Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Dogs In Space’ On Netflix, Where Super-Smart Canine Space Explorers Try To Find A New Planet For Their Humans

Space exploration has been a staple of sci-fi TV since at least Star Trek, if not before. Opportunities for different stories on different worlds, with different aliens standing in for what ails us as humans; it’s a genre rife for both comedy and drama. But can it be adapted to an animated show for kids, where the space explorers are all genetically-modified dogs? Why not?

DOGS IN SPACE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “Based on a Future True Story.” A talking Corgi begs an alien “Please let humans live here!”

The Gist: That Corgi, whose name is Garbage (Haley Joel Osment), is the risk-taking captain of the Pluto, one of the many exploratory shuttles staffed by genetically enhanced dogs. Their mission is to find a new, inhabitable planet for their humans, who as we all know biffed on keeping Earth inhabitable a long time ago.

Garbage is about to give this large, green globby alien a phaser when it goes off. This, of course, ticks off the globby alien, who attacks. Coming to Garbage’s aid is Stella (Sarah Chalke), a Shetland sheepdog who is Garbage’s more practical first officer; Nomi (Kimiko Glenn), a shih tzu pilot who shoots first and asks questions later; smart tactical officer Chonies (David Lopez), a chihuahua who can do things like generate a shield bubble around himself; Ed (Chris Parnell), a Jack Russell terrier who likes to steal things; and Loaf (William Jackson Harper), a nervous surveillance officer who is stationed back on the Embark, the main ship.

After the disaster of a meeting, the crew of the Pluto finds what looks like a perfect planet, but not one that’s on any charts. They have to go back to the Embark to refuel, but first Garbage has to deal with rival captain, a poodle named Happy (JP Karliak). He’s on the Council ruling the ship, and Garbage’s recklessness is about to get him and the crew suspended. But that mysterious planet is begging to be explored. So Garbage cooks up a plan to sneak out, with some help from Ed and Loaf back on the Embark.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Star Trek, but with dogs. Or The Orville, but funny.

Our Take: Dogs In Space is geared towards kids (it’s rated TV-Y7), but it certainly has a lot of nods towards the sci-fi lovers who are those kids’ parents. Like another kid-oriented space series that recently debuted, Star Trek: Prodigy, the characters created by Jeremiah Cortez are well-defined from the outset, and the comedy balances physical gags that will get the kids guffawing with character-based lines that make the adults laugh.

We were definitely surprised how many times we laughed out loud during the first episode, something we don’t really do with even the more sophisticated kid-oriented animated series. It’s because of things like Garbage’s earnestness, Loaf’s constant anxiety, Chonies’ puppy-pleasing nature, Ed’s sneakiness, Stella’s frustrated support of her captain, and Nomi’s overall craziness. It’s those character traits, shown in ways that don’t talk down to the audience watching, are what make Dogs In Space entertaining and will hook kids from 7 to, well, however old we are.

Like many current cartoons aimed towards older kids, Dogs In Space isn’t content with just giving its audience a self-contained story in every episode. It’s a continuing story, with smaller subplots that have the closure some kids might need. Here, it’s a smart idea, because the dogs are on a mission to find a new planet for their humans, who they’re still very loyal to despite being genetically modified to be smarter than us. When Garbage longs to see his person again as he sits in his chambers, the emotional stakes of the show are pretty apparent. We hope that aspect of the story continues to be a big part of what drives the action and comedy.

What Age Group Is This For?: We’ll take the TV-Y7 rating literally and say that Dogs In Space is good for kids 7 and up.

Parting Shot: The crew lands on the planet, and are trapped by another dog, who crashed on the planet during an earlier mission. “Aww, poop,” says Garbage when he realizes what’s going on.

Sleeper Star: William Jackson Harper made us laugh the most as the nervous Loaf. But we can’t finish this review without mentioning a direct Trek connection: Michael Dorn, who plays Pistachio Soup, leader of The Council.

Most Pilot-y Line: Pistachio Soup asks Garbage if he got any gift bags from his mission, like Happy did. “Swag bags, some folks call them.” How do dogs from the future know the term “swag bag”?

Our Call: STREAM IT. Dogs In Space takes the sci-fi space exploration formula and gives it a spin that’s both adorable and pretty darn funny, for both kids and grownups.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream Dogs In Space On Netflix