E4 Picks Up FOX Comedy ‘Animal Control’ Starring Joel McHale For The UK
Channel 4 has struck its first scripted licensing deal with Fox Entertainment Global, picking up the FOX comedy ‘Animal Control‘, starring Joel McHale, to air on E4 in the UK.
The series, which is FOX Entertainment’s first wholly-owned live-action comedy, follows a group of local Animal Control workers whose lives are complicated by the fact that animals are simple… but humans are not.
Joel McHale (‘Stargirl’, ‘Community’) stars as 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.
Frank is assigned a new partner, Fred “Shred” Taylor (newcomer Michael Rowland), an optimistic rookie Animal Control officer. They both report to their sweet-natured and endearingly awkward boss Emily Price (Vella Lovell, Mr. Mayor). Amit Patel (Ravi Patel, Master of None) and Victoria Sands (Grace Palmer, Shortland Street) are also partners in the Animal Control office – though they could not be more opposite. Rounding out the precinct is veterinarian Dr. Summers (Alvina August, The Boys), receptionist Dolores Stubb (Kelli Ogmundson, Cavendish) and Templeton Dudge (Gerry Dee, Mr. D), an Animal Control officer from a neighbouring precinct with a real chip on his shoulder.
A couple of things worth mentioning here, as it sometimes confuses people. This show comes from Fox Entertainment, which was an entity set up by Fox Corp after they sold 20th Century Fox to Disney. This, and the FOX channel itself in the USA, are not Disney-owned. Secondly, many of the other new shows aired by FOX in the USA are co-productions, such as ‘The Cleaning Lady‘ (Warner Bros), ‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit‘, and ‘Accused‘ (both Sony) so the international rights are not controlled by Fox Entertainment Global. FEG do, however, have the international rights to the animated series ‘Krapopolis‘ and ‘Grimsburg‘.
‘Animal Control’ is produced by FOX Entertainment Studios and executive-produced by Bob Fisher (Wedding Crashers, Sirens, The Moodys), Rob Greenberg (Frasier, How I Met Your Mother, The Moodys), Dan Sterling (Long Shot, The Interview, Girls, The Office, King of the Hill), Tad Quill (Scrubs, The Moodys) and McHale. The comedy has been renewed for Season 2.
‘Animal Control‘ Season 1 does not yet have a premiere date, but will air on E4 in the UK, and Channel 4 streaming. If you want to keep track of this or any other show, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
