{"id":5048,"date":"2026-08-07T07:35:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5048"},"modified":"2026-08-07T07:35:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:35:31","slug":"alley-cats-review-ricky-gervais-half-crass-half-sappy-mostly-unmemorable-netflix-cartoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5048","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Alley Cats\u2019 Review: Ricky Gervais\u2019 Half-Crass, Half-Sappy, Mostly Unmemorable Netflix Cartoon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tIt\u2019s been my experience that people who hate cats and people who love them describe them exactly the same way; it\u2019s only the tone that differs.<\/p>\n

Read more Meet Nicolaas Schmidt, the German Filmmaker Who Thinks \u201cPlain Banality Is Stimulating as F***\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe former scowl as they complain that, \u201cCats are such jerks.\u201d The latter say it with an indulgent smile. To the feline fan club, of which I count myself as a card-carrying member, a-hole behavior is part of the allure \u2014 they\u2019re so stubbornly, fascinatingly, often hilariously self-interested that even the dim bulbs seem possessed of complete inner lives. Besides, they\u2019re not always<\/em> mean. Just as often, they can make you melt with their softness, their sensitivity, their loyalty.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tAlley Cats\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n

\nThe Bottom Line<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

\tShort but shaggy.
\n\t<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\nAirdate:<\/strong> Friday, Aug. 7 (Netflix)
Cast:<\/strong> Ricky Gervais, Tom basden, Jo Hartley, David Earl, Diane Morgan, Andrew Brooke, Kerry Godliman, Tony Way, Natalie Cassidy
Creator:<\/strong> Ricky Gervais\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\nAlley Cats<\/em>, Ricky Gervais\u2019 new animated series for Netflix, gets that much. In the manner of my own furry sons, the show follows its own unhurried rhythm, turning on a dime between casually vicious and ooey-gooey sweet. But lacking the creative depth to make either tone land, it winds up a comedy of existential angst that\u2019s rarely all that funny and only occasionally kind of moving.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to writing and directing, Gervais leads the cast as Gus, a chunky orange fella who\u2019s the de facto leader of a gang of strays. To call them a ragtag bunch would be putting it politely; though the animation by Blink Industries is clean and crisp, the cats\u2019 personalities are anything but. <\/p>\n

\n\tFang (Andrew Brooke) is a beefy tuxedo perpetually raring for a fight. Olive (Diane Morgan) is an orange space cadet desperate to breed. One mangy beast is simply called Puke (David Earl), presumably for the sort of reaction he tends to elicit with his many tales of screwing and\/or eating every disgusting thing you can imagine. The only one of their number fit for polite society is Ponce (Tom Basden), a pet cat whose primary function within the clique is to get dragged for everything from his lack of balls to the way he says the word \u201cinteresting.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tEvery day begins with the crew in the abandoned hovel they call home, watching whatever happens to be airing \u2014 dating shows, history docs, news reports \u2014 on a TV that somehow still works. Eventually they\u2019ll head outside to look for food, visit friends and foes, settle whatever silly argument has been sparked by their latest viewing (e.g., \u201cAre bees scary?\u201d or \u201cCould four cats murder a human child?\u201d). Then they\u2019ll retire back to their shack, to do it all again tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\n\tGervais has said that the voice performances were captured in group sessions rather than solo ones, and it shows in the relaxed chemistry of the cast. They sound like nothing so much as a group of longtime pals busting each other\u2019s balls over a third round of beers, and there\u2019s some appeal in getting to sit with that loose and shaggy vibe.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut as anyone who\u2019s been seated next to a group of longtime pals busting each other\u2019s balls over a third round of beers knows, just because they<\/em> find themselves entertaining doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s inherently interesting to listen to them. Though the season runs just six episodes, each under 20 minutes, it feels much longer when so many of those minutes are spent on aimless, mindless chatter.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Brady vs. Manning\u2019: Documentary Film in the Works About NFL Rivalry (Exclusive)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe cats\u2019 low-key routine is interrupted when, during one of their daily outings, they encounter a tiny gray kitten (Jo Hartley) who\u2019s gotten lost. In a burst of generosity, Gus promises Kitten they\u2019ll help return her home. Their efforts (primarily, wandering around until Kitten spots a home that looks familiar) comprise what amounts to the season\u2019s driving plot \u2014 though in typical feline fashion, it\u2019s never long before they\u2019re waylaid by one random side quest or other.<\/p>\n

