Commentary

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy: The Death And Life of 'Happy-ish'

  • by July 1, 2015
Let’s face it: With the (crushingly disappointing) ending of "Mad Men" (apple trees and honey bees, anyone?) lo those many weeks ago (not that I’m bitter), I found it hard to light upon a replacement that would be worthy of the kind of monomaniacal devotion that we paid to Weiner’s Men.

That said, lots of super-smart commenters suggested that I move to reviewing the only other new series on cable that is ostensibly about advertising: “Happyish,” on Showtime.  

Shalom Auslander, the Ish’s creator and showrunner — and sole writer of every episode — is a memoirist (“Foreskin’s Lament”), a novelist (“Hope, a Tragedy”), and sometime contributor to "This American Life.”  He has also served some serious agency time as a copywriter, most notably at McCann-Erickson.  (Boy, has that agency come in for some unfair satirizing lately on the tee-vee series about advertising!)

“Happyish,” which skewers pitches, tag lines, Swedes, Millennials, social media, skinny jeans, Ikea, Lululemon, ideation rooms,  chemistry meetings, and even the simple act of reading the newspaper, debuted at the end of April, and ended earlier this week with its tenth episode. Of course it lives on in the ether for would-be bingers.

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So where to start?  Well, for the first few episodes, “Happy-ish” is so unrelentingly bleak it’s like blackout-shade-ish, never-getting-out-of-bed-ish, please-kill-me-now-ish.  It’s so dark that a normal death spiral would be way too perky for Auslander. He makes Larry David seem like an up-with-people person.

Given the existential dread of the subject matter —depression, dying, death — there was a terrible irony in the fact that the lead character, a ragingly unhappy creative director  (a version of Auslander himself) was originally played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose drug-induced death occurred shortly after production started.

After shutting down production, Showtime went in another direction in casting Steve Coogan — comedian, writer, and star of the film “Philomena" — who brings a certain intelligence and handsome-ish physical charm to the role that you want to root for.  He plays Thomas Payne — an obvious reference to the man whose “Common Sense” pamphlet set off the Revolutionary War, and gave us our independence as Amurricans. (Which is a little weird, since Coogan is a Brit.) More basically, the name also refers to a dude in pain.

Not only is he in pain, but he is a pain. We meet Payne on the evening of his 44th birthday, at a party inside his just-right, effortlessly shabby-chic house in Woodstock, N.Y., where he lives in the woods with his six-year-old son (the kid actor, Sawyer Shipman, seems to be cast for his annoying speech impediment) and his attractive, sardonic artist wife. (Auslander lives in the woods in Woodstock with his two sons and attractive, sardonic, artist wife.)

Thom is the embodiment of a certain kind of self-absorbed, upper-middle, creative-class privilege. In the first few episodes, we get a sort of “Groundhog Day” of his going to the office and being mad as hell and not wanting to take it anymore. He talks about the soul-crushing horror of agency life in lines that are more tired than Paddy Chayefsky-revolutionary, as in “Do I really want to waste my life writing ads?”

Lest we ever forget his constant, whiny inner-discontent, the series opens with Thom’s voice-over.  “Fuck ‘Mad Men,’” he says. “There is nothing cool about advertising. We’re doing what everyone else is doing these days, kissing the pimple-covered asses of teenagers.”

OK, I wanted to scream at the television — so quit already! You have no idea how lucky you are. Go load heavy boxes on trucks at night for a nice honest living, and report back to us!

Lee, his wife, is played by the always fabulous Kathryn Hahn (she was the delightful rabbi in “Transparent”).  She, too, seems a little too unhappy and unhinged about not having enough time for her art, what with living in a great house and taking care of the one kid (who goes to private school) and all.  I wanted to strangle them both and throw them in entitlement jail.

For a guy born in 1971, Payne has ridiculously curmudgeonly judgments about the Internet and social media, and I found his resistance kind of boring and annoying. He’s way too dyspeptic and “get off my lawn!”-ish  for someone so young.

