Entertainment
More ‘Community’ Reunions Are Coming to ‘Animal Control’ If Joel McHale Has His Way
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Animal Control, Season 4, Episode 12
Summary
After 12 episodes, Animal Control Season 4 came to a close on Thursday night following the ACOOTY (aka “Animal Control Officer of the Year”) Awards, which, of course, turns into complete chaos the second Joel McHale’s Frank Shaw and Templeton Dudge (Gerry Dee) go head-to-head for the prestigious honor. Naturally, there’s sabotage, stolen speeches, relationship revelations, and somehow Frank ends up taking his shirt off and winning anyway. But the real story is never just the frantic energy felt by its Northwest Seattle Division crew. Instead, it’s that quiet hotel room moment between Frank and Victoria (Grace Palmer) that suddenly gets way more real than expected. Even McHale kind of dodges that near-kiss moment, joking with Collider, “Well… wait till season 5,” before admitting he totally sidestepped the question.
At the same time, the finale flips the entire power dynamic on its head. As it goes, Templeton becomes the new animal control director by episode’s end after Emily (Vella Lovell) and Shred (Michael Rowland)’s relationship comes to light at the worst possible time during the awards. The entire fiasco turns into instant nightmare fuel for Frank, who probably sums it up as, “You got to be f—ing kidding me,” per McHale.
And that’s the energy going into Season 5 for the Fox sitcom, where everything gets worse in the funniest way possible. With a finale that somehow balances emotional payoff with total disaster, McHale breaks down “Golden Moose and Wiener Dogs,” admitting just how close Frank and Victoria really came to crossing that line, how chaotic things could get now that Emily is suspended and under investigation for an HR violation, and what it all means for Season 5. On top of the shenanigans that will no doubt ensue in the milestone season, McHale admits to Collider he’s secretly trying to turn Animal Control into a full-on Community reunion tour before the movie finally happens.
Joel McHale Sidesteps Frank and Victoria’s Future After the ‘Animal Control’ Finale
The actor teases Season 5, praises Grace Palmer, and jokes about Hugh Jackman joining the Fox comedy.
Image via Bettina Strauss/FOX
COLLIDER: Congrats on the Season 4 finale of Animal Control! Getting right into it, Frank and Victoria — I love those two. I’m wondering for you, how careful does the show have to be with them so that you don’t lose what makes that dynamic work? Because I feel like what we saw was so close to something, and it was like a Ross and Rachel thing, but then we end up not having it, and now we’re going to wait for Season 5.
JOEL MCHALE: See? How can I sidestep this? Well, getting to work with Grace. I mean, she’s a freaking movie star, so that’s really easy. And she’s so fucking, oh, excuse me.
You can say that.
McHALE: No, she’s so fucking funny. So in those scenes, it’s one of those things where you know your lines, and then you see what the little crackle is of the scene. And then yeah, she’s one of those folks that always… She always brings it. I was like, dang. So I’m like, Grace, geez, you were so damn good. And so she’s going to hear this, you’re like, “Man, that’s so nice of you to say.” So what am I going to say? I’ll be like, “Well, wait till Season 5.” That was a terrible answer. I sidestepped, and then I didn’t even answer.
That’s classic Joel.
McHALE: It was really fun to ride around those horses. It was really fun.
Yeah. The horse scene was so cute, too. And then Parker had to come and ruin things, but I do love Josh Segarra. He’s really amazing! I was going to ask, though, after what we see in this finale, going forward into Season 5, how big a turning point can you tease that would be for the rest of what people can expect? Because again, this is a postmortem, so you could say some things.
McHALE: All the animals start talking.
That’s good. It’s like the Sheep Detectives. I watched it this week, and it’s really good, and the sheep are just talking. It’s very good.
McHALE: Wait, Sheep Detectives?!
Have you not seen trailers for The Sheep Detectives?
McHALE: No. [Laughs]
This Is What Happens When You Let Joel McHale Do Everything
Turns out ‘The 1% Club’ host Joel McHale didn’t choose a lane — he built the whole road.
It’s so good. Where have you been? It’s like a new movie with Hugh Jackman where he gets… It’s not a spoiler, but in the trailer, they show he gets murdered, and his sheep have to… His flock needs to figure out who murdered him. And then they pair up with Nicholas Braun, who’s a cop in a small British town. It’s a very good movie—
McHALE: Sounds great. It sounds as out there as Being John Malkovich in the best way. That’s awesome. Wow. Well, I will say Nicholas Braun will be a part of Season 5. No, he will not.
I know that’s not true…
McHALE: No, but Hugh Jackman’s coming in for a four-episode arc.
Okay.
McHALE: I mean, we’re pitching him. We’re pitching him now.
Sure, well, I would love to have him singing on the show.
McHALE: So you’re saying this Sheep Detective thing is pretty similar to Succession?
Yes. They all wear suits, and they basically… well, Logan Roy is like the big sheep.
