“Animal Hoarders” is a low point for television. If we examine the history of television we know that spin-offs rarely work because of how transparently they try to cash in on the sparkle of a great show without having any of its actual charm or cleverness. “Animal Hoarders” cannot help but feel desperate. Hoarding is the most noticeable instance of “behavioral disorder” branding and is enjoying what will surely be a notable fifteen minutes of fame.
“Animal Hoarders,” obviously about people who own FAR too many animals, will enjoy success in the way that terrible vampire movies and TV shows enjoy success just from temporal proximity to the Twilight Saga. But it will not be remembered as a show about healing and bringing knowledge and acknowledgement to a troubled and unseen group of people. It will be remembered as a cheap knock-off of a show in a strange period of time when Hoarding was all the rage.
