Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Season 1 of Animal Control.Animal Control just wrapped up its first season and by the looks of its final moments, Season 2 is about to be lit and running abound with even more comedy. The refreshingly sharp workplace single-camera sitcom led by Emmy-nominated actor Joel McHale fired off on all cylinders this past winter when it made its anticipated debut on Fox. While the series from co-creators Bob Fisher and Rob Greenberg (The Moodys) with Dan Sterling (The Last Man on Earth), has found a snug spot with audiences for regularly scheduled appointment television for a sharp, quirky comedy that includes a playful cast of characters, McHale tells Collider in an exclusive one-on-one interview he knows more will come out of it thanks to the events from the season finale, “Unicorns and Mountain Lions,” which aired Thursday night.
In the Season 1 finale, audiences saw Frank (McHale) devastated by the loss of C-38, the Northwest Seattle Division’s beloved mountain lion. While trying his hardest to keep a straight face over the death, Victoria (Grace Palmer) offers him emotional support for his underlying grief. It’s this relationship brewing across the show’s 12 episodes that provide viewers with enough to wonder where these two can go in Season 2. Meanwhile, Shred (Michael Rowland) does his best to salvage his relationship with Emily (Vella Lovell) as he confesses to Frank he still has feelings for her and will break up with Camila (Maria Gabriela de Faria). However, it’s too late and Shred is heartbroken, leaning on Frank for emotional support. It’s a dynamic that is far from the early days when Frank was much more prickly with Shred, and one McHale is excited to explore for Animal Control Season 2 as he tells us in an exclusive Q&A. In addition to chatting about the season finale in our Collider sit-down, the multitalented performer offers an update on the upcoming Community movie amid the ongoing writer’s strike and like all of us, really loves Pedro Pascal.
COLLIDER: Congratulations on Animal Control, this one has been my favorite since it first premiered in February. I’ve been cheering for you guys since the start! To start off, what was it about this series that you wanted to be a part of?
JOEL McHALE: Even if you’re lying to me, God bless you. Well, it’s all the traditional answers that you’re going to get, which is, Fox said they’d give me free cocaine for life. And they said I could go to work in a horse and buggy, but not a horse, like a unicorn or a magical, magical ... no. Why did I — you hear all the standard things, which is, I thought the idea was really good, and I was like, “Oh, I think I’ve heard of that before,” and it hadn’t been done. And I was like, “That’s a good sign,” that you think something’s been done before, but it hasn’t. You’re like, “Well, why hasn’t someone done that?” or something like that. And I was like, “Animal control, the actual service, and the people that are in it are all around us in every single city and countryside.”
And I thought, “Oh, these folks are everywhere, and we talk about them, but we don’t really think about them.” And I think this is a great way to illuminate that service that we obviously need. And then I was reading the script, and I was like, “Okay. Script’s funny,” and then it came down to casting. As you know, it can make or break a show, or so it can leave any ... you know. I’m always like ... a cake. If a cake doesn’t have the right batch of ingredients, you can have the most beautiful thing, and someone just goes, “Yep, they didn’t put enough sugar in it,” and then they hate it. And then, Crime Scene Kitchen.
Yeah, and I’ll get to Crime Scene Kitchen later too. Another favorite! But let’s talk spoilers with that Season 1 finale. So obviously, Frank has warmed up to Shred a lot, and he’s now really protective of his feelings. Where do you think that dynamic will go for Season 2?
McHALE: Romance, definitely.
No doubt.
McHALE: Definitely. That’s a really good question. Because the way that it kind of started was me being pretty cantankerous, and that obviously melted. And so now I feel protective of him. And so I think Frank knows he’s a good guy, even though it can obviously come off as being so innocent to the point of, what is wrong with you? I think Shred, this is my guess because I haven’t seen anything new — I think Frank will explore and will start working out the sh*t he has with his dad, with Shred, because Shred had a really good relationship with his dad. And so I think they will work together on that. And Frank will be extremely resistant to that, but I’m guessing that’s a whole other part to explore. Shred is undeniably likable, and it’s infectious in that way and I think that will further drive Frank out of his mind and draw him closer. And then eventually, I don’t know, a raccoon will bite off Frank’s pinky.
