When is a comedy not a comedy? Well, when that show is Dog Park.
Sure, there are funny moments in the new ABC series, but this show has more bite than most comedies. And there’s one particularly heartbreaking episode towards the end of season one.
Even the show’s co-creator, writer and lead actor Leon Ford agrees the show is not what you’d call a typical laugh-out-loud comedy.
“The label comedy, I don’t think, was ever quite right for [Dog Park],” Leon, 51, tells TV WEEK. “I think we just had a group of people in the writers’ room and the producers, particularly, and myself and Matt Saville as a director, who just had a taste for things that aren’t out-and-out wacky comedy and just have a bit more heart.”
In Dog Park, Leon’s character Roland is down in the dumps when his wife heads overseas for work, leaving him to care for their dog, Beattie. Although reluctant at first, Roland finds new friends among dog-owners – and their pooches – at the local dog park.
Comedy genre aside, Leon, who is perhaps known for his roles in The Letdown, Ten Pound Poms and Baz Luhrmann’s feature film, Elvis, says it was important to make the show “relatable” to viewers. At its core, the show is about loneliness and our basic need for community.
“We just wanted to get the characters as true as possible,” Leon says. “So, we shared a lot of stories in the writers’ room about living in a city and loneliness being quite prevalent.
“So, we wanted to question and dissect how you can be lonely in a city and what can change that in a good way. I suppose a dog park is the perfect setting for bringing people together these days.”
Throughout the series, we see Roland voicing his pet peeves, including people parking across two car spaces, people stopping at the foot of escalators and even having to butter his own toast at cafes.
While they’re not all based on personal experience, Leon admits he finds “the little snippets of annoyances in life to be funny”.
Although Roland may be facing a crumbling marriage, at least his dog Beattie is, for the most part, happy. Leon says the contrast between the two characters was important to show.
“I think we had in mind this character who is stuck in regret and worry and this dog who just wants to go to the park and play,” he says. “And you put those two together and hopefully you’ve got some sort of journey for at least one of them.”
Dog Park also stars Brooke Satchwell as Roland’s wife, Emma and Utopia and Have You Been Paying Attention? star Celia Pacquola as his new friend, Samantha.
Leon says it was a “real joy” to work with both actresses. While Brooke only appears in a couple of episodes, Leon says she was an “absolute professional”. While Celia’s attention to detail in the script stood out.
“She’s really into the minute detail of moments and words,” he says of co-star Celia. “She’s also one of those actors that, on the day, is doing all these amazing things, and then when you watch the rushes back, there’s even more going on.
“I don’t know if it’s a talent or a gift, but it was amazing to watch.”
Dog Park airs Sunday, 8.30pm on the ABC and ABC iview
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