Joel McHale Talks Reuniting With Friend and ‘Community’ Co-Star Ken Jeong on ‘Animal Control’
The third season of Animal Control finally premiered and the Fox sitcom will see a Community reunion. After guest starring in the Season 2 episode “Dogs and Chickens” in April 2024 as dog trainer Roman Park, Ken Jeong will be reuniting with Joel McHale yet again for an upcoming episode of Animal Control. The two starred together on the sitcom Community for all six seasons from 2009 to 2015.
While not many details have been revealed about Jeong’s upcoming appearance, McHale told Collider that he’s “one of my favorite people.” He continued, “We’ll call each other and talk for 90 minutes, and then my wife [Sarah] will go, ‘You’re talking to your boyfriend?’ And then I’m like, ‘Yes,’ and then we’ll talk for another 90 minutes. Then I realize, I haven’t spent any time with my children. So, it’s great that, hopefully, he’ll continue to come back to the show, and they’ll expand his role and meet his $1.4 million episodic rate.”
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Additionally, Grace Palmer shared her excitement of having Jeong on set, revealing that every time he comes on set, “it is the best couple of days because he’s so funny. It has me in stitches.” As for having Jeong and McHale working together, she said the two of them together “are insanity. But nothing gets done, and everyone gets really frustrated, but they’re also laughing so hard they can’t tell you off.”
Last October, Jeong was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and McHale was among the few to pay tribute to him, with plenty of jokes and emotions as well. They also presented together at the 2024 Emmys and poked fun at Jo Koy’s then-recent hosting gig at the Golden Globes, so it’s clear that they are still hilarious together. And whatever brings Roman Park back to Animal Control, hilarity will certainly ensue.
Aside from Ken Jeong’s upcoming appearance on Animal Control, fans can look forward to seeing him and Joel McHale together once again in the highly-anticipated Community movie coming to Peacock at some point in the future. Not much has been revealed about it, but the ball has been rolling and almost every main cast member from the series will be in the film, sans Chevy Chase. And there is no telling what will happen. In the meantime, new episodes of Animal Control air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.