Right, of course. Because injuries abound on the show! And that brings me to poor Rick. I’m so interested in the whole Rick and Emily dynamic. It’s sad because now they’ve left Shred in the dust after he broke up with Camila. So I’m wondering, if Frank had to pick somebody for Emily knowing that he knows Shred, and he knows Rick, who should she go for? And if Joel had to pick what for Emily, who would he pick?
McHALE: Holy crap. Well, geez, my gosh. Well, well, I love Kevin Bigley and I love having him ... he’s such a fricking killer when it comes to jokes. He’s such a good guy. So if Frank has to pick, oh man. I guess he would pick, he would probably pick Shred to be with Emily; and then if Joel has to pick, I don’t know, I’d be like, “Go with Rick. Because then we can milk this for a whole season.” And so that’s the executive producer in me going, “Milk, just keep it going!” And then maybe Shred’s old girlfriend comes back, and because she was a delightful person and a really funny actor, and boy, that was very vague.
No, it’s fine, it’s nice, because there are ways to build some drama between the characters for next season, and I’m excited about that! And speaking of, I love the storyline with C-38. I thought that was so wonderfully written, so compassionate. What is it about the cougar that you feel like Frank was really connected to?
McHALE: I think he is a man who is torn, who wants to run. He wants to be a hunter-gatherer off in the woods, but I don’t think he himself knows why he hasn’t gone after it. He hasn’t ... it was like, oh, do you want to be like that? Why don’t you actually leave? But he keeps staying. And I think that’s what Frank, I think for me, that was kind of, I compare things to my favorite shows of all time — I think Cheers is one of those, where you have Sam Malone. He doesn’t drink, but he runs a bar. He loves these people, but he’s always trying other things. I like to believe, I’m not saying in any way that we are as good as Cheers, but the archetype of that, I’m like, “Oh.” I think it’s also the internal struggle of so many people I know, men and women, that they live right in the city, but at the same time, they always want to go out into the woods. And that’s why Fryman Canyon is packed like nobody’s business. Every time you go, be like, “You could just sit in your homes on your Pelotons watching reruns of Friends.”
Yeah, and the way C-38 brought Victoria and Frank together, that really opened up layers between them. Where do you want to see those two go next season? Because I feel like there’s something there.
McHALE: I think Frank is matched as far as his wit, and as far as he will go to prank people. He has met his match when it comes to her level of competitiveness and intelligence and humor. I think that kind of wigs Frank out a little bit. And also Grace [Palmer] is just, she’s a tremendous actor, and I don’t know why she’s not a movie star right now. So I mean, as are so many people on this staff. I mean, they’re just freaking incredible. So I hope, I’m not sure where it’s going to go, but I hope we get to do a lot more stuff.
I hope so too. She’s a really great actress. I had not heard about her before this, and so I was like, “Where was the world hiding her, that she’s so talented and so funny?” And to come into that mix with you guys has been really fun to see.
McHALE: I mean, if you think about the cast — well, we knew Vella was a little from My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Mr. Mayor. And then, I mean, obviously she can really just f*cking shine. And then Michael Rowland, he was a standup, but he continued to be, and what a revelation of an actor. Ravi was pretty much the only other famous person. And boy, when I look at them, I’m like, “Holy crap Joel, you better step up your game and be ... you better be good here.” So, it is really fun.
And you’re a great character, Frank is the best. What’s really interesting to me, though, is how he is so easy to open up when something’s going wrong, especially when he called out the police department. But he has issues confronting his feelings. Why do you think he has that? Is it stemming from the stuff with his dad? Or is he just jaded with life?
