''Happy Town'' is an American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series that premiered on ABC on Wednesday, April 28, 2010, and ended on June 16, 2010. It was created by Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, and Scott Rosenberg. It had a total of eight episodes, but only six was broadcast on ABC. The remaining two, "Dallas Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and the series finale, "Blame It on Rio Bravo", were available for viewing only at the network's website on July 1, 2010.

Plot

A period of peace following a series of unsolved kidnappings is cut short when a new crime has everyone talking in the small

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

town of Haplin. The townsfolk are convinced the crimes are committed by the so-called "Magic Man", a person whom character Merritt Grieves describes as having "an ability to make people disappear that bordered on the mystical". Seven people have vanished, never to be heard from again. As the series progresses, it seems evident that the disappearances are related to an old German film titled ''Die Blaue Tür'' (''The Blue Door'').

Background

Although the series is set in Minnesota, many of the scenes for the program's pilot and first season were filmed in Canadian communities such as Port Hope, Penetanguishene,

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontari ...

and

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it t ...

, all in Ontario. Several of the street level shots were filmed in Newnan, GA. After shooting the pilot episode, actor

Ben Schnetzer Benjamin Schnetzer (born February 8, 1990) is an American actor. He was nominated for two British Independent Film Awards for his performance in the film ''Pride'' (2014). Early life Schnetzer was born and raised in New York City, the son of a ...

replaced

John Patrick Amedori John Patrick Amedori is an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Gabe Mitchell in ''Dear White People''. Amedori appeared in the film ''The Vatican Tapes'' (2015). He has also appeared in a number of television shows, including '' ...

in the role of Andrew Haplin, and Steven Weber replaced Dean Winters for the role of John Haplin.

Cast and characters

Geoff Stults Geoffrey Manton Stults (born December 15, 1977) is an American actor. His first regular roles on television included '' 7th Heaven'', '' October Road'', and '' Happy Town''. He went on to star as Major Walter Sherman on ''The Finder'', Sgt. Pete H ...

as Deputy Tommy Conroy *

Lauren German Lauren Christine German is an American actress. She had her first major role in the 2002 teen romantic drama film ''A Walk to Remember'', followed by roles in the horror films '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003) and '' Hostel: Part II'' (200 ...

as Henley Boone/"Chloe" *

Amy Acker Amy Louise Acker (born December 5, 1976) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Winifred Burkle and Illyria on the supernatural drama series ''Angel'' (2001–2004), as Kelly Peyton on the action drama series '' Alias'' (200 ...

as Rachel Conroy * Robert Wisdom as Detective Roger Hobbs * Sarah Gadon as Georgia Bravin *

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

as Merritt Grieves *

Peter Outerbridge Peter Outerbridge (born June 30, 1966) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Ari Tasarov in the CW action series '' Nikita'', Dr. David Sandström in the TMN series ''ReGenesis'', Henrik "Hank" Johanssen in ''Orphan Black'', Bob Corbet ...

as Dan Farmer *

Jay Paulson Joseph Andrew "Jay" Hughes Paulson is an American actor. Personal life Paulson was born in New York City, where he lived until 1984, when his father moved the family to Los Angeles. Paulson graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in History and is a li ...

as Deputy Eli "Root Beer" Rogers * Steven Weber as John Haplin * Warren Christie as Aidan "Greggy" Stiviletto * Lynne Griffin as Dot Meadows *

as Andrew Haplin

Recurring cast

* Sophia Ewaniuk as Emma Conroy * M. C. Gainey as Sheriff Griffin Conroy * Frances Conroy as Peggy Haplin * Natalie Brown as Carol Haplin * Abraham Benrubi as Big Dave Duncan * David Cronenberg as Dr. Leichman * Stephen McHattie as Carl Bravin *

Dee Wallace Deanna Wallace (née Bowers; born December 14, 1948), also known as Dee Wallace Stone, is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Mary Taylor, the mother in the 1982 blockbuster film '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. She i ...

as Alice Conroy * Joanna Douglas as Officer Shell Jenkins *

Steve Arbuckle Stephen Arbuckle is a Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist ...

as Baby Boy Stiviletto

Episodes

Ratings

Despite a promotional push from ABC, its debut episode performed poorly, scoring a 1.7/5 among 18-49's, with 5.2 million viewers overall, roughly scoring the same numbers in the same time period that predecessors ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombi ...

'' and '' Eastwick'' had during their run. In its second outing, the ratings slipped as did its audience, scoring a 1.2/4 among 18-49's and a 2.6/5 overall with 3.8 million viewers watching. On May 11, 2010, ABC announced that it was pulling ''Happy Town'' from the schedule for two weeks, planning to resume its episode run on June 2; with the 5 remaining episodes airing on consecutive weeks. On May 17, 2010, ABC confirmed that ''Happy Town'' was among the shows cancelled from the 2009–2010 season. On June 18, 2010, ABC officially cancelled the series after its June 16, 2010 episode aired."ABC CANCELS "HAPPY TOWN" (AGAIN); SLATES "WIFE SWAP," "PRIMETIME," "EASTWICK" ORIGINALS"
from The Futon Critic (June 18, 2010) On July 1, 2010, ABC.com released the two remaining episodes online.

Ratings chart

References

External links

*
Happy Town on TVSA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Happy Town (Tv Series) American Broadcasting Company original programming 2010s American drama television series 2010 American television series debuts 2010 American television series endings English-language television shows 2010s American horror television series 2010s American mystery television series Television shows filmed in Ontario Television shows set in Minnesota Television series created by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec Television series by ABC Studios Television shows filmed in Georgia (U.S. state)