There’s nothing particularly sophisticated about Fox's new animated comedy HouseBroken, which is content to show its main animal characters being silly. Rather than the surreal, self-referential comedy that’s become the standard for adult-targeted animation, HouseBroken is a slightly raunchier version of The Secret Life of Pets. Its voice cast is full of comedic talents, the characters are entertainingly ridiculous and the basic concept allows for various antics.
Created by Clea DuVall, Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan, who all worked together previously on HBO's Veep, HouseBroken is an old-fashioned sitcom built around regular sessions of a therapy group led by a poodle named Honey (Lisa Kudrow). Honey rounds up the neighborhood pets to talk about their feelings, while the show follows them on individual adventures at home that are often connected to their codependent relationships with their owners. Kudrow, who played a therapist for four seasons on Showtime's Web Therapy, gives Honey a reassuring but sometimes condescending demeanor. She's the standard TV therapist who has trouble dealing with her problems even as she gives out advice to others.
The members of the therapy group include overeager Corgi Elsa (DuVall), who's excessively proud of being a service dog; jumpy terrier Diablo (Tony Hale), whose owners are getting divorced; a semi-feral cat known as the Gray One (Jason Mantzoukas), who lives with dozens of other cats in the house of a hoarder; a chubby, insecure cat Chico (Sam Richardson), whose owner is always out of town; a vain former show cat Tabitha (Sharon Horgan); a disturbingly horny senior citizen tortoise Shel (Will Forte); a pampered pig Max (also Hale), who belongs to George Clooney; and high-strung hamster Nibbles (Bresha Webb). There’s also a mysterious, silent slow loris named Tchotchke, who communicates via flapping a cocktail umbrella.
Honey lives with dim-witted St. Bernard Chief (Nat Faxon), who’s not a member of the group in part because he’s blissfully unaware of his underlying emotional issues. There are other animals and humans who recur throughout the four episodes available for review, which makes for a sprawling, potentially unwieldy cast. But the creators give each animal a distinct personality, even if that means that most of them (aside from Honey) are one-dimensional at this point. The extensive cast of characters allows for a variety of pairings, and the episodes find new dynamics in switching up which characters team up for various subplots.
The formula for success isn’t all that complex. HouseBroken brings together funny people to give voices to funny animals, and at this point, at least, that’s enough. Yes, there are jokes about vomit and excrement (Chief enjoys eating both), but HouseBroken isn’t entirely juvenile or vulgar. It’s genuinely sweet at times, more so than some of the cynical comedies that make up Fox’s animated lineup. The animals sometimes insult each other in the group therapy sessions, but Honey does her best to get them to treat each other kindly and respectfully.
It doesn’t take much for these animals to experience existential crises. When Honey gets a trendy box-shaped haircut at the dog groomer, she freaks out that the local coyote she has a crush on won’t be interested in her anymore. Shel, who’s lonely after being single for 15 years, following the death of his mate, starts a sexual relationship with a shoe. Max learns that he’s a replacement for Clooney’s previous, identical pet pig that’s now buried in the backyard. Some of these plot threads continue through multiple episodes, but HouseBroken is mostly straightforward and self-contained -- a throwback to an older era of sitcoms and cartoons.
HouseBroken is consistently funny, thanks largely to the voice cast. Kudrow is the clear star, but the other performers make their characters amusing even when they aren’t delivering jokes. Forte gives Shel a wise yet sleazy horny-old-man demeanor, while Mantzoukas brings his typical manic energy to the Gray One. Horgan puts on an indeterminate Eastern European accent as the haughty Tabitha, and Webb makes Nibbles seem like she’s constantly on the edge of homicidal rage. The creators translate animal behavior into the language of psychotherapy -- like when Honey talks about the nuances of tail-wagging or the animals all jump into action when they hear a siren outside, convinced they can "defeat" it.
Those are simple, low-key jokes that make HouseBroken a laid-back, undemanding watch, with bright, clear animation. If you hear the theme song composed entirely of barks and meows and find yourself chuckling, then you’ll probably keep that smile on your face for the next 20 minutes or so.
Starring the voices of Lisa Kudrow, Nat Faxon, Will Forte, Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, Jason Mantzoukas, Clea DuVall and Sharon Horgan, HouseBroken premieres Monday, May 31 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.