Happy Families: a somewhat original animation coming to British Screens via Channel 4

Well, it looks like the UK is going to take another stab at adult animation after their inability to get Bromwell High off the ground in 2005. The show is called "Happy Families" and is starting out as a six-part animated sit-com by brothers Jack and Harry Williams (writers of Honest, The Amazing Dermot & Roman's Empire).  The series has been commissioned by Channel 4's Comedy Commissioning Editor Nerys Evans.

Writers Jack and Harry said: 'Channel 4 commissioning an animation on this scale shows just how committed they are to bringing something new to the comedy schedules. We're delighted to be working with Shane and Nerys on this fun and ambitious project. They're a rare breed of comedy commissioner - in that they have a sense of humour.'

So... even though they're claiming that they will be bringing something new to the comedy schedule it looks like the only real comment that they're willing to make is that their comedy commissioner (which is a rather odd title for said role) has a sense of humour.  At this point they're not releasing artwork, concept or otherwise, so I've provided my own idea of what the family will look like.  It's based upon the show outline:

"Edgar, a put upon wage slave, works for his self obsessed, borderline-evil Father-In-Law Ken Lavender. Married to houseproud wife Wendy, they are parents to three very different children, freaky weirdo Dusty, amiable idiot Jason and highly strung 'Emo' Eve."

Happy Families - What the characters may look like...

I think I may just be in a harping mood tonight, but the show outline is not a new comedic formula by any stretch of the imagination and nothing of what I've read about the show strikes me as original in any way.  They're going with the proven adult animation five person family formula that started with The Simpson's back in 1989 and has since been successfully copied by shows such as Family Guy and Bob's Burgers.  Rough Draft is the studio set to work on the show and their animation work isn't exactly ground breaking or particularly edgy (that being said "Drawn Together" had it's moments).  Just look at Rough Draft's Studio Reel, which seems more inclined to highlight camera moves than any of the animation the studio has produced.  Alex Scarfe did the artwork for the show, which no one has seen. Channel 4 claim Alex is "very talented", but when I did a (admittedly quick) web search to find some of his previous work I couldn't find anything and, unless he's using an alias because this show is so badass, he's not listed on imdb or wikipedia.  

Ok, so what does all this mean?  I believe it actually means that Channel 4 is being cautiously optimistic about the market for adult animation.  As a result of their trepidation they're producing a show that is by the books (to reduce costs they're not using expensive voice actors, they're hiring a studio that while not creative is reliable, and they're aping a formula that has been successful for decades).  I'm not sure how the show will find a way to be funny with so much trepidation on the part of the producers but here's to financial success for "Happy Families", to their being able to find a way to push the envelop, and finally to the people involved pursuing a more risky endeavour later on.