Showtime Issues Statement on Philip Seymour Hoffman, Fate of 'Happyish' Uncertain

Credit: Sony Pictures Classics

Hollywood is still in mourning over the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, yet TV and film studios must engage in the grim business of addressing the several promising projects he's left behind. Just two short weeks ago, Showtime announced two new shows for 2014, one of which starred Hoffman in his very first series role.

Happyish, a comedy project in which Hoffman would have starred as "a successful but self loathing creative director at a New York ad agency", was scheduled to premiere later this year. However, Hoffman's death has left the show without the star whose participation got the series greenlit in the first place, as the script languished in development hell before the Oscar winner agreed to join the project.

In the wake of Hoffman's passing, Showtime issued the following statement: “Philip Seymour Hoffman was one of our generation’s finest and most brilliant actors. He was also a gifted comedic talent. It was a great privilege and pleasure to work with him and we are all absolutely devastated by this sudden loss. Our thoughts go out to his family at this very difficult time.”

Showtime is currently in the process of making a decision on how to move forward with Happyish, since a trailer for the series shown at TCA last month made it very clear: this was Hoffman's show in every meaningful respect.

“Happyish was a script that I’ve loved for a really long time, and it took us a while to get to Philip Seymour Hoffman,” explained Showtime head David Nevins. “‘Could we really get Phil Hoffman to it?’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘I don’t know.’ And it was a long process, but we didn’t have to rush, and we could wait and make you know, and slowly bring him in, and totally worth it for the waiting.”

Happyish's writers had been hard at work on season one scripts, yet production beyond the pilot had yet to start. Ultimately, this is as big a loss for Showtime as it is for lovers of great TV, as Hoffman was also onboard as executive producer. Just a sad situation all-around, as early word suggested it had the potential to be a great series.

Via: Deadline