ABC to Debut ‘Downward Dog’ May 17

ABC will premiere the comedy Downward Dog with a sneak peek May 17 following the season finale of Modern Family. The series, starring Allison Tolman as Nan, moves to its regular time period, Tuesdays at 8 p.m., starting May 23. 

ABC describes the show, which is based on a web series, thusly:

"Nan attempts to juggle her tumultuous personal life with a stressful career, unjustly supervised by her self-obsessed boss. Having her story told from the canine perspective provides a uniquely unfiltered point of view that helps us laugh and cry about what it means to be a human being in the twenty-first century. It’s a show about a dog and the girl he adores, and even at their worst, Nan and Martin just might be best for one another."

Other cast includes Lucas Neff as Nan’s ex-boyfriend, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Nan’s best friend and Barry Rothbart as her boss.

The series is produced by Legendary Television and ABC Studios. ABC notes how Downward Dog is the first network comedy to have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. 

Series creators Michael Killen and Samm Hodges executive produce with Mosaic’s Jimmy Miller and Sam Hansen, and Animal Media’s Kathy Dziubek. Showrunners Kat Likkel and John Hoberg also executive produce.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.