McHALE: I think he ultimately loves animals, and that was shown by the cougar, but I think at the same time he feels ripped off by the police department, and he has never dealt with that. And it’s funny because his dad’s like, “What are you talking about? I saved you. I got you ... I saved you by getting ...” And I think he doesn’t want to rely on his father that way. And he feels too old to rely on his father that way and his father is as much of a curmudgeon as he is, but it’s not like, “F*ck you, f*ck you.” It’s not like that. It’s like, “Hey, come on, are we having a beer or what?” And so that, more to me, is the relationship that, in that movie The Fighter with Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, where they’re like ... the guy punches his dad, and you think, “Oh, this is going to be such a rough situation.” And he’s like, “Ah, what are you doing?” And, “Don’t punch Dad.” So I think he feels ripped off, and that sort of instant road rage feeling that he gets when he thinks about losing his job at the police department and that he’s reminded of it when these police officers drive him kind of insane. But then he sees the young people he’s working with, and he’s like, "These people love their job, and they take pride in it," and I think he’s learning from that, and he loves them, and he’ll never admit it.
But I think exploring the relationship with his dad is going to be super fun because John Procaccino is a lights-out great actor. And it’s funny that the way that Frank, he loves what he loves, and he hates what he hates, so that’s why I think when Rick comes in, he’s like, “They loved Rick.” And of course, there’s a cowardly part of Frank that, sees himself as so tough, but when push came to pull in that situation, he ran, and that bothers him. And there’s a side of him that he doesn’t trust in himself and I think that can be explored a lot more. I mean, I say all this stuff, but I am not a great storyteller. But I’m always like, “Let’s just fill this up with really great jokes and tell some great stories.” And then this cast, who I think is tremendous, will run with the ball when given the opportunity, and so their ... I mean I, believe me, we haven’t even gotten picked up, so I’m like, “Hope we get another pickup.”
Me, too — and I know a lot of fans, as well, feel that way. What was one of your favorite moments filming this year? I’m going to tell you some of mine: When Rick’s ear fell off, Patel gets stabbed by the crab, when you’re on the bench because your body hurts, and then of course, that Community Easter egg. Now, was that intentional?
McHALE: Well, now I’m tooting my own horn, but I came up with that joke, or the joke was already half-written. Like, I know what I’m talking about. Don’t question me. I know how to pronounce “tranquilo.” And I was just like, “Oh wait, this is a perfect opportunity to make a Spanish class reference to Community.” And I was like, “Can we just get one where we say that?” And they were like, “Great.” So I did multiple different takes of other jokes, but I was just like, “Hey if that works, great.” And they put it in, which was really cool of the editors, and obviously, sometimes I throw things in there like that to be like, “I wonder, do people still like the show?” And then, like that thing, I posted about the Met Ball yesterday.
And then I think Ravi trying to catch the goose, that was a tremendous moment. And really funny. But yes, Rick’s ear falling on Vella. Her reaction was so incredible. Jay Chandrasekhar, our director, was like, “I rewound that 20 times and watched it over and over.” He was like, “It was a perfect moment.” And then I think Ravi’s joke early on when someone said, “Karma coming back to you,” and he goes, “No, no, no. I’ve had so many bad things in life already happen to me. There’s no way that karma could even ...” I thought that line is so funny, and then incredibly well delivered. And, Shred and I in the car, just watching Michael [Rowland] do his thing is so pleasurable. He has the aggressive innocence thing down like a Mark Wahlberg or Woody Harrelson, he’s got that thing. And I am not saying — his thing is different, but it’s got that same vibe, which I’m just thrilled by, and he’s such a great kid.
He’s very funny, so talented. But I also love the furry co-stars. Has there been an animal that you were maybe ever terrified of, that the show kind of calmed your fears for?
McHALE: I guess, this is a traditional thing to say, but I had never really worked with a tarantula, and then I began to spend time, her name is Gretchen, and she goes to schools all over the place. She’s 7 years old, and so the animal handler who takes care of Gretchen was like, “Gretchen, you can just call her Gretchen,” then I started calling her Gretchen. But the more I held Gretchen and just let Gretchen kind of crawl on me, I was like, “Oh, what is ... we shouldn’t, this is ... what was I so worried about?” And so then I fell in love with Gretchen, and I told my wife that I’m running away with Gretchen.
