After the shocking death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Showtime obviously had to put the brakes on Happyish, a series the beloved Oscar winner was set to star in. Months later, the network has found a replacement, one who will likely give the show a very different tone.
British comedian Steve Coogan has picked to frontline a new version of Happyish. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Showtime plans on completely resetting the series, taking it back to the pilot stage.
Production will start in December and take place in New York.
Back in January, Showtime picked up Happyish to go straight-to-series before Hoffman’s death in February. The Capote actor played Thom Payne, an executive whose bosses are considerably younger than he is. He has to deal with the suddenly dark pursuit of happyness, as friends and mentors give him varying advice.
Rhys Ifans was originally cast to play Thom’s friend and Kathryn Hahn was set to star as his wife. THR notes that it is not known if either of them will be back for the Coogan pilot.
Happyish was written and created by Shalom Auslander (This American Life). The new pilot will be directed by Ken Kwapis.
The Hoffman pilot was filmed before the actor’s death and did impress critics who saw it. After his death, the network - like everyone else in Hollywood - was shocked.
“Philip Seymour Hoffman was one of our generation’s finest and most brilliant actors,” the network said in a statement in February. “He was also a gifted comedic talent. It was a great privilege and pleasure to work with him and we are all absolutely devastated by this sudden loss. Our thoughts go out to his family at this very difficult time.”
Coogan was recently seen in Philomena and Alan Partridge.
