Housebroken - What We Know So Far

When you were a kid, Saturday mornings were made for cartoons. And as an adult, you can still get your fix of wacky animated adventures, but you're going to have to tune into Fox on Sunday nights instead. 

For years, Sundays on the network have had the strong grasp of Animation Domination with mainstays like The Simpsons and Family Guy airing next to cartoons hoping to garner the same kind of longevity. As of right now, those series make for excellent lead-ins to Bless the Harts and The Great North, but this summer, Animation Domination will become too big to be confined to a single night. And Mondays will finally gain some animated sitcoms of its own with the debut of Housebroken.

Talking animals and animation go together like The Simpsons and predictions about the future. It looks like this show may be taking some cues from The Secret Life of Pets by shining a humorous light on what our furry friends get up to while we're away at work. Of course, since it's a Fox show, it'll probably be a bit more on the risqué side. Here's what you can expect going into season 1 of Housebroken. 

Housebroken will be part of a new animation lineup coming to Fox on Mondays, starting on May 31, 2021. The first episode will air on that date at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT alongside season 2 of Duncanville, which will actually premiere a week earlier on May 23. That series will have a two-part season debut that according to Deadline will include a Parks & Recreation reunion. Amy Poehler voices both Duncan and his mother, Annie, on the main cast, but there's no word on which one of her old co-stars will be joining her. 

After that, Duncanville moves to Monday nights with Housebroken, which will continue to air on Mondays throughout the summer. It's great news for anyone wanting to get their animation fix during the months where other series, like Bob's Burgers and The Simpsons, go on break. Who knows? Perhaps this eclectic collection of animals will become the next hit family to reign over the network. 

A lot of comedic talent can be found throughout Fox's animated projects, and Housebroken definitely isn't going to be lacking in that department. The show has brought together an impressively funny cast that's led by former Friends star Lisa Kudrow as the anthropomorphic poodle, Honey. From the footage we've seen so far in the teasers, it looks as though Honey will be the leader of her little collective of animals. She's joined by her husband, Chief (Nat Faxon), whom she's only married to due to a union brought about by their owners. 

The rest of the animal characters are rounded out nicely by Chico the cat (Sam Richardson), Shel the tortoise (Will Forte), Tabitha the Persian cat (Sharon Horgan), Elsa the corgi (Clea DuVall), and a cat from the streets known only as The Gray One (Jason Mantzoukas). They'll be joined throughout the first season by various guest stars, including Maria Bamford, Greta Lee, and Bresha Webb.

Deadline describes the premise of the sitcom as follows: "Housebroken follows a group of neighborhood pets and stray animals as they work through their issues inside and outside their therapy group." Honey will be the leader of the group, and it sounds like she's going to try to help the other animals sort through their issues while dealing with problems of her own. All the animals are offbeat and eccentric in their own unique ways, but they'll have to learn to communicate and get along to be more at one with themselves. 

Animals may be the focus of the series, but a press release that was released by Fox implied the animals' would be a bit more relatable than what you may initially think. The document states, "Throughout the series, the show centers on the pets' dysfunctional relationships and their skewed world view, while exploring relevant societal issues in fun and unique ways." As a sitcom, there probably won't be some overarching story line to follow with each episode focusing on its own unique plot. With those details, it sounds as though there are plenty of opportunities for jokes, so tune in on May 31 to see what hijinks these pets get into.