We’re in 1969, in rural Lincoln, Illinois, and each week in Pet Dick we will be following private detective Jerry Labinowicz (Jason Graf) as he carries out an investigation on audio tape.
In episodic slabs of less than 15 minutes each, these dip with the flavour of Raymond Chandler or film noir, with recognisable characters straight from the page or the screen.
The twist as you might guess is that our detective is more vet than veteran. The ambience is 1950s radio schlock and Bob Newhart hysterics. The script verges on the naughty side now and then.
As our hero grapples with mysteries of the canine and feline variety, the mood is one of amusement and affection for the genre. Craig Brock’s sound design places you in the moment and often provides surprises.
Character names are inspired and cases cut down to the bone. You will have such a good time listening to these short pieces (or why not devour them all as one satisfying meal?).
The talented supporting voice cast includes Will Douglas, Amanda Cooley Davis, Amber Quick, Valoneecia Tolbert, Natalie D Garcia, Erin Scialabba, Raul Garza, Kelsey Mazak, Tucker Shepherd, Sam Domino, Mike Ooi, and Roderick Sanford.
You can catch up with episodes of Pet Dick here: six episodes in all, one released per week. The series is written by Carlo Lorenzo Garcia and directed by David Jarrott.