Andrew Flint

The voice talent in HouseBroken is exceptional. Led by Lisa Kudrow and Nat Faxon, the show features comedian luminaries such as Maria Bamford, Jason Mantzoukas, Tony Hale, Will Forte, Dax Shepard, Sam Richardson, and A+ guest appearances, The premise is very good--a group of house pets living in the same neighborhood meet regularly for therapy sessions, and their exterior lives become part of the storytelling. But that storytelling, for the most part, is dismal. The episodes of season 1 aren't just bad. They're aggressively bad. I'm unable to picture the writers' room that came up with such zero-stakes drivel. The finest plot point is Honey's (Kudrow) romantic interest in a feral coyote, and that plot is given far less energy than it deserves. Instead she chooses to be trapped in a "marriage" of convenience with a disgusting and overbearing dog that she happens to live with. This is "Married...With Children"--level television. Something drew all of these fantastic comedians to this show, which is why I keep watching, but I still have no idea what the alleged appeal is.