Fans of the near constantly ill-fated NBC original comedy Community are no doubt just as enthusiastic in regards to any and all future projects from the show’s creator Dan Harmon as they are in the series itself. In addition to his work on NBC, which saw the formerly mentioned program put on the air for a grand total of five seasons, plus one season that premiered exclusively online via Yahoo! Screen, Harmon has since gone on to develop the cult-hit animated program Rick and Morty for Adult Swim on Cartoon Network.
Even as the ultimate fate of Harmon’s much beloved continuing education comedy Community appears to be forever doomed of late to indefinite cancellation once and for all, his loyal followers and listeners of the popular podcast Harmontown have no need to give up all hope in their favored TV showrunner. The latest news it that the celebrated comedy writer is working on a brand new half-hour comedy for FX.
According to Deadline, Happy City has been put into development by FX with Harmon and his Starburn Industries in tow to produce the new animated series for adults about the world of inner city motor vehicles - featuring a taxi, firetruck, and helicopter in the thematic and visual style of Thomas the Tank Engine. The show is set to be headlined by the Los Angeles based comedy troupe Extremely Decent, including founding members Nick Smith, Jon Edison, Ian McQuown, Mikey Caro, and Brendan Rice.
Based on the outstanding premise for Happy City, in addition to the obvious comedic chops of the Extremely Decent crew as evidenced by their chart-topping YouTube video (see above), Harmon might just have another hit on his hands to match the likes of Community and Rick and Morty. Using a stop-motion aesthetic to retell the familiar narrative tropes of Thomas the Tank Engine should serve series co-creators Eidson and Smith well, and could very well result in another cult-classic work from Harmon as the program’s resident sit-com visionary.
For now, it remains to be seen how capably Happy City fares as it goes under development at FX, though the network’s track record of late for green-lighting interesting and culturally relevant new comedies certainly speaks to the network’s good taste. Following the likes of such off-brand successes as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Louie, Harmon and Extremely Decent should be able to pull off another hit for the preeminent basic cable network.
Screen Rant will keep you updated on all information related to Happy City.
Source: Deadline
