Animal Control is an American Sitcom that premiered on Fox in 2023.
Set in Seattle, the series follows a group of people working for the city's animal control department and their misadventures as they enforce laws and codes involving animals.
The show stars Joel McHale, Vella Lovell, Michael Rowland, Ravi Patel, and Grace Palmer with Gerry Dee in a recurring role.
It began airing on Fox in 2023 and has been renewed for a second and third season.
Tropes for the series:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Victoria is not happy to find out Templeton is her secret admirer.
- Actor Allusion: During a disagreement about how to pronounce something in Spanish, Frank insists he is correct. After all, he took Spanish in Community College.
- The Alleged Boss: The animal control officers like Emily. However, they don't have any real respect for her and take advantage of her kind nature whenever they can.
- Alliterative Family: Amit Patel and his daughter Addy.
- Black Sheep: Frank has been all but shunned by his father and brother for having tried to expose corruption in the police force and gotten fired for rocking the boat.
- Boring, but Practical: After Patel tries to duel with a knife-wielding crab and gets stabbed in the leg for his troubles, Victoria successfully captures it with a cutting board and a bucket.Victoria: See how I did that and still preserve my dignity?
- Butt-Monkey: Most of the abuse and misfortune gets heaped on Amit. So far, he's been: stabbed by a knife-wielding crab, blackmailed, got a vasectomy that failed (resulting in a fourth child), booked an expensive and non-refundable vacation only for his wife to be placed on bed rest by her doctors, bought a house that turns out to be a deathtrap, bitten on the nipple by a rat...
- Career-Ending Injury: Rick, Frank's former partner and Emily's predecessor as head of the Northwest Seattle precinct, was forced to retire from Animal Control after incurring serious injuries on the job — which include the loss of an ear (he wore a prosthetic for a while before getting reconstructive surgery) and hand, and huge scars across his face. Due to the lighthearted setting, everything is played for laughs.
- Chain of Deals: How Frank and Victoria avoid getting in trouble for tranquilizing and relocating C-38 behind Emily's back, in a situation where he probably would have otherwise been shot.
- Citizenship Marriage: Season 2 reveals that Victoria married a man named Diego to get a green card. However, he's filed for divorce so he can get married for real, forcing her to study for the citizenship test so she can stay in the US.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Frank was a cop who tried to uncover corruption in the force and ended up fired for his troubles. In his current job as an animal control officer, he shields himself with a great deal of sarcasm and maintains emotional distance from his colleagues.
- Drop-In Character: Templeton Drudge. Despite the fact that he runs the Central Seattle precinct, he somehow finds a reasons to stop by the Northwest Seattle precinct and annoy people there on a regular basis.Frank: Templeton? How is it that you're always here?
Patel: All the time!
Frank: Do you even know where your precinct is?- Emily's predecessor Rick also becomes this after he's introduced. Despite apparently being independently wealthy from a settlement with the city after getting mauled on the job, he still visits the precinct, even briefly rejoining Frank on the job when Fred's unavailable.
- Doom It Yourself: Amit and Fred club together to buy a rundown house as an investment property and try to save money by doing the renovations themselves. They proceed to rip a wall down in a panic after discovering mold and the contractor they'd hired and fired tells them that their efforts just doubled the price of his services.
- Due to the Dead: Victoria organizes a funeral for C-38 the mountain lion—mostly because she thinks that Frank needs an opportunity to grieve.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Dr. Summers, the precinct's resident veterinarian is very attractive and is lusted after by men and women alike.
- Family Man: Amit stands in contrast with the other characters as he is married and has children. Although he's worn down by the demands of his family, he loves them dearly.
- Fanservice: While high on drugs in "Rabbits and Pythons", Emily opens her dress showing off her bra and panties.
- Foreign Queasine: Victoria gets excited when she's gifted "blummies" — blood-flavored gummies — which she claims are popular in New Zealand.
- Functional Addict: Victoria is very open about how much she loves drugs, far more open than any rational person would ever be with their boss even in a city as tolerant as Seattle, and keeps clean urine on hand in the event of a random drug test. A lot of her stories about doing drugs have her getting into situations that would likely end badly if this wasn't such a lighthearted sitcom. It's all Played for Laughs and doesn't seem to affect her ability to do her job.
- Hidden Depths: Victoria likes to party, sleep around, and take hallucinogenics. She's also revealed to be a devout Christian who attends church regularly and also knows how to play the electric organ.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each episode has a two-part title referring to the animals it features, such as "Weasels and Ostriches" and "Cougars and Kangaroos".
- In-Series Nickname: Fred is occasionally referred to as "Shred" or as "Fred the Shred", nicknames he earned in his previous career as a professional snowboarder.
- Interservice Rivalry: Crossing over with Jurisdiction Friction. The local Seattle animal control officers don't get along with those working for Washington's Department of Fish & Wildlife, as Fish & Wildlife officers look down on animal control and enjoy showing off their bigger budget and fancier gadgets.
- My Beloved Smother: Amit's parents are loving but overwhelming, so he keeps them at arm's length. When Victoria accidentally makes them worried about their son and his family, they drop everything and move in, making him feel like a child again.
- New Meat: Fred joins the team in the first episode and becomes Frank's new partner, much to Frank's displeasure.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Frank used to be a police officer and uncovered evidence of corruption in the force. When he revealed this, however, he was summarily fired.
- Running Gag: Season 2 features an ongoing license plate game between Frank-Fred and Victoria-Amit, with the two partnerships occasionally getting sidetracked from their jobs after spotting rare license plates on the road.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful!: Victoria appears to be counting on this, when she calls in a fake Silver Alertnote on Frank, and the responding officer warns her that this is technically a crime. She's right.
- Ship Tease:
- The bulk of the show's teasing happens between Emily and Fred, with Emily having a badly hidden crush while Frank is too oblivious to notice.
- Starting in the second half of Season 1, the show teases an attraction between Frank and Victoria, even though she's poked fun at his age a few times.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Templeton Drudge to the Northwest Seattle precinct, in general, and Frank, in particular. It's never been explained how exactly the animosity started — Templeton's an egotistical jerk, but Frank is not much better — but everyone groans just at the sight of him and try to end their interactions as soon as possible.
- Typecasting: In-Universe. All of Frank's undercover characters are bald.
- Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Emily starts the series with a badly hidden crush on Fred, to which he's oblivious. By the time Fred starts to find Emily attractive, she's entered into a relationship with Rick, who used to run the Northwest Seattle Animal Control precinct. Then when Emily's feelings start swinging back towards Fred, he's become smitten with someone else.
- Wine Is Classy: Frank is a oenophile and has a healthy collection of fine wines at home. He takes great offense when others don't appreciate it when he opens good bottles or don't take the necessary care when drinking.Frank: Oh my God! They opened the 2007! Oh, this was a beautiful vintage...dark fruits...leather...and they didn't even pair it with a hard cheese!