McHALE: They ride around in private helicopters?
Yes, they do. I need to see sheep in helicopters now. [Laughs]
McHALE: Boy, I don’t have a very good answer, but I’m going to do the same thing that was like, I’m really excited we got a Season 5. And I think the thing is, I think with comedies, you never know how it’s going to gel, and it’s gelled just great. So I’m so lucky to be on it. And now, yes. And hopefully Ken will come back. Ken? We’ll get you a castle.
Joel McHale Says Templeton’s ‘Animal Control’ Takeover Will Drive Frank “Out of His Mind”
McHale teases a chaotic Season 5 shakeup, Gerry Dee’s return, and a few possible Capybaras.
So then, ending the season with Templeton potentially in charge now, I feel like that flips the dynamic. And obviously it sucks for Emily, and I think it sucks more for Frank, though. How big of a shakeup can you tease for Season 5?
McHALE: I wouldn’t be surprised if Templeton doesn’t accidentally burn the whole place down. Boy, yeah. I mean, Gerry Dee, man. He’s so freakishly funny. And from the great city of Toronto. But this is a good question because they’re writing Season 5 right now. So I’d like him to go on to be like he becomes mayor of the city, and it just drives Frank even more out of his mind. He’s so funny to work with, and he’s so good. And yeah, boy, heavyweights. Yeah. And then Kyla Pratt was in there, who was just unreal, and their dynamic together was so good. And yeah, it was so funny.
So, what do you think Frank’s mindset is now, especially in those final moments of the episode where he finds out Templeton is in that position?
McHALE: Probably, “You got to be fucking kidding me.” Like, “Oh, fuck, you’ve got to be kidding me.” I cannot … He’s always burdened because I think he kind of wants to be. He’s always like, “Can you believe this? These things that are all happening.” But at the same time, it’s going to drive him out of his mind. I hope there’s probably a scene where he gets driven out of his mind, but getting to play against Gerry, Kyla, I mean, having that dynamic set up is pretty darn fun. And you throw in a Capybara or a couple more lemurs, and we’re off to the races. And thank you for watching it. You’re very kind.
It’s a great season — you definitely take off your shirt a lot this season. But, like, good for you.
McHALE: Oh, yeah. [Laughs] I did starve a lot. There was a lot of starvation. I was cutting every day. A lot of plucking. A lot of plucking.
McHale jokes about Donald Glover joining the Fox comedy and gives a vague update on the long-awaited movie.
Image via Bettina Strauss/FOX
I will say after having Jim Rash on the show, who was so good, and then Ken—
McHALE: He was so good. … [addresses PR on the call: Oh, Hayley, can we have Jim back? Can you let all the powers that be know because his character was so fun? Thanks!] It’s funny for us to have somebody, like the entire city’s office supplies it being controlled because Jim is a real — I mean, he’s a savant and getting to see just a different side of him that he can play. It was so funny. And he runs this place that just has gigantic dudes in tank tops. Yeah, it makes me so happy.
I was laughing when the guy kept repeating everything he said, and he was like, “Just stop doing that.” It’s so good.
McHALE: So good.
But I was going to ask, though, will you try to sneak in more Community reunions on the show before the movie even comes out? Because I feel like that’s a possibility at this rate. [Laughs]
McHALE: Yeah. Donald is doing another theme song for Animal Control.
Right.
McHALE: He’s playing Yoshi [from Super Mario] next year, which technically is an animal. Yeah, that’s the goal. When every Community cast member has been on the show, that will be… It’s like The Lord of the Rings, where all the rings are together. Look, that’s a good question. I want to… Hey, Community cast members, if you can come on the show, that would be great. You hear that? [addresses PR: Hayley, can you tell them? That would be great, thanks!]
OK, well, now I have to ask: what is the update for the Community movie? Are we—
McHALE: We’ve shot three. We’ve shot all three.
Umm, ok…
McHALE: We just shot there. We just keep shooting. I think we’re going to shoot it this year. So that’s what, yeah, it’s going to happen. [Laughs] I know that’s extremely vague, but I think we’re doing it this year.
I just was like, how many years has it been since it was announced? And I was like, I don’t know.
McHALE: Five? Has it been four?
I think four, like 2022, it was announced.
McHALE: Yeah, this thing they take… It’s all animated in Claymation, and we’re doing stop-motion, so it takes a while.
Yes, it’s from the Wallace and Gromit people. I know it takes a very long time.
McHALE: Right.
Well, I just really want that movie before World War III breaks out, God forbid, because the way things are going…
McHALE: [Laughs] Actually, it’s a very good goal. Oh, my Lord.
This interview was abridged for length and clarity — and PR can confirm to Collider that there are no ‘Community’ reunions happening on Season 5 (yet).
Animal Control is now streaming on Hulu.
- Release Date
-
February 16, 2023
- Network
-
FOX
- Writers
-
Dan Sterling, Tad Quill
You must be logged in to post a comment Login