine (although, I don't feel that Animal Control is as memorable as the former), and it's a formula that works for me.

Joel McHale is charming and fun to watch, as usual. His character, Frank, is fairly similar to the one McHale played in Community, and I don't view that as a negative. A character I was quite surprised by is "Shred" played by Michael Rowland. The character of Shred has been given a lot of heart and compassion in a charmingly innocent light. From the promos, I was a bit apprehensive about the character, fearing he would be presented as an annoying sidekick character. However, Shred might be my favorite character in the show. Everyone else is great in each of their respective roles, including Vella Lovell who, in my mind, could have also come off a bit annoying but rather is quite charming. Her character meshes really well with Rowland's.

I am a big fan of dramatic and unpredictable entertainment, but sometimes I want to sit easy and stay in a light-hearted mood. Animal Control has done that for me, and I appreciate that. I'm sure it's not for everyone, and if one was to "academically" analyze this show, it may garner a 7, a 6, or even a 5 in rating. However, I'm a fan and am hoping for more seasons in the future, therefore, I gave it an 8.

Didn't expect much after reading many of these reviews, (some seem weirdly personal), but was surprised how funny I thought it was. It's not Seinfeld or MASH of course but not even close to some of the lame shows (I'm looking at you Night Court), but all I can suggest is try it because it's a pleasing cast, yes Joel McHale is pretty much Jeff Winger 2.0, but what's wrong with that? It kind of reminded me of Community in that I actually laughed out loud a couple of times and am looking forward to more episodes. Give it an opportunity, it won't be the first time a show that actually is funny gets canceled, but I plan on enjoying while I can.