But I’ve got to say that the show does get better as it goes along. The casting is flat-out wonderful.  Ellen Barkin is great as a world-weary recruiter named Kirschenbloom who gives Thom some sage advice. She tells him that “every person has their joy ceiling, and once you reach it, that’s the happiest you’re ever going to be.” As the “I’m in survival mode” director on the account side, Bradley Whitford is pitch-perfect too.

And the parody of agency life is dead-on. Auslander has a brilliant eye and ear for the stupidest nuances. He worked at McCann during the age of the Swedes (I won’t get into the actual names). Without any announcement, a pair of young Swedish creatives — Gustaf and Gottfrid — take over.  Gustaf loves to hold agency meetings, jumps on stage in sneakers, black jeans and wearing an “American Idol” type built-in mike, and is an evangelist for nonsensical lines like “Great business is moving at the speed of ideas.”   He thinks campaigns are so “last century,”  and is into “events and moments.” He also says, “Al-Qaeda is a great brand. They don’t make ads, they make events.”

Gottfrid is silent, and only occasionally whispers in Gustaf’s ear.  It’s funny.

Lee gets some great riffs, especially about how much she hates the movie “Frozen.” She ends up getting a studio in a barn where she can work, and is thrilled until her landlord comes to visit. Then he starts in on which concentration camps his family members died in during the Holocaust. Somehow, that scene is hilarious.

Moreover,  “Happy-ish “ is happiest at home, where Thom and Lee truly enjoy a marriage of equals. (So much so that they seem like the same person — they could exchange their lines of dialogue and no one would know.)  It’s a lovely relationship that is more like modern marriage than anything I’ve seen depicted on any other show.  The relationship to their son is nicely drawn as well. By the end, he didn’t seem as annoying, and I could even understand his speech better. Their interactions ring true: Thom leaves one morning, saying, “Time to make the donuts” -- and the kid lights up, asking, “You’re gonna make donuts?”

And Auslander even figured out an ending that is a teeny tiny bit hopeful, but still realistic. I won’t give it away, but it’s symbolic of something of a rebirth.  Thom’s still mad as hell, but he’s going to take it.  He’s never going to teach the world to sing. (And that’s a good thing.) But there’s enough entertaining stuff here that I’d vote for a second season.

15 comments about "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy: The Death And Life of 'Happy-ish'".
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  1. Dean Fox from ScreenTwo LLC, July 2, 2015 at 9:51 a.m.

    Oh, Barbara, I only wish this show was even the least bit entertaining as you found it. The autobiographical part about living in Woodstock and commuting by train into a Manhattan ad agency was obvious even to me, not knowing anything about Mr. Auslander. The tone, story and dialog are much more bitter, vengeful parody than satire. And not the least bit believable . . . with the sole exception of the Ellen Barkin scene. That three minutes hit home with me.

  2. Jonathan Hutter from Northern Light Health, July 2, 2015 at 10:21 a.m.

    I couldn't get past the first episodes. I don't need a TV show to remind me of what's bleak in the business. Maybe I'll relook.

  3. Jeff Sawyer from GH, July 2, 2015 at 10:25 a.m.

    I've been recommending the show to fellow creatives, even as I agree about wanting to scream at the TV. I suppose that's one form of great TV.

  4. Claudia Caplan from MDC Partners, July 2, 2015 at 10:56 a.m.

    "Philomena" is a bit misleading-ish as Coogan's CV.  He's far better known in the UK as his snarky alter-ego, talk show host Alan Partridge or half of the "The Trip" duo with Rob Brydon or the star of the amazing and fantastic movie-within-a-movie "Tristram Shandy:  A Cock and Bull Story."  Americans may also know him from the reasonably funny "Hamlet 2."  "Happy-ish" is dark but overall, I like it.  In a weird away, it's sort of the evolution of "30 Something."

