Hello, I am Hussein, and this is my family, the Husseins! This is a very big day for us. We have experienced a loss… but I negotiated a very cheap burial price! Go me. Tomorrow is already looking better!
Mona, this is a very important phone call. We are speaking to our relatives in Egypt. This is a very expensive call, but of course I got us a phone card that is very cheap. It is very important that you make our move across the world seem worth it. Make us look good! Now.
The school election is just as important as the presidential election and only one of them is rigged. Soon my daughter will run the world! While my son wastes away. Inshallah.
#1 Happy Family USA starts out as a funny cartoon family sitcom. The family is Muslim which helps the show standout among The Simpsons and Family Guy. The show is led by the son and youngest of the Family, Rumi. The pilot focuses on him being a normal school kid who has a crush on his teacher. His older sister Mona is a lesbian who is planning on coming out to her parents. The father Hussein is an immigrant who runs a Halal cart and loves America. The mother works reception at a hospital. Her parents live with her family and her father's conservative ways get on her nerves while her mother tunes out and watches TV all day. The pilot is funny. The family is relatable and loveable. #1 Happy Family USA seems to have the base of a solid comedy, but then things get real dark at the end of the first episode. 9/11 happens. This sucked all the air out the room. How is this show going to be funny now that I’m worried about the lives of this family I've grown to like?
In the aftermath of the Twin Towers attack, Rumi's uncle is arrested at the airport because law enforcement mistake him for a terrorist. The stakes are real. Rumi is ostracized at school with the children believing he's a terrorist. Hussein wants his family to fully embrace America and leave their religion and culture behind out of fear of being targeted. Matters are made worse when an FBI agent moves in across the street putting them in more danger. Mona uses the situation as an excuse to stay in the closet to appear normal. Before the infamous day, Sharia's father died. She feels guilty about because he died while they were arguing. This pushes her to form a deeper commitment to her religion and culture, so now, she's not going to follow Hussein's plan to conform. The show is getting tense. Where is this all going? How is this a comedy? Later in the second episode, the show finally reveals itself.
Rumi goes to meet his uncle in prison. He finds his classmate Marcus there meeting with his own uncle. Marcus is the one Black kid in Rumi's class. Rumi considers him a friend, but Marcus is acting completely different than he does in school. Marcus tells Rumi about code-switching. Marcus dons various personas to appeal to different people he runs into living in America. Rumi realizes this is a skill he needs to learn to get the target off his back at school. And there it is. As a Black man living in America, I laughed my ass off at this scene. This show is about this Muslim family waking up to what America really is and learning how to survive in it. This is when I knew this show was something special. #1 Happy Family USA covers a range of topics: being Muslim, being an immigrant, being Brown, and things that effect every American in the early 2000s. This produces some hilarious storylines for the family. From Hussein getting recruited by FOX News to be the "good" Muslim for a televised panel to Rumi being afraid the FBI is going to come for him after illegally downloading music. They find plenty of hilarious material. The show feels fresh and exciting.
Not everything #1 Happy Family USA attempts is comedic gold though. There are several funny characters who appear across the season, but there is one who never worked for me. Sharia befriends a White Muslim at work named Garrett. I didn't think much of it when he was introduced other than him being a reminder to people Islam is a religion anyone can join. But then Garrett becomes more ingrained in the family, and gets too much focus in the second half of the season. I don't know why the writers are so enamored with this character. I don't find him funny at all. His personal life gets the spotlight in episode 7. It's the weakest part of the episode which had a much stronger storyline involving Rumi taking the Tanner Test. There are other white characters, so he's not completely out of place. Those other characters are more relevant to the conversation about post-9/11 America such as the FBI agent or the conspiracy theorist gym teacher. Unlike Garrett, they are funny. The FBI agent even had his own episode where his personal life gets some screen time, and it was hilarious. Garrett can be left behind for season 2, or he needs a major rework to find the humor in his character.
#1 Happy Family USA surprised me. By facing some of the darkest parts of America this millennium, it managed to create a comedy that feels essential. I don't know how it's doing in the ratings because I haven't seen much talk around this show. I hope it survives. I would love to see what season 2 covers as this show has managed to be hilarious and unpredictable. It's the exact kind of show we need more of.
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