Joel McHale to Return to Network Comedy Roots in Fox's Animal Control

Joel McHale has a Fox comedy in the works. 

The Community star will return to his network comedy roots in Animal Control, a straight-to-series workplace comedy that follows a group of local Animal Control employees. McHale will play Frank, an eccentric former cop who was fired from the force for trying to expose corruption in his department. Now a cynical Animal Control officer with a knack for communicating with the critters, Frank's doing his best to understand the human part of the job. 

Created by Bob Fisher, Rob Greenberg, and Dan Sterling, Animal Control is Fox's first wholly-owned series for the newly-launched Fox Entertainment Studios. The series is set to debut midseason.

McHale recently signed on to reprise his role as Jeff Winger in Peacock's Community the Movie, the highly-anticipated follow-up to the beloved comedy series. He currently hosts reality series Crime Scene Kitchen on Fox, and stars in The CW's Stargirl. 

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. She was previously a reporter/producer at Decider and is a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.