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- 2025
- TV-MA
- Paramount+
- 2025
- TV-MA
- Paramount+
SummaryMelissa (Annaleigh Ashford) investigates whether a man on death row is innocent of the murder her father (Dennis Quaid) committed as the Happy Face Killer in the drama series inspired by the autobiography "Shattered Silence," written by Melissa Moore with M. Bridget Cook Moore and the Happy Face podcast.
Created By: Jennifer Cacicio
- 2025
- TV-MA
- Paramount+
- 2025
- TV-MA
- Paramount+
Happy Face
Season 1 Premiere:Mar 20, 2025
55
4.6
My Score
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SummaryMelissa (Annaleigh Ashford) investigates whether a man on death row is innocent of the murder her father (Dennis Quaid) committed as the Happy Face Killer in the drama series inspired by the autobiography "Shattered Silence," written by Melissa Moore with M. Bridget Cook Moore and the Happy Face podcast.
Created By: Jennifer Cacicio
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or AverageBased on 14 Critic Reviews
55
29% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
64% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
7% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
- All Reviews
- Positive Reviews
- Mixed Reviews
- Negative Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or AverageBased on 14 Critic Reviews
55
29% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
64% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
7% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
- All Reviews
- Positive Reviews
- Mixed Reviews
- Negative Reviews
The performances of Ashford and Quaid, and the wry tone of Happy Face are what makes us want to keep watching.
Even though Happy Face's initial tonal and dialogue weaknesses contribute to it falling just short of its potential, its comprehensive message — living with intricate wounds, elevating the scum of the earth while abandoning the victims, America's profoundly flawed justice system, and the racist incarceration system — slices through the noise loud and clear.
While the social commentary can get a little tone-deaf and the family drama a tad bit manufactured, the writing maintains momentum through eight hours of television in a way that a lot of bloated modern shows fail to do, setting up a second season in the last hour that may finally get all of these competing voices to sing in harmony.
Basically, “Happy Face” jumps off from the real story then moves into fiction immediately, a disappointment for anyone expecting this “true crime” story to be, well, true.
The real hang-up with “Happy Face” is that there is a marked lack of urgency to the entire production. Ms. Ashford’s performance seems confused—she’s animated when she shouldn’t be, and short of anxiety when the moment demands it. Mr. Quaid revels in craziness, but the editing of the show is such that we never seem to get a sustained performance.
The reason Happy Face marks the nadir of true-crime ghastliness is that it seems to realise that this is all a game – as Melissa embarks on some sleuthing of her own to try and find out whether or not her father killed a ninth girl (and whether, therefore, an innocent man is on death row), the show veers dangerously close to jauntiness.
Paramount+’s Happy Face vacillates between sanctimonious and hypocritical, lashing out at the exploitative tropes of true crime and then embodying the genre’s worst instincts, with nothing especially perceptive to offer as compensation. It’s a show that’s at least paying lip service to doing something interesting, but there are too many intellectual hurdles it can’t clear.
User Score
Mixed or AverageBased on 8 User Ratings
4.6
25% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
38% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
38% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
- All Reviews
- Positive Reviews
- Mixed Reviews
- Negative Reviews
User Score
Mixed or AverageBased on 8 User Ratings
4.6
25% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
38% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
38% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
- All Reviews
- Positive Reviews
- Mixed Reviews
- Negative Reviews
It's too comical. I think they may have been going for creepy, what with the serial killer element, but Quaid comes off goofy, and Ashford sounds like she's in a sitcom. "Meet my dad. He's crazy." I kept waiting for a laugh track. It takes away any weight or nuance at all.
Report
Production Company:
- CBS Studios
- King Size Productions
- Piano and Scene
- Semi-Formal Productions
- iHeart Media
- iHeartPodcasts
Initial Release Date:Mar 20, 2025
Number of seasons:3 Seasons
Rating:TV-MA