Season Review: #1 Happy Family USA Season One

About a decade ago Aasif Mandvi had produced a short-lived four-episode sitcom called Halal In The Family which was kind of like The Cosby Show but done with a Muslim Family. The series didn’t last that long but the series won a Peabody Award for Funny or Die and eventually an animated series adaptation was put in development for TBS. Unfortunately, that idea never went anywhere(like most good ideas for animated comedies on TBS) but to this day I’ve always wondered what that series COULD have been because Aasif is very funny and so is Miles Khan. I don’t know if Prime Video’s #1 Happy Family USA is exactly what Miles had in mind but he’s also a tad older than creator Ramy Youssef so I’m sure there would’ve been some differences/similarities not unlike Family Guy/The Simpsons. That said, if this series for Prime Video, which already has a second season in production, is any indication I hope this kicks open more opportunities for Muslim-infused adult animation to happen because #1 Happy Family USA is top-to-bottom one of the better animated comedies I’ve seen in 2025.

Created by the already budding Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”) and the Emmy-winning Pam Brady (“South Park”), this provocative comedy follows the Husseins, an Arab-American family living in post-9/11 “Amreeka.” Admittedly I was a bit worried before jumping into this eight-episode romp because Pam has been saying in interviews lately that “you need to be careful about jokes now” which is the kind of ridiculous talk that shows up from out-of-touch producers in Seth Rogen’s horrifyingly accurate The Studio for Apple TV+, fortunately my worries were washed away maybe even in the first 15-minutes. Self-described as the “most patriotic, most peaceful, and most definitely-not-suspicious” Muslim family, the Husseins must navigate the anxieties and cultural clashes of the era, all while under the watchful eyes of their understandably nervous neighbors. To do this, the Husseins faces the harsh truths and challenges of code-switching not only from the kids who are trying to survive school, but the parents that are trying their best to keep their heads up above water financially. Amidst the backdrop of the eventual wars in the Middle East, Anthrax, and the boy-band craze, the series delivers in finding comedy in droves, offering a unique perspective on a pivotal time in American history.

The voice cast is brimming with talent, including co-creator Ramy Youssef, along with Alia Shawkat, Salma Hindy, Randa Jarrar, Azhar Usman, Chris Redd, Akaash Singh, Whitmer Thomas, and even Mandy Moore. Special kudos needs to be shouted out to my guy Ramy who takes on the unenviable but necessary task of an adult animated sitcom in portraying multiple roles which in this case is that of the head of the household Hussein Hussein and his oldest son Rumi. Fans of Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin will right away see a similar struggle in Hussein in doing everything he can to make enough money for his family and acting like a lovable idiot whilst empathizing for Rumi who is a growing teen boy attempting to juggle what it means to be a growing Muslim and a teenage boy with hormones and bullies and all of the intricacies of being in New Jersey. In both instances, Ramy is excellent in his portrayals with writing that is both powerful and hysterically funny at the same time. 

Rumi’s friends, Dev and Marcus are voiced by the incredibly talented duo of Akaash Singh and Chris Redd both of whom gets to throw in some licks of their own on what it’s like growing up in minority neighborhoods. The one and only Alia Shawkat checks in as Mona, a very Muslim-take on Lisa Simpson but with Ramy and Mona Chalabi making sure to showcase even Islam’s contradictions when it comes to being a man or a woman which is a brave,yet needed, insight that I don’t think gets talked about enough. Last, but not least, I have to mention Mandy Moore who is fantastic as Mrs. Malcolm. Ever the champ, I didn’t think her pop-music roots would allow her to get into some of the dialogue that she did and boy did she not only deliver she does so in spades.

Griffith Kimmins needs to be talked about. This series’ jerk (jk Griff) of a director had me convinced this was an Adult Swim series in almost every facet. Everything from cable TV’s rules as it pertains to nudity to even the series looking very much in the vein of series like Mr. Pickles and The Jellies, I had to check every five minutes for the Adult Swim bumpers to inevitably show up, that’s how close it was. By the way, none of this is a slight, and instead I actually think a series like this is a great contrast to that of Prime Video’s half-a-billion dollar making franchise like Invincible in that instead of the clearly more expensive-looking superhero series that will end up making a lot of ‘best of’ lists by the end of the year, we get a much more stripped down presentation that does NOT let up when it comes to the constant gags that show up fucking everywhere and delivers the giggles as much as it can.

That’s not to say #1 Happy Family USA doesn’t have a few things it needs to work out. I mentioned the rules of cable TV before and that’s prevalent here and is certainly a series that isn’t in the camp of South Park or Big Mouth as it pertains to how crass the series gets. A lot of George W. Bush jokes are hilarious but anyone who was around during the Family Guy’s take on the former President will both see and hear some similarities but there’s still enough on the bone that the producers go for, especially during the show’s finale, that looks to be new soil for the writers to continue to cultivate during the show’s second season.

Suffice to say Ramy has a real winner here. Immediately upon the eight episodes coming to an end I wanted the additional eight that has been ordered which is good because Prime Video needs to continue to produce animated series that can bring in those millions of views that go to South Park and 20th Television Animation streamers and #1 Happy Family USA is a series that can go long to get a bunch of that viewership.