Lions and tigers and bears — and one very famous Capuchin monkey named Crystal — are just a few of the animal cast members of NBC’s new sitcom, “Animal Practice,” which stars Justin Kirk (“Weeds”) and premieres Sept. 26 (8 p.m.).
While “Animal Practice” is, first and foremost, a sitcom, it also hopes to capitalize on everyone’s love for their pets.
“I have two rescue dogs,” says Scot Armstrong, one of the show’s executive producers. “One of my dogs is a Hurricane Katrina survivor that was driven from New Orleans to New York City . . . We love animals in our family. That was one of the reasons we decided to do a big show that celebrates animals, in addition to being a great workplace comedy.”
At the core of the cast is Kirk, 43, who plays the animal-loving, people-hating Dr. George Coleman — and is coming off an eight-season run on “Weeds” as Andy Botwin, Nancy’s (Mary-Louise Parker) brother-in-law.
“This was as far away from ‘Weeds’ as I could get,” says Kirk, who had no plans to return to TV too quickly after wrapping “Weeds.” Instead, he returned to Broadway, where he had starred in “Love! Valour! Compassion!” and Jon Robin Baitz’s “Ten Unknowns.” Most recently, he stepped in for Thomas Sadoski in Baitz’s “Other Desert Cities,” while Sadoski starred in HBO’s “The Newsroom.”
It was while Kirk was doing “Cities” that he got a call from Robert Greenblatt, the ex-Showtime entertainment president and now NBC Entertainment chief. “They said the right things about what this show could become,” says Kirk.
In the pilot, Coleman is the Dr. Gregory House of veterinarians, with all his empathy reserved for creatures and very little left for people. “Part of the charm of this guy is that he doesn’t suffer fools or anyone else for that matter,” Kirk says.
Tyler Labine (“Reaper,” “Invasion,” “Sons of Tucson”) plays a fellow vet and the closest thing to a friend that George has; Bobby Lee (“MADtv”) plays Dr. Yamamoto; Kym Whitley plays Juanita, one of the hospital’s few sane people; and Betsy Sodaro is Angela, an eccentric animal handler who’s not afraid to speak her mind — often with scary consequences.
And, finally, there’s Crystal, who plays Coleman’s simian sidekick Dr. Rizzo. “She’s the most famous monkey in Hollywood, so you try to be cool around her,” says Kirk.
“This cast is full of major comic performers. That’s what I’m really hanging my hopes on.”