I think some external force of nature does not want me to post this article. I have written it three times over and have lost each copy for unknown reasons thus far. But I’m here to tell you that you should give Animal Practice a chance, if you haven’t already, and the episode you should watch is “Clean Smelling Pirate.”
Most of the episode is one big setup for the final punchline with Dr. Rizzo, which still has me in stitches just thinking about it. You’ll see it coming from a mile away, but it’s hysterical all the same.
When I first reviewed Animal Practice, I thought every review would pretty much be a recap of what Dr. Rizzo (Crystal the Monkey) does in the show, but I am finding the show actually has a lot of heart and some great humor in it. It still needs to find its legs (and I don’t mean the simian kind), but hopefully NBC will pick up the back end of the season.
In “Clean Smelling Pirate,” Dorothy has reassigned an important surgery of a boy’s dog from George to Doug, since Doug is more kid friendly. He even owns a hand puppet called Dr. Rick that he uses to put the kids at ease. George tries to dupe him into thinking Dorothy has reassigned the surgery back to George, because he wants to prove he’s just as kid friendly as the next guy, even though he is a self-professed people hater.
When the dog’s chances of surviving the surgery dwindle quickly, George tries to give the kid the hard facts, but then softens a bit and shows he has a heart, after all.
Meanwhile, in the funniest subplot of the show, Dr. Yamamoto reveals his unnatural fear of puppets after seeing Dr. Rick, but Juanita forces him to confront his fears when she slips Dr. Rick onto Dr. Yamamoto’s unsuspecting hand. Dorothy tries to convince Angela to date a “nice guy” with mixed results. And a cranky Dr. Rizzo spends most of the episode trying to get some shuteye in various places as his hammock is at the cleaners.
May not sound like much, but this is the episode that should convince you to stick with the show. Like I said, the payoff is the final scene with Dr. Rizzo and his newfound place to nap. Trust me, hilarity ensues.
