Fox will continue to go to the dogs, and cats, and other household and exotic animals.
The network has renewed its comedy series Animal Control, about a group of municipal animal control officers who work better with the creatures they handle than other humans. The show, starring Joel McHale, is Fox’s first wholly owned live-action comedy.
“We are thrilled our viewers have responded to Animal Control as much as we did,” said Michael Thorn, president scripted programming at Fox Entertainment. “The incredibly talented ensemble cast, led by Joel McHale, along with our creative team, Bob Fisher, Rob Greenberg, Dan Sterling and Tad Quill — not to mention a menagerie of wild animal method actors — have delivered a hilarious series that is sharp, witty, and warm, week after week.”
Animal Control has put up fairly modest on-air ratings, averaging a shade above 2.2 million viewers per episode over seven days of Nielsen-measured viewing. It more than doubles that total, however, when streaming and other multi-platform viewing is factored in: According to Fox, the show’s cross-platform audience is 4.7 million viewers.
The series is Fox’s first live-action comedy renewal for 2023-24. The network canceled Call Me Kat after three seasons, and there’s no word yet on the lightly watched Welcome to Flatch. (Fox also has seven animated series on its roster for next season: mainstays The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers, season four of The Great North and newcomers Krapopolis, Grimsburg and Universal Basic Guys/Hoagie Bros.)
Along with McHale, the Animal Control cast features Michael Rowland, Vella Lovell, Ravi Patel and Grace Palmer. Fisher, Greenberg and Sterling created the series and executive produce with Quill and McHale.
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