Happy!

What’s it about?

Nick Sax is a miserable ex-cop and a drunk. One day he is visited by a young girl’s imaginary friend – a cartoon unicorn called Happy, and he needs help.

Starring

Christopher Meloni, Patton Oswalt, Ritchie Coster, Lili Mirojnick, Medina Senghore, Patrick Fischler

An Introduction to Happy!

Nick Sax (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s Christopher Meloni) is an ex-cop whose life has hit rock bottom. Previously admired and good at his job, he now has no career, no respect, no nuthin’, and he’s not handling it well. Think Trading Places’ Louis Winthorpe III (played by Dan Aykroyd) at his lowest ebb, except Nick’s situation is self-inflicted. He staggers around as an unhappy drunk and he simply doesn’t care any more.

One day, just to add insult to misery, Nick is shot and left for dead. Paramedics attend the scene and valiantly work to save his life. As he comes to, what should appear in front of his eyes but… a small, bright blue, flying cartoon unicorn called Happy (voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt). Happy proceeds to sing enthusiastically at Nick, who naturally assumes he’s finally lost his mind.

But wait… Happy is on an important mission! It turns out that this lil’ unicorn is the imaginary friend of a young girl who has been kidnapped, and he’s gone to get help. So why did he seek out grumpy Nick Sax? And how come Nick can see Happy but no-one else can? All is revealed early on, paving the way for our ex-cop to do what he used to do best – solving crime. This time he has a partner and together they must track down a particularly bizarre and twisted foe… dressed as Santa Claus.

Summary

What can you say about this show? Absolute class. Happy! is riotously good entertainment, a collision of no-holds-barred crime drama and cartoon optimism that works so well. Imagine the grittiness of The Shield or Daredevil visited by Disney’s Tinkerbell or Olaf from Frozen, and you’re in the ball-park.

Christopher Meloni plays a brilliantly wrecked antithesis of his clean-cut Law & Order persona, while Patton Oswalt (veteran of Pixars’s Ratatouille and stand-up comedy maestro) is his wonderfully rendered, insanely-positive foil in cartoon form. Happy! is based on Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s four-issue comic from 2012.

Check out the Season 1 Trailer here: