Steve Coogan Stars in Trailer for Showtime's Happyish

Posted on March 19, 2015

Here is the trailer for the new Showtime comedy series Happyish. Steve Coogan plays Thom Payne, an advertising executive, husband and father. Payne is on the verge of a midlife crisis after he gets a youthful new boss who is obsessed with social media. Suddenly the landscape is different and he just can't fit in to skinny jeans.

The show takes a hard look at our culture's obsession with being happy all the time and how that pursuit itself may itself be the biggest cause of unhappiness The late Philip Seymour Hoffman was originally set to star in the series. After his untimely death, the show was retooled and Coogan took over the role. Coogan is absolutely hilarious and should have no trouble pulling this one off.

His wife is played by Kathryn Hahn. Ellen Barkin guest stars in the pilot as Dani Kirschenbloom, a headhunter that Payne works with. Dani gets the best lines in the trailer. She explains to Payne that his whole problem is that he has a low joy ceiling. He needs to accept that this is as happy as he will ever get. She explains, "You hit your joy ceiling and you’re done. That’s why Jesus wept! Low joy ceiling. Richard Simmons? High joy ceiling." Somehow, this isn't very comforting.

The show premieres on April 26th at 9:30 p.m. on Showtime. Take a look: