Happyish

Probably the best shows I've watched in the last few years. An excellent dark satirical comedy-drama where the main characters are experiencing different issues, all very relatable, as far as I am concerned ! This is a show where a clever mix or imaginary worlds collide with the reality of life, and where technology, corporate America and the idealist views, highlight the terrible state in which most of us actually live….in a society dominated by superficiality, greed and ignorance. If some of the personal challenges , Thom and Lee face, might not be relevant to everyone, the work/office ones are definitely easy to appreciate! If you're Happy and You Know It - watch Happyish and you might start asking yourself a few questions

I've started watching this show yesterday and I'm on 4th episode at the moment. The current rating of 6.9 is too low for this show, IMO. US voters gave lower ratings than those of us who live outside of USA. Maybe it's because Americans don't know Coogan or they don't like to see a Brit in the leading role. I am a big fan of Coogan and he is magnificent in "Happyish". Recently I've seen the actress who's playing his wife in "Transparent", another great new show.

"Happyish" reminds me of Woody Allen's movies, the protagonist is troubled with existential crisis and the show deals with different aspects of media culture, current corporate climate, parenthood and middle age. It gives us a strong social commentary and the critique of contemporary culture. It juxtaposes the new world of young and cocky executives with the world of middle aged people who are trying to find their place in this new and fast-changing world.

When Lee talks about her "bubble", she mentions that she is not on Facebook or Twitter, in that way she protects her family from outside intruders. I like that message a lot. When I think about it, I see a lot of families who share photos of their children on social network sites, some even open Facebook profiles for their newborn babies. People document every mundane experience and post about it - we've became extremely narcissistic and dependent on approval of others through fishing for Facebook "likes" and such. I'm 29 y.o., but I can relate to Mr. and Mrs. Payne a lot more than to any other character on this show.

It seems that me and my wife are not alone in our thoughts and judgments about life these days :) I've been a director of advertising and PR for many years and when I became full of it I chose to be a videographer.

When I watching "Happyish" it is like meeting a good old friend. Together you can joke on any topic without any tolerance. You can be honest to each other and you feel mutual understanding. Every episode asking what is our life, what makes us happy or much more often unhappy? What is more important job or family? And why so many morons around? :)

I think the second name of "Happyish" should be "Wit works woe" or "The Mischief of Being Clever".

Great job done in scenario, acting, casting, shooting, lighting, props etc... I hope to see many seasons of this splendid story!

As a 50 something advertising copywriter I laughed and squirmed at the ad agency scenes, all so very true sadly.We've all seen 20 something creatives talking crap and getting away with it because the elder bosses are running scared in a digital world.

However aside from that the whole thing was a bit of a mish mash with the writer often putting speeches in the characters' mouths when they didn't gel with the character. A strong show runner would have deleted much of the script and tightened up the rest.No one seems to have dared confront the writer on anything.

I watched it all, to see how Thom would get on, but it was an uphill struggle against show off scriptwriting, ideas that should have been left on the cutting room floor and characters that were all universally unlikeable.

this is one of those shows, which i could see being easily misunderstood to the general public. to me the show is a satire of the ill-conceived notion of happiness we have advertised to us on a daily basis. and the writers do a wonderful job at portraying, and realistically making fun of, these little idiocies that are implanted within society today. the show shines a dimwitted light over the senseless actions and activities people take part of everyday, while also highlighting how advertising companies do whatever is necessary to direct you attention to the product. the actors do great at playing their rules, each character has their own set of emotions towards each problem, and you truly feel Thom Payne's (Steve Coogan) anger and dislike towards everything. the show was written great, and every actor in it is great, i just hope we get too see more it.