Animal Control (2023)
A group of local animal control workers' lives are complicated by the fact that animals are simple, but humans are not. Leading the crew is 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. In his past life as a cop, Frank tried to expose corruption in his department, but his efforts got him fired, leaving him cynical and curmudgeonly. Despite his rough exterior, he is blessed with an almost superhuman ability to understand animals.
| Type | TV series |
|---|---|
| First aired | 16 February 2023 |
| Status | Returning Series |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Bob Fisher, Rob Greenberg and Dan Sterling |
| Starring | Joel McHale, Vella Lovell and Michael Rowland |
| Seasons | 5 seasons, 47 episodes |
| Episode length | about 22 min |
| Time to watch it all | about 17 hours |
| Rated | TV-14 |
| Scores | TMDB users 6.2/10 |
Where to watch Animal Control
Animal Control is streaming on Netflix ($19.99 a month) in the US. It is also on Hulu ($21.49 a month) and Fubo. At ten hours a week, all of the series takes about 1 month of Netflix, or $19.99 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 26 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
Where to watch Animal Control in 5 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Australia | Binge $19.00 AUD, Foxtel |
| Austria | Joyn free |
| Germany | Joyn free |
| Ireland | Skygo, Now TV |
| United Kingdom | Skygo, Now TV £9.99 GBP |
Subscription, free and ad-supported services we track; prices where Binge Boss has a price list for the country. "About" marks a price the service bills in another currency, converted at the day's rate. All countries as data.
What kind of watch this is
Animal Control trades in a specific kind of irony: the animals are straightforward, but the people are a mess. Frank Shaw, the ex-cop who got fired for trying to do the right thing, leads the team with a gruffness that masks a strange, almost supernatural gift for reading what the beasts actually want. He is the most well-read person in the room, even if he never finished college. The humor comes from that gap. You get 47 episodes, roughly 17 hours of watching a man argue with a dog while the humans around him argue with each other. It is a sharp look at how much easier it is to fix a fence than to fix a friendship.
What the critics said
Critics found the first season competent, if not thrilling. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 60% approval rating with an average score of 6 out of 10, based on 10 reviews. Metacritic assigns a weighted average of 68 out of 100 from 7 critics, which it labels generally favorable. That is the difference between "good enough" and "actually good," a gap that usually hides behind the noise of a new show.
How it did with audiences
Without box office figures to measure its reach, the metric here is the 6.2 TMDB user score. That number sits comfortably in the middle. It is the kind of rating that implies you might finish the movie, then immediately forget you watched it.
What came next for the cast
Joel McHale stepped in from Ted and Spider-Man 2, then headed to Scream 7. Ravi Patel arrived from Transformers and Wonder Woman 1984, only to appear in Harold and the Purple Crayon next. The credits list these roles in sequence. They do not claim Animal Control redirected either career. It just sits in the middle.
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Sources
- Animal Control on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q116233107 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Animal Control (TV series)” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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