Of course, because naturally.
McHALE: For that promo, I was like, “What if I just let the thing crawl on my face?” Gretchen was so comfortable that she just kept sitting down, and not moving, and they were like, “Can we get her to walk a little bit?” They’re like, “She’s just very happy where she is.” I’m like, “All right, we’ll just let her be here.” And so the same thing, I’ve handled snakes. So that was, I think Gretchen was the most sort of like, a little hill I have to get over. But as far as the other, the only time I was truly terrified was when I was running around in that skateboard park. The fox was beautiful and super sweet, and the fastest animal I think I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. The acceleration of that animal is insane. But running around in that, that was the only time when the stunt guys, when I was talking to them, that was the only time they were like, “You really need to be careful, because there’s not a straight angle in any of this.” And because I was running and running and running, and I was like, “Yeah, yeah.” So the professional skateboarder, who was amazing, he was like, “Hey, be really careful because I’ve seen guys snap their ankles in here, and then the guys that go help them snap their ankles.” And I was like, “Yeah, okay.” So that was terrifying. And holding the cougar and doing the promos, that was thrilling.
Switching gears, I want to talk about the writer’s strike because it’s important. I know you’ve worked with incredible writers over the years who have really put in such hard work, putting all these shows at the forefront with stories we’ve all come to love. Anything you want to share about the situation?
McHALE: I don’t say this lightly, but I stand with the WGA, and there’s no doubt that pay has gone down 23% since 2007, and that needs to change.
One-hundred percent, and we stand with the writers as well. Before I let you go, I want to ask about the Community movie and if there’s any filming update, especially with the writer’s strike most respectively factored in.
McHALE: I’m not exactly sure, but I’m guessing it’s not going to start on time.
Can you tell us anything about what we can expect from the movie? And I’m also asking selfishly because I would love to see Pedro Pascal in it after that hilarious pandemic table read. Maybe another variation of Walton Goggins’ Mr. Stone.
McHALE: You mean the busiest actor in history right now?
Busy and beloved.
McHALE: He was so great. He’s also the nicest man on the planet. Look, if I could, maybe if I say, “I guarantee he’ll be in it,” then that will make it happen.
We can manifest it.
McHALE: Is there a way we can just breathe it into being?
Maybe…?
McHALE: Let’s just say, “I guarantee he’ll be in it. We’ve already signed him on for $3 million per day.” But yeah, we have an open invitation to Pedro Pascal and Walton Goggins to be in it, together.
The last question, it’s got to be about food and Crime Scene Kitchen. We get another season and I heard there’s a real-life murder mystery…?
McHALE: Yeah, there are not just recipes, but there is a chef that kills people with a candlestick in the Crime Scene Kitchen.
It was Colonel Mustard?
McHALE: Yes. With a mustard seed.
Interesting. So, what more can we expect aside from the murder vibes? More seasons after this?
McHALE: Well, dear God, I hope. I mean we taped this over a year ago, and it got bumped, and so I’m so glad it’s coming out. I love Season 1, but this season is, I think it’s even more dramatic. There are even more jokes, and I once again gained nine pounds. But, I lost all that weight, and then it just came on like a f*cking freight. I ate so much, but they’ve left in more jokes… and I really have to starve myself beforehand, because after 18 desserts, it really is like going to heaven for just a little bit. But I really hope people find it because I love the show. It’s a lot of fun, and I want it to work, and because I think it’s a really good idea because I think people spend a lot of their own time going, “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.” So, “Maybe I’ll just throw this in,” and honestly, I would say the level of talent is pretty crazy.
Animal Control is now available to stream on Hulu. Crime Scene Kitchen premieres May 22 at 8 pm EST on FOX.