HAPPYish (2015)

At this point, there’s just too much good TV out there to bother with yet another just-OK show.

At its worst, Happyish feels like the mighty yawp of aging hipsters who are bitter for no good reason and weirdly out of touch with the way culture works. At its best, though, it’s like nothing else on TV.

If I’ve left the impression that Happyish isn’t a laugh-fest, I’ve done my job. But the show is not without its pleasures. As I said, Coogan and Hahn have good chemistry, and there are some genuinely funny moments (none of which I can recall now). Ellen Barkin is exceedingly welcome any time she pops up briefly as Thom’s profane pal.

As rare as its humor can be, it bites with every appearance. Moreover, it's a show that challenges its viewer every step of the way and isn't afraid to make big, bold declarative statements.

Happyish emphasizes over-the-top profanity and a lot of anger at its surface. Dig deeper and there are some interesting ideas in play but getting past the show’s predilection for rants may ask too much of viewers who may share some of the same frustrations as the characters.

There's a funny and disturbingly insightful tale in Showtime’s latest unorthodox comedy. Regrettably, it often disappears under a lava flow of vulgarity.

Happish is impressive as it convincingly drives themes of selling, selling out, anger, whoredom, mortality and the true meaning of happiness--and whether it’s even attainable--drawing upon established talents such as Ellen Barkin, Carrie Preston, Molly Price and Andre Royo. They provide Coogan, Hahn and Whitford with great foils and sounding boards for both the mundane and serious matters addressed.

The script is by novelist and essayist Shalom Auslander, who created the show, and it is remarkably tight, thought-provoking, literary, and jeweled with absurdist wit.

Coogan, who's used to carrying shows by the force of his personality, can be fun to watch, in measured doses.

It's an intelligent, surreal, mildly outrageous--and most certainly outraged--satire of life in post-industrial America.