Review of “It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer”, on Disney+ Beginning May 15th, 2020

Hi everyone!

I previewed two episodes of the new Disney+ show “It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer” and was part of a virtual group interview. Disney says of the show that debuts May 15th, The iconic voice of Goofy and Pluto for more than 30 years, Disney Legend Bill Farmer steps out from behind the microphone to meet his own favorite characters —dogs! Join Bill as he crosses the country meeting dogs doing all kinds of incredible jobs that make our lives better. Here is my review of the show and a little from Bill Farmer as he talks about it.

“It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer” is just the type of show we need right now – especially the very lighthearted moments. While I find some of the show uneven – there are several segments per episode, some I enjoy a lot and one or two I skipped through a little during the first two episodes – there is a lot to like here. If you’ve ever seen Bill Farmer in person or even in an interview, he is an enjoyable person to listen to and to watch and that is the same here. And I like dogs. One of my favorite segments was at the Cincinatti Zoo with their Cheetah Encounter. It is a sweet and fun segment with cheetahs and their dog friends. The younger cheetah (Kris, 4 months) is taught by its puppy partner to do things like drink from a bowl and play with toys. And they also show an older pair who have been together since they were young.

There are pointers, including how to approach a dog safely. There are also some beautiful locations within the first two episodes. One of my favorite smaller segments was a dentist who has a dog to calm patients.

“It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer” is a nice diversion right now.

During the conference call, Bill Farmer was asked questions about the show (I had not yet seen it due to technical issues, so I opted out of asking any). During the interview, he said the idea for the show came up with his friend, cinematographer Steve Duval. Duval invited Farmer to an equestrian center to host a show that included not only the horses, but walker hounds. Farmer says about that, “And the footage we shot of me hosting just kind of jumped out at us and said – “Maybe we ought to do a show about dogs.”” He then talked with his wife, who was a script supervisor for 20 years and they (with Duval) developed the show.

While a lot of the show is fun, some is educational as well – but Farmer didn’t set out as much for that purpose. “You know – we really didn’t have a ‘educational’ component to it, other than just our curiosity. I wanted this to be not an educational show, but a fun show that incorporates learning for both adults and kids, and I asked the questions that I wanted to know. And so, I just – I tried to satisfy my own curiosity, and that was about it.”

Farmer is hoping that the show continues after the first season. “We did 10 episodes, 20 stories on different dogs, and I’d love to do a second season, and we’ve got a lot of ideas and places we’d like to go, internationally as well as domestically.”

I am looking forward to watching the remainder of the episodes for this season and hopefully more in the future.