Wildly unfunny
‘Animal Practice’ looks like a long shot
PEOPLE FOR the Ethical Treatment of Animals protested against NBC last weekend over using a capuchin monkey in this new sitcom.
And PETA was right. No monkey should be forced to be in a sitcom as lame as this. “Animal Practice” is banking heavily, perhaps almost entirely, on the longstanding television truth that a certain number of people will watch anything involving cute animals.
This show will test the depth of that resolve.
Justin Kirk plays Dr. George Coleman, a veterinarian who's in the right business because he has great animal skills and zero people skills.
He runs a New York clinic where lovable animals seem to roam at will. Crystal, the monkey seems to be involved with everything short of open-heart surgery.
George’s ex-girlfriend Dorothy (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) has inherited the clinic and wants to run it in a more traditional way.
Of course, Dorothy is still secretly sweet on George, even though he says things like, “The heart is just a muscle.”
T he halfhour is filled out with harmlessly eccentric doctors and staff members. Say this much: In “Animal P ractice,” unlike on some Animal Planet shows, the cast members don’t eat each other. Still, it’s hard to see this show lasting too far beyond the initial taste.