Pet Therapy

Could your dog benefit from a therapy group? New animated show Housebroken explores just that

Friends fans, Lisa Kudrow is back—as a pet! Premiering May 31st, irreverent animated comedy Housebroken follows a group of neighbourhood pets as they work through their issues inside and outside their therapy group. Kudrow voices Honey, a Poodle who hosts the group and struggles with her own problems, such as her arranged (by her human) marriage to Chief, a sloppy St. Bernard who enjoys eating socks and licking himself.

Honey opens her living room for the group to come and support each other through the mayhem and majesty that is being a pet. The group includes a chonky, co-dependent cat named Chico; The Grey One, a street-smart cat who has his one eye on aging Persian cat beauty queen Tabitha; Diablo, an anxious, sweater-wearing terrier; and Elsa, a power hungry, know-it-all Corgi and fake service dog; among others (like a hamster, and George Clooney’s pig).

The show’s co-creators and Executive Producers Clea DuVall, Gabrielle Allan, and Jennifer Crittenden found inspiration in their own pets. DuVall came up with the idea for the show based on her complicated relationship with her cat, Twig.

“I am obsessed with our cats Pilot and Twig. I talk to them and about them all day, every day,” laughs DuVall.

Allan’s six-year-old Cockapoo, Carter, is featured in an episode as a “troubled dog.” And Crittenden’s 12-pound terrier mix, Molly, “a scruffy terrier with a comical underbite” also shows up. “We used her ‘lewk’ for the character ‘Diablo,’” says Crittenden. “The similarity is mainly dental.”

Featuring the voices of Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Clea DuVall, Nat Faxon, Sharon Horgan, Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, and Jason Mantzoukas, Housebroken promises a hilarious look at human behaviour told through the lens of a quirky group of pets and their dysfunctional relationships. Our kind of must-watch TV!

Housebroken premieres Monday, May 31st at 9PM ET/PT on FOX.