\nAlley Cat<\/em> functions in two sharply distinct modes. The first is rude, crude shit-talking. Gus, Fang, Puke \u2014 and, okay, not so much Ponce \u2014 spend their days riffing about the things they\u2019ve done or want to do with their dicks, bickering about who\u2019s tougher than whom, showering each other with elaborate insults.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne particularly self-satisfied diatribe ends with Gus imagining Puke dying from AIDS after getting sodomized by infected monkeys; it\u2019s edgy in a way that\u2019s sure to impress tweens whose parents have just removed the controls from their Netflix profiles, and not many others. Mostly, though, their conversations just blend into an undifferentiated drone of meaningless sniping, lurid sexual descriptions, colorful empty threats and many, many bad words. If you think a lengthy exchange about whether \u201cBitches be trippin’\u201d is a Gandhi quote \u2014 Gus insists yes, Ponce correctly disagrees \u2014 is the height of hilarity, maybe you\u2019ll find the cats\u2019 chats more amusing then I did.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe other tone Alley Cats<\/em> traffics in is an almost cloying sentimentality. As braggadocious as Gus and his friends can be, they\u2019re acutely aware of both their insignificance and vulnerability. Cats they know are hit by cars, replaced by supposedly loving owners, left to wither away in some dirty corner; as one sadly puts it, they\u2019re all just \u201cfuture roadkill.\u201d Kitten\u2019s wide-eyed questions about the permanence of death or the cruelty of humans only further underline how painful the mere fact of existence can be.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Kitten\u2019s presence also, naturally, encourages Gus to open up, and show a softer, happier side as he sings to her or cuddles her or generally guides her through life\u2019s terrible uncertainties. In one vulnerable moment, he even tries to bargain with a God he\u2019s not convinced exists \u2014 shocking stuff from a character created and performed by one of pop culture\u2019s most exhaustingly noisy atheists. It\u2019s all very moving in theory, and less so in practice. These two-note characters simply aren\u2019t built to shoulder such heavy yet predictable emotionality.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut then, I guess, neither are real cats. I might have big existential feelings about my own kitties \u2014 the purpose I get from caring for them, the joy I get from loving them, the preemptive grief I experience knowing that they will die in the hopefully very distant but definitely inevitable future. I might thus relate pretty well to Gus\u2019 protectiveness of Kitten, to Kitten\u2019s heartbreak at how indifferent the world can be to animals, to the gang\u2019s sorrow as they watch an aging acquaintance carted off for euthanasia.<\/p>\n

\n\tMy cats themselves, though, I suspect would more likely relate to the show\u2019s opening scene. \u201cWhat was that for?\u201d complains Ponce, after getting a swat to the face. \u201cI\u2019m a cat. That\u2019s just what cats do,\u201d Gus shrugs in return. It\u2019s not a satisfying reply. But it is, indeed, just what cats do.<\/p>\n

Read more Eli Roth Talks the Unrated Gamble of \u2018Ice Cream Man\u2019 and What He Hopes the Town Learns From \u2018Obsession\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ricky Gervais created and stars in 'Alley Cats,' a Netflix animated comedy about a group of strays who take in a lost kitten.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1847,1769],"class_list":["post-5048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-alley-cats","tag-ricky-gervais"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Alley Cats\u2019 Review: Ricky Gervais\u2019 Half-Crass, Half-Sappy, Mostly Unmemorable Netflix Cartoon - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5048\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Alley Cats\u2019 Review: Ricky Gervais\u2019 Half-Crass, Half-Sappy, Mostly Unmemorable Netflix Cartoon - 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