Joel McHale can\u2019t stop worrying about the Seattle Seahawks\u2019 Super Bowl journey.<\/p>\n
Even simply asking, \u201cHow\u2019s your day going?,\u201d provokes him to respond with: \u201cYou know, other than my elevated heart rate at all times due to Seattle sports-related events, I’m pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
We spoke to McHale before the Seahawks\u2019 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, too, so he\u2019s almost certainly paralytic with nerves ahead of their Super Bowl rematch against the New England Patriots on Sunday<\/span>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s somewhat of a surprise to hear McHale being so worked up over \u2026 well, anything. \u201cThe Great Indoors\u201d and \u201cCommunity\u201d actor and comedian has perfected playing smooth-talking, arrogant, seemingly cool characters who are always charming but deep down are vulnerable.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since 2023, McHale has been playing such a character, Frank Shaw, in \u201cAnimal Control,\u201d a Fox comedy about a group of animal control workers in Seattle, which is where he just so happens to have been raised. Frank has been as sarcastic and witty as we have come to expect from McHale, but as the series has progressed, we\u2019ve learned how self-conscious and depressed he can be, too. The series, full of laughs, mishaps and camaraderie, is now in its fourth season, with new episodes premiering on Thursdays.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think \u2018Animal Control\u2019 works because it\u2019s not denying my age,\u201d McHale says when asked why the show has struck such a chord with viewers. \u201cFrank is a single man in his 50s who is in crisis, and I love that the supporting characters are constantly needling my character about his age.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just Frank who’s portrayed in a refreshingly honest fashion. McHale points to the complex, burgeoning romantic relationship between Fred Taylor (Michael Rowland) and Emily Price (Vella Lovell), which is complicated by her being his boss, as well as Amit Patel\u2019s (Ravi V. Patel) struggles at home, particularly when it comes to paying for his daughter\u2019s school. There\u2019s also one extra ingredient that makes \u201cAnimal Control\u201d stand out against its sitcom rivals: \u201cWe have camels. We have the highest camel ratio, I think, on any show,\u201d boasts McHale. \u201cThe camel\u2019s name is Mayhem, by the way, and he lives in Alberta.\u201d<\/p>\n The television landscape has changed dramatically since McHale first shot to prominence as Jeff Winger on \u201cCommunity\u201d back in 2009. While the first season of \u201cCommunity\u201d debuted with 25 episodes, \u201cAnimal Control\u201d has only amassed 41 episodes over its entire four-season run, as networks have responded to the dominance of streaming services like Netflix.\u00a0<\/p>\n McHale can\u2019t help but get nostalgic when the topic of \u201cCommunity\u201d comes up.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a terrible time slot. I mean, we were on Thursdays up against ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ But we had a small and productive following. It\u2019s only grown thanks to Netflix and Hulu.\u201d<\/p>\n McHale points to the continued streaming success of the likes of \u201cCommunity,\u201d \u201cThe Office,\u201d \u201cFriends\u201d and \u201cSuits\u201d as proof that \u201cif the show is good, audiences will just hang with it,\u201d even if they are several decades old. \u201cThey are all watched to this day by young and old people over and over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n Since \u201cAnimal Control\u201d just joined Netflix, McHale is hopeful that it\u2019ll find an even bigger audience, especially since he feels like the writers and actors have found the pitch-perfect rhythm of the comedy.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s our best season yet. If we get a Season 5, I\u2019m very excited, because we all have a common language now. The writing has gotten really good. I\u2019m really grateful that, at 54, I get to go to work, tell jokes, hang out with people I like and do fun things, like riding camels.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n With Gerry Dee having become a bigger part of the cast in Season 4, which allows his character Templeton Dudge\u2019s feud with Frank to get even more intense, McHale is hopeful that \u201cAnimal Control\u201d can reach even greater heights.<\/p>\n \u201cGerry is a genius and a Canadian treasure. I love that we are pushing the competition between us. Then we have the incredible Kyla Pratt who has joined us. It\u2019s wonderful to have this new villain.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite his huge success, McHale still gets very excited and even a little intimidated at the prospect of proving himself. At the end of February, he\u2019ll be seen in the new \u201cScream\u201d film, and while he was initially anxious about joining such a beloved horror franchise, he ultimately couldn\u2019t resist.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember thinking, \u2018This is something I never expected.\u2019 But I had a blast. Neve Campbell and Kevin Williamson were dreams to work with. I still can\u2019t believe that I\u2019m being hired at my age.\u201d<\/p>\n But while he might have to work hard to subdue his nerves before productions begin, he\u2019s very aware that being on set is ultimately very good for him.<\/p>\n \u201cI have really crazy ADHD and anxiety. Acting is my medicine and therapy. Whenever I\u2019m not working, my wife is, like, \u2018Go work, you crazy man!\u2019 If I get to do this until I drop dead, I will. All I\u2019ve ever wanted to do is perform. It\u2019s a blessing and a curse, because if I wasn\u2019t able to do it, I\u2019d truly be a miserable human being.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yakimaherald.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Joel McHale can\u2019t stop worrying about the Seattle Seahawks\u2019 Super Bowl journey. Even simply asking, \u201cHow\u2019s your day going?,\u201d provokes him to respond with: \u201cYou know, other than my elevated heart rate at all times due to Seattle sports-related events, I’m pretty good.\u201d We spoke to McHale before the Seahawks\u2019 victory over the Los Angeles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2264753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[21741],"class_list":["post-2264752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Joel-McHale-on-\u2018Animal-Control-and-his-Seahawks-Super-Bowl.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2264752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2264752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2264752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2264754,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2264752\/revisions\/2264754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2264753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2264752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2264752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2264752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}