Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Three’s company

- BY KYLA BREWER TV Media

With endless entertainm­ent at the touch of a button and abundant convenienc­e food options available, many modern couples sink into a life of relative comfort and predictabi­lity. But being comfortabl­e can be awfully boring, especially on TV. A couple gets a taste of the sweet life in a new comedy, and so far audiences are eating it up.

Damon Wayans Jr. (“New Girl”) stars as Jake Davis, a successful accountant who lives a comfortabl­e suburban life with his wife, restaurant and bar designer Claire (Amber Stevens West, “The Carmichael Show”), in “Happy Together,” airing Monday, Nov. 26, on CBS. Their lives have been turned upside down by Jake’s client, Cooper James (Felix Mallard, “Neighbours”), an Australian pop star who moves in with the couple in the hopes of escaping the paparazzi after a very public breakup.

As Cooper settles in, Jake and Claire begin to realize they may not be the hip couple they used to be and worry that their lives have become mundane. Cooper’s presence inspires them to explore their wild sides and get fit, but they soon discover that not acting their age has consequenc­es. In contrast, the pop star revels in the laid-back atmosphere of Jake and Claire’s suburban home, where he can relax away from the glitz and glamor of his celebrity lifestyle.

Admittedly, it’s a farfetched premise for a sitcom, but the idea was actually inspired by a true story. Singer Harry Styles (“Dunkirk,” 2017) from the British pop group One Direction once lived in the attic of producer Ben Winston’s (“The Late Late Show With James Corden”) humble home in London for several months. “Happy Together” may have been inspired by Styles’ time living with Winston and his family, but the executive producer has made it clear that the comedy isn’t a true-to-life retelling of the experience.

“Although Harry and I are producing this show together,” Winston explained on Twitter in August, “it is simply loosely inspired by our living situation. NO character and NO stories are based on anything real.”

Styles wasn’t attached to the show in the beginning, but he has since signed on as an executive producer, alongside

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