'Downward Dog' Is One of TIME's 50 Most Underappreciated TV Shows
Time · LC · trust 11/100
With a few wonderful exceptions that proved the rule ( The Good Place , New Girl ), the network sitcom landscape of the 2010s was a graveyard of glib titles, gimmicky premises, and mercifully short runs. (Remember CBS’s, er, Twitter account adaptation Sh*! My Dad Says ? Or ABC’s noxious attempt at mancession-sploitation Work It ?) At first glance, Downward Dog looked like more of the same. Its narrator is a dog named Martin, voiced by co-creator Samm Hodges, who expounds on his philosophies of life and analyzes from a uniquely canine perspective his relationship with his owner, Nan ( Allison Tolman ), whose corporate career is increasingly cutting into their time together. Yet there is, surprisingly, nothing cynical about the show. Its charm is, in large part, a credit to Tolman. Fresh off an Emmy-nominated performance as the archetypal good cop in the first season of Fargo , she brought that same sense of beleaguered decency to this stressed-out character. Downward Dog also distinguished itself from dozens of broad, jokey, try-hard broadcast comedies with its more laid-back, gentle but never cloying tone. Alas, with so many other programs clamoring for eyeballs, these subtle pleasures failed to draw an audience big enough to keep it on the air after its initial eight-episode season. But the show remains an ideal comfort watch. And, happily, we can now enjoy Tolman in a successful sitcom worthy of her kind presence: NBC’s hospital mockumentary St. Denis Medical .
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