Plot Synopsis

Thom is a forty-something advertising creative director with all the trappings of success: a roster of big-name clients and a shelf of trophies for his work, a beautiful house in the woods within an easy commute of New York City, a loving wife, Lee, he is still attracted to, and a six-year-old son, Julius, he adores. So why isn't he happier? Maybe because he is aging out of an industry that is obsessed with youth, or the mood stabilizers he's on are destroying his sex drive, or he's terrified that his generalized dissatisfaction is messing up his kid. And yet he bravely soldiers on, trying his best to at least maintain a state of happyish. But his world is thrown into disarray when his 25-year-old wunderkind boss arrives, saying things like digital, social and viral. Is he in need of a rebranding? Thom's wife, Lee, is an artist and mother who loves her happiness-challenged husband, and they have a good marriage. But she has some demons of her own, including a tense relationship with her meddling mother, who induces Jewish guilt at every turn. Lee is not above having an epic freak out every now and then to take the edge off. Their son, Julius, is the apple of their eye, but is nonetheless plagued with the family curse. He's easily frightened, intimidated by his peers, and has trouble finding his own bliss, which exacerbates his parents' fear that they are somehow screwing him up. Thom's immediate boss and close friend, Jonathan, is trying to adapt to the new corporate paradigm rather than fight it. In his fifties, he has taken to wearing skinny jeans in an effort to fit in with the perpetually younger-skewing advertising industry. But he's in a difficult position as management, and his advice that Thom change with the times or face the consequences does not go over well. Dani, a friend of Thom's, is a smart, straight-talking headhunter who is convinced that Thom shouldn't let the pursuit of happiness interfere with his life. On Sunday, April 5, 2015 at 10pm ET/PT, Showtime aired a special sneak preview of the pilot episode, three weeks before the official series premiere on Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 9:30pm ET/PT.
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On Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 9:30pm ET/PT, Showtime premiered the Season 1 finale of HAPPYISH. In the season ender, "Starring Christopher Hitchens, Philip Larkin and Josef Stalin," Thom writes a story involving underpants -- and then quits his job. 'Radical Capitalism'; hopes and dreams; and a big red slide.