  5. Brigitte Clark from Access Media, July 2, 2015 at 12:16 p.m.

    Guess the cheese stands almost alone here cause I instantly found this show hilarious and I'm not taking everything so literal that each character may say or do. Love the humor especially the Keebler Elves storyline and the episode that shows Lee's meltdown regarding everything Frozen was stellar. I also like the relationship that Thom and Lee have with their son, very realistic of how kids and parents react and deal in certain situations. Fingers crossed that this show gets picks up for season two.

  6. Feminista Fan from The Past, Present and Future, July 2, 2015 at 12:30 p.m.

    I love the agency scenes because they are an acurate portrayal of the insanity of the agency business as it tries to reinvent itself. But I find the homelife scenes are insufferable.  Both scenarios are filled with complaints but only one seems justified.   

    Barbara, glad you jumped on the "Happy-ish" bandwaggon.  Your insights are so amazing.

    Now give "Black-ish", another "ish" about advertising, a try.  

  7. Jane Farrell from Freelance, July 2, 2015 at 1:14 p.m.

    Barbara, this column is so much more entertaining than Happyish. I gave up after one episode precisely because he seemed so adolescent and whiny. "Great business is moving at the speed of ideas."  I guess that line alone requires me to give the show a second chance. Thanks for another great column.

  8. Susan Patton from Susan Patton, July 2, 2015 at 3:27 p.m.

    I can't look at the Keebler elves the same any more. Very disturbing.

  9. Jo Duran from BOM, July 2, 2015 at 5:56 p.m.

    Whimsical and always entertaining, Ms. Barbara. I'm inspired to switch over Roger's Happy Trails to Happyish Trails! BTW, Happyish 4th Amurrica! 

  10. Dorothea Marcus from Weichert Realtors, July 3, 2015 at 12:43 a.m.

    Barbara, so glad you wrote this!  I agree, that Happyish got better as the season progressed.  I thought the finale was very touching.  I live in Woodstock, so was determined to watch it not only for the ad biz satire, but also for all the local color and familiar locales.  Have heard Shalom Auslander at writers' conferences, etc.  Love Kathryn Hahn.  Her blonde girlfriend is the only character who doesn't seem Woodstock-y to me. 

  11. Tom Messner from BONACCOLTA MESSNER, July 3, 2015 at 8:24 a.m.

    I checked out the creator of the series, one Shalom Auslander, on IMDB. I thought he was young as his credit list is short, but he did write Paradise Lost which heretofore I always ascribed to Milton, John not Berle. In truth, I had not heard of Happyish until this column. That is not a criticism of the publicity arm of Showtime, but more a statement of just how far out of it I am.

  12. Ruth Thomas from Second helping, July 3, 2015 at 8:42 a.m.

    With nothing to watch on tv lately, we keep surfing, trying to land on something...we landed on Happyish and with one episode both of us said, "Meh!"  I didn't know Shalom Auslander was involved...his memoir is the book the made me actually laugh out loud like a crazy person on the subway....that alone is enough for a second try. And of course I trust you Barbara....with a housebound, broken husband for the summer, good to know there is something worth watching...

  13. Tom Messner from BONACCOLTA MESSNER, July 3, 2015 at 8:51 a.m.

    ..OR IF it isn't worth watching, this column is always worth reading...

  14. Annie Gladue from Jedemi Communications, July 3, 2015 at 7:48 p.m.

    The thing is, there is a lot of truth in what's being conveyed.  We found parts LOL funny.  And there are a lot of "ice box laughs" (http://articles.latimes.com/1999/nov/09/entertainment/ca-31466) too that make me glad I didn't delete the episodes off my DVR.  Thanks for posting about the show.  I was eager to read your take.

  15. Jim English from The Met Museum, July 5, 2015 at 10:50 a.m.

    Thanks Barbara.  Couldn't help thinking of Linus Karlsson in reference to "age of the Swedes."   Karlsson worked in Stockholm before moving to Mother agency in New York, before moving again to McCann/NY in 2010 as chief creative officer.  Do you think Auslander knew him at McCann? 

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