BREAKING ICE WITH HAPPYISH EPISODE 8

E8 Grade: C-

When a show’s been on for a little while, the conversation/dialogue seems more like eavesdropping than a stage play catered to win over the audience… In other words, you're more listening than being spoken to...

So whether or not HAPPYISH, starring Steve Coogan as Thom Payne and his equally-frustrated wife Kathryn Hahn as Lee, is comfortable enough in its own shoes to keep a steady pace without overselling loads of snarky pessimism... well so far, after eight episodes, still isn’t clear… It’s like eavesdropping on someone else’s favorite play, and this week deals with Lee abhorring the popular Disney musical, FROZEN, shedding light on how parents have to weather this misleadingly optimistic parade that only honest adults can rain on: by either complaining in another room, or smoking loads of pot outside… Which Lee does, both, and that’s pretty much that other than Thom at the ad agency disliking some kind of kitschy think tank room… And what better to counterbalance wife’s Disney hatred than a porn star providing a forth-wall-breaking narration at husband's work, which hardly relates to anything relevant or entertaining: Thus Episode 8, titled “Starring Rene Descartes, Adweek and HRH the Princess of Arendelle" sort of remains in neutral with one foot orbiting the brakes, and yet, there's a feeling both characters want to be, at this point, on a steady cruise control... but it just ain't happenin', yet.