Happy! (TV series)

Happy!
Intertitle taken from the episode "Saint Nick"
Genre
Created by
Directed by
Starring
Voices of Patton Oswalt
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 8 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Neal H. Moritz
  • Pavun Shetty
  • Toby Jaffe
  • Chris Meloni
  • Brian Taylor
  • Grant Morrison
  • Patrick MacManus
Producer(s)
  • Thomas Sellitti, Jr.
  • Bill Butler
Camera setup Single-camera
Production company(s)
Release
Original network Syfy
Picture format
Original release December 6, 2017 (2017-12-06) – present (present)
External links
Website

Happy! is an American fantasy black comedy crime television series based on the four-issue comic book series of the same name created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Darick Robertson,[1] with Brian Taylor serving as director for five of the eight episodes. The series premiered on Syfy on December 6, 2017,[2] receiving mostly positive reviews. On January 29, 2018, it was announced that Syfy had renewed the series for a second season.[3]

Premise

Disgraced police detective Nick Sax (Christopher Meloni) lives as a social outcast, filling his days with heavy drinking and substance abuse, moonlighting as a hitman to feed his various habits. After sustaining a massive heart attack, Nick comes into contact with a small, blue, winged unicorn named Happy (Patton Oswalt) which apparently only he can see. Happy explains he is the imaginary friend of a little girl named Hailey, who has been kidnapped by a deranged man dressed as Santa Claus ("Very Bad Santa"). Happy reveals that Hailey is Nick's estranged daughter, and sought Nick's aid believing him to be the hero cop that Hailey envisioned him to be. Though skeptical at first, Nick reluctantly agrees and the two work to save Hailey.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Christopher Meloni as Nicholas "Nick" Sax, a cynical, alcoholic ex-detective turned hitman[4][5]
  • Ritchie Coster as Francisco Scaramucci, a wealthy crime boss known as "Mr. Blue" who poses as a legitimate businessman and wine importer[5]
  • Lili Mirojnick as Det. Meredith "Merry" McCarthy, a resilient homicide detective with a dark past[6]
  • Medina Senghore as Amanda Hansen, a single mother, Nick's ex-wife and Hailey's mother[5]
  • Bryce Lorenzo as Hailey Hansen, a young girl who was kidnapped, and sends her imaginary friend Happy to find help
  • Patrick Fischler as Smoothie, one of Mr. Blue's enforcers and a sociopathic killer who specializes in interrogation and torture[5]
  • Patton Oswalt as the voice of Happy, an imaginary blue goofy cartoonish winged unicorn[7][8]
  • Joseph D. Reitman as Very Bad Santa, a delusional, drug-addicted psychopath dressed like Santa Claus who kidnaps children[9][10]

Recurring

  • Debi Mazar as Isabella Scaramucci, Blue's sister, star of the reality show Secrets of My Sussex, and mother to the four Scaramucci brothers gunned down by Sax[11]
  • Gus Halper as Michelangelo "Mikey" Scaramucci, the youngest of Isabella's sons
  • Laura Poe as Jessica McCarthy, Merry's elderly mother.
  • Christopher Fitzgerald as Louis Sheinberg, a children's entertainer also known as "Sonny Shine", and to Blue as "Mr. Bug"
  • Michael Maize as Le Dic, an arms dealer connected to Nick Sax's past.
  • Dante Pereira-Olson as Gerry Scaramucci, Blue's son.
  • Ann-Margret as Bebe Debarge (season 2)[12]

Guest

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers
(millions)
1"Saint Nick"Brian TaylorGrant Morrison & Brian TaylorDecember 6, 2017 (2017-12-06)1.10[13]
Former cop turned hitman Nick Sax stumbles across the Scaramucci family secret during a hit which puts his life in danger. Hailey is kidnapped by Very Bad Santa, bringing to life her imaginary friend "Happy", who then seeks out Sax for his help saving Hailey. After a bloody escape from Smoothie and his men at the hospital, Sax learns from Happy that Hailey is his daughter.
2"What Smiles Are For"Brian TaylorPatrick MacmanusDecember 13, 2017 (2017-12-13)0.61[14]
Aware that McCarthy had helped Sax to escape, Blue instructs her to bring Sax to him, and reveals that he will have Smoothie kill her mother should she refuse. McCarthy demands to be free from his control in exchange. Sax is drawn into a game of cards by an ex-associate, Le Dic, after asking him for some guns and money. With his luck down, Sax uses Happy to cheat by looking at their cards to win. After contemplating his situation, Sax decides to partner with Happy to save Hailey.
3"When Christmas Was Christmas"Brian TaylorBrian TaylorDecember 20, 2017 (2017-12-20)0.62[15]
Sax and Happy begin their search for Hailey, which takes them to a strip club in search of a disheveled looking Santa. In the past, Sax and McCarthy are revealed to be having an affair while Sax's wife Amanda is pregnant with Hailey. The pair both investigate a man who murdered his wife and young baby, which causes Sax to violently beat the man while McCarthy watches. McCarthy and Amanda work together to search for Hailey and speak with a couple who claim their daughter had been kidnapped. Amanda learns that the couple had hidden their daughter in the attic for what McCarthy believes to be media attention. Outside the club, Sax is attacked by Very Bad Santa, who reveals that he can see Happy.
4"Year of the Horse"Wayne YipNoelle ValdiviaDecember 27, 2017 (2017-12-27)0.64[16]
After Very Bad Santa tries to eat Happy, he vomits up the fortune to a fortune cookie. Sax traces the fortune first to the company that produced it, and then to the restaurant in Chinatown that sells it, tracking down who delivers to Very Bad Santa while avoiding Triad assassins. Blue's sister Isabella, while filming a reality show, sees the bodies of her sons at the city morgue, and discovers that the body of the youngest, Mikey, is missing. Meeting McCarthy at the warehouse where Very Bad Santa kept the imprisoned children, Sax and Happy find they have arrived moments too late, as Blue, at the behest of the mysterious "Mr. Bug", has had Very Bad Santa take Hailey and the other children to another location.
5"White Sauce? Hot Sauce?"Wayne YipPeter MacmanusJanuary 10, 2018 (2018-01-10)0.62[17]
Hailey and the other children arrive at a new prison made up like a classroom, with Smoothie as the "teacher". McCarthy is investigated by Internal Affairs officers working for Blue for not bringing in Sax for the Scaramucci killings. Urged by Happy, Sax meets Amanda for the first time in ten years, but the house is attacked by masked men, whom Sax brutally kills. Sax blames Happy for the disastrous reunion and makes a point about human nature by attempting suicide on the subway tracks; Happy leaves, but Sax is rescued by the people waiting on the platform. Looking for Happy and hearing a taco truck vendor singing "Blue Christmas", Sax recalls that he had met Very Bad Santa before while working for Blue, and suddenly sees Mikey Scaramucci, very much alive, sitting next to him.
6"The Scrapyard of Childish Things"David PetrarcaKen KristensenJanuary 17, 2018 (2018-01-17)0.62[18]
Happy meets a three-headed dog named Raspberry, who introduces him to his friend—Blue's son Jimmy, who tortures and kills imaginary friends. Sax leaves Mikey at a church while he confronts Blue, demanding Hailey's release in exchange for Mikey. However, Mikey escapes and makes his way to his mother's house. Sax is captured attempting to bluff Blue; as he is about to be executed, Sax professes that he believes in Happy, giving Happy enough strength to kill Raspberry and chase Jimmy into the garage. The distraction allows Sax to kill Blue's men, and he and Happy escape. At her apartment, McCarthy learns from her mother Jessica that a group of men had threatened them on the day that McCarthy's father was killed, and that Blue was one of them; Jessica then collapses in the kitchen.
7"Destroyer of Worlds"Brian TaylorMatthew WhiteJanuary 24, 2018 (2018-01-24)0.52[19]
Amanda questions children's entertainer Sonny Shine about the kidnappings of Hailey and the other children at his "Wish-tacular" events, and soon realizes that Sonny, who is revealed to be "Mr. Bug", is behind them. Smoothie has the children packaged like dolls and loaded in a truck. After Mikey escapes from her house, Isabella discovers that Blue put out the hit on her sons, and works with her spiritualist aunt to stop him. Her aunt also says that Mikey does not have a password, but an "orcus", and that if Blue gets it, "all is lost". Sax, Happy, and McCarthy, tipped off by Amanda, infiltrate Shine Tower to find Hailey. Smoothie subdues Sax and—revealing himself to lack genitalia, the origin of his nickname— ball-gags and sexually assaults him with a strap-on before he is shot by McCarthy. Sax catches up to the truck, finding all of the children safe—except for Hailey, with only Very Bad Santa's glove in Hailey's "packaging".
8"I Am the Future"Brian TaylorBrian Taylor & Grant MorrisonJanuary 31, 2018 (2018-01-31)0.54[20]
McCarthy confronts Sonny Shine at his "Wish-tacular" event, demanding to know where Amanda is; she later finds Amanda being thrown out of Shine Tower. Sax and Happy make their way to Very Bad Santa's hideout, finding all of the children he has kidnapped over the years, physically grown up but lobotomized with a power drill to remain "children" forever. As he is about to do the same to Hailey, she escapes. Sax sends Happy to find Hailey, who flees to the roof. Sax pursues and kills Very Bad Santa, and finally meets Hailey; after reuniting her with her mother, Sax collapses and nearly dies from a heart attack, leading to rumor on the street that he is dead. Happy says goodbye to Hailey, and then fades away—and then rejoins Sax. In a post-credits scene, Blue is visited at Rikers Island by Mikey, who exhales into Blue's ear before collapsing, dead. Blue appears to suffer a seizure; after it passes, when asked if he is alright, he responds simply, "I'm hungry."

Production

Casting

Happy was originally voiced by Bobby Moynihan in the pilot,[21] but was later replaced by Patton Oswalt.[8]

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 76%, with an average rating of 6.2/10 based on 29 reviews. The website's critical consensus states, "Happy! certainly isn't for everyone, but its appealingly oddball concept and strong performances from Chris Meloni and Patton Oswalt make for a gritty, dark comedy with definite—albeit unusual—appeal."[22] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[23]

Ratings

No. Title Air dateRating
(18–49)		Viewers
(millions)		DVR
(18–49)		DVR viewers
(millions)		Total
(18–49)		Total viewers
(millions)
1 "Saint Nick" December 6, 20170.41.10[13]0.30.740.71.84[24]
2 "What Smiles Are For" December 13, 20170.20.61[14]N/AN/AN/AN/A
3 "When Christmas Was Christmas" December 20, 20170.20.62[15]N/AN/AN/AN/A
4 "Year of the Horse" December 27, 20170.20.64[16]N/AN/AN/AN/A
5 "White Sauce? Hot Sauce?" January 10, 20180.20.62[17]0.20.640.41.26[25]
6 "The Scrapyard of Childish Things" January 17, 20180.20.62[18]0.20.690.41.30[26]
7 "Destroyer of Worlds" January 24, 20180.20.52[19]0.20.630.41.15[27]
8 "I Am the Future" January 31, 20180.20.54[20]0.20.670.41.21[28]

References

  1. ↑ McElhatton, Greg (2013-02-21). "Happy #4". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  2. ↑ Pedersen, Erik (September 19, 2017). "Syfy Moves 'Happy!' Premiere Date Back A Week". Deadline. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  3. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (January 29, 2018). "'Happy!' Renewed For Season 2 By Syfy". Deadline. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  4. ↑ Petski, Denise (November 14, 2016). "Chris Meloni To Star In Syfy Pilot 'Happy!'". Deadline. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Happy! - Cast". Syfy. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  6. ↑ Petski, Denise (January 20, 2017). "'Happy!': Lili Mirojnick Joins Syfy Pilot As Series Regular". Deadline. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Patton Oswalt (Happy) – Cast". Syfy. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  8. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie (July 22, 2017). "'Happy!': Patton Oswalt Set To Voice Title Character In Syfy Series, Replacing Bobby Moynihan". Deadline. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  9. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (July 21, 2017). "'Happy!': Joseph Reitman Cast As Main Villain In Syfy Series". Deadline. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  10. ↑ "SyFy's "Happy!": Joe Reitman On Playing "A Very Bad Santa"". 6 December 2017.
  11. ↑ Petski, Denise (September 22, 2017). "'Happy!': Debi Mazar & Michael Maize Set To Recur In Syfy Series". Deadline. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  12. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (October 1, 2018). "Ann-Margret Joins Syfy's 'Happy!' In Recurring Role; Bryce Lorenzo & Christopher Fitzgerald Set To Return". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  13. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (December 7, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 12.6.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  14. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (December 14, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 12.13.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  15. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (December 21, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 12.20.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  16. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (December 28, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 12.27.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  17. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (January 11, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.10.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  18. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (January 18, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.17.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  19. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (January 25, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.24.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  20. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (February 1, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.31.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  21. ↑ Petski, Denise (March 23, 2017). "'Happy!' Bobby Moynihan to Voice Title Character in Syfy Pilot". Deadline. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Happy!: Season 1 (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Happy!: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  24. ↑ Porter, Rick (December 21, 2017). "'Top Chef' premiere more than doubles in cable Live +7 ratings for Dec. 4-10". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  25. ↑ Porter, Rick (January 26, 2018). "'Nashville' grows by 400 percent in cable Live +7 ratings for Jan. 8-14". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  26. ↑ Porter, Rick (February 1, 2018). "'Assassination of Gianni Versace' posts solid gains in cable Live +7 ratings for Jan. 15-21". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  27. ↑ Porter, Rick (February 8, 2018). "'Waco' premiere doubles in cable Live +7 ratings for Jan. 22-28". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  28. ↑ Porter, Rick (February 15, 2018). "'The Alienist' doubles in cable Live +7 ratings for Jan. 29-Feb. 4". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
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