Animal Control season 3: everything we know about the Joel McHale comedy

Michael Rowland, Joel McHale, Vella Lovell and Ravi Patel in Animal Control
Michael Rowland, Joel McHale, Vella Lovell and Ravi Patel in Animal Control (Image credit: Bettina Strauss/FOX)

While all broadcast networks' 2023-2024 TV series were impacted by the 2023 Hollywood strikes, few were altered so much as Fox, which put nearly all of its scripted shows on a hiatus as a result. One of the rare exceptions was Animal Control season 2, the comedy that sees Joel McHale lead a ragtag group of animal control workers. The show is quickly becoming a Fox staple, as Animal Control season 3 is on the way as part of the 2024-2025 TV season.

Now that the strikes are over, Fox is recommitting to its scripted shows, with many that took a long hiatus set to return (welcome back 9-1-1: Lone Star season 5 and Accused season 2), as well as a number of new ones also making their debut in the new TV season. What does that mean for Animal Control season 3?

Read on to find out everything we know right now about Animal Control season 3.

Animal Control season 3 release date

Though Fox gave Animal Control an early season 3 renewal, the comedy is not going to premiere as part of its fall 2024 primetime lineup. All indications are that Animal Control season 3 will make its debut during midseason (likely sometime after January 2025). We'll update this post when we have more information on the timeline for a premiere.

Animal Control originally debuted as a midseason show on Fox, with its first season arriving in February 2023. So this could just be the series' MO, taking up half of the TV season for Fox rather than running for 20 or so episodes from fall to the spring.

While you wait, if you want to catch up with the first two seasons of Animal Control, all episodes are available to stream on-demand on Hulu. If you subscribe to a TV service that carries Fox (traditional or live TV streaming service), then you can also watch previous episodes directly on Fox.com.

Animal Control season 3 cast

The main cast of Animal Control is all expected to return for season 3, as Joel McHale, Michael Rowland, Vella Lovell, Ravi Patel, Grace Palmer and Gerry Dee were all mentioned in the official Animal Control season 3 renewal press release from Fox.

McHale leads the way as Frank, the opinionated Animal Control officer and former cop that gets along better with animals than he does his human co-workers.

Rowland as Shred, Lovell as Emily, Patel as Amit and Palmer as Victoria rounds out the Animal Control team. Dee, meanwhile, stars as recurring character Templeton Dudge.

No word on guest stars for the new season at this point.

Animal Control season 3 plot

Animal Control follows a group of local Animal Control employees whose lives are complicated by the fact that animals are simple, but humans are not. Each episode usually sees the characters dealing with some strange animal related work calls, serving as a background to their various personal problems.

The series is episodic, so there's no one big plot line the show is following, but there are a few storylines from where season 2 ended that we can expect Animal Control season 3 to pick up on. These include the potential love angles for Frank and Victoria and Shred and Emily.

Animal Control season 3 trailer

With the comedy not expected to return until the 2024-2025 midseason, it will likely be a while before we get an Animal Control season 3 trailer. But when we do we'll have it for you right here. 

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Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.