How Harry Styles gave show direction
Here’s a novel approach: a sitcom featuring a happily married couple.
That’s what Canadian-born showrunner Tim McAuliffe sees as the main selling point behind the aptly named Happy Together. The series premieres Monday on CBS and Global.
The Montreal native boasts TV credits from both sides of the border, having been a writer/producer on shows including This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Corner Gas, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Office and The Last Man on Earth.
McAuliffe describes Happy Together as about “two 30somethings from the suburbs who welcome a pop idol under their roof.” It stars Damon Wayans Jr. ( Happy Endings, New Girl) and Amber Stevens West ( The Carmichael Show) as the couple, and Australian Felix Mallard as the musician.
They teach him about Costco and Pop Tarts; he puts some party back in their lives. It if sounds too much like a cutesy, Disney Channel premise, well, it is actually based on fellow executive producer Ben Winston’s own real-life experiences.
About eight years ago, Winston and his wife, Meredith, were living in what he describes as “a very modest, quiet house in London.” At the time, he was producing music videos for pop sensations One Direction. One of the band members, Harry Styles, asked if he could hide out in Winston’s attic for a couple of weeks.
“Eighteen months later, Harry moved out of our attic,” Winston told TV critics gathered in Los Angeles this summer. “And nobody ever knew that he was living there.” Long story short, that led to Winston taking the “pop star chillin’ with normal couple” premise to CBS.
Wayans says he was initially hooked when he learned that the premise was based on a true story. Reading the pilot script, seeing how this couple really were happy together, sealed the deal. “You don’t see that too much,” he says. “It’s usually couples on the brink of divorce.” Wayans and Stevens West previously worked together when she guested on New Girl.
“When I saw her as a possibility as my TV wife I jumped at it,” Wayans said.