Downward Dog

People are dogs, too. We also have complicated emotional lives, further complicated by our professional ones. We also seek food. We also seek love. We obsess. Nan and Martin’s bond works--and consequently this terrific series works--because it abides by these simple, inalienable truths.

Downward Dog obviously could have gone very wrong. Instead it gets almost everything irresistibly right, whether it’s Martin’s simple yet challenging life (“I’m only human,” he reasons) or the accompanying two-legged human endeavors that shift his mind into overdrive and this series into the realm of the near-sublime.

Martin is clearly the star of the show, so any time he's on camera things click. It's when Nan goes to work where things can get occasionally off kilter.

Downward is shaggy but sweet, a surreal little Scooby snack. [19 May 2017, p.54]

The new TV series Downward Dog takes on loneliness and fear and all the other gunk that gets caught in your spiritual gutters when you start feeling low. It can be warm, but only once its characters push their way through searing self-doubt to get to the other side.

It’s a shockingly witty and enjoyable slant on the television romantic comedy. Only here, the romantic lead and hero is a dog for whom there are no half measures.

It's charming. It's funny, but not in a setup-joke, yuck-it-up way. It's sort of observational comedy--observed from the dog's point of view.

Smart, clever and punctuated with moments of warmth that avoid treacle, ABC’s Downward Dog delivers delightful comedy thanks to an angsty canine character with a psyche that is more human than mutt.

A sweet little show, low key and more smile-worthy than hilarious.

Curbing Martin’s screen time would ultimately benefit Downward Dog, whose human cast is just as enjoyable. But Killen and Hodges have also seen to it that their furry co-lead is more than just a gimmick.

As with any show built around a high-concept gimmick, there’s a danger here that the trick will wear thin; that we’ll tire of Martin’s low-energy observations. (Ned, at least as filmed, is the most morose dog on the planet.) But for now, be content with how much this Dog has going for it, starting with the gentle way it ambles along, speaking softly rather than barking at us, and including the sweet chemistry between Neff and Tolman.

One of the most unexpected and endearing surprises of the late spring. [29 May - 11 Jun 2017, p.12]