What's it about?
ANIMAL PRACTICE is a new comedy centering on Dr. George Coleman, a top veterinarian with an impressive list of famous animal patients at the Crane Animal Hospital - a bustling New York City veterinary practice where it often seems as if the patients are running the place. Despite his unorthodox style, George has an undeniable gift with animals of all kinds - except the human kind. Much to his chagrin, George recently learned that his ex-girlfriend, Dorothy Crane, has inherited the family business and is now George's boss. Whip-smart and ambitious, Dorothy shakes up the hospital as she brings order to the chaos and butts heads with George's animal-friendly administration. (from NBC.com)
You should watch if...
• you have an urge to watch literal monkey business.
• you get a kick out of sight gags like turtles racing with hamsters on their backs.
• you legitimately have nothing better to do with your time.
You shouldn't watch if...
• you are a Justin Kirk fan, because it will make you hate the world.
• you are a television fan, because it will crush your soul.
• you are a human being, because you MUST have more important things to do with your time...like water your plants...or clip your toenails.
So, how was it?
You know your show's in trouble when the best thing I can say about it is that at least it was commercial-free -- because I only had to sit through it for 22 minutes instead of 30.
I desperately need someone to sit me down and explain to me how Justin Kirk, an incredible actor as evidenced by HBO's ANGELS IN AMERICA and by how he is often the best thing about WEEDS, could have been coerced into participating in this travesty of a show. Even without commercials, the pilot managed to feel as long as THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (and that's long).
Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC, stated earlier this year that his plan for the network this fall involved "broadening the audience," aka steering away from critically-acclaimed shows with relatively small audiences like COMMUNITY and PARKS & RECREATION. Basically, they want to become CBS. ANIMAL PRACTICE is their first step down that road. When one of a show's biggest stars is a capuchin monkey (Crystal, of HANGOVER and COMMUNITY fame), you know they're not exactly aiming for subtlety. The "humor" (if it can be called that) on this show is as broad as it gets, with widely-drawn caricatures and thinly-sketched relationships. And for the record, just because you acknowledge that something is cliché doesn't make it any less cliché.
The best I can hope for with this show is that it will be cancelled quickly, so that everyone involved can move on to better endeavors. ANIMAL PRACTICE was even harder to watch than some of last year's biggest sitcoms flops like HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN and WORK IT! because of the level of talent involved. And at least WORK IT! had a legitimate reason to be terrible -- it was a workplace comedy about crossdressing men, for goodness' sake. ANIMAL PRACTICE, on the other hand, is just stale and boring. When dozens of new television shows are jockeying for limited airtime, the only thing worse than being talked about for being offensive is not being talked about at all.
And the verdict is:
* Atrocious. I will never watch this show again. Ever.
I don't think anything more needs to be said.
Take it away, Fellow Addicts! Am I being too harsh? Or do you agree that it's doomed? Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments!
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