In Merry Happy Whatever, Dennis Quaid plays Don Quinn, a strong-willed patriarch who must balance the demands of his complicated family with the stress of the Christmas season when his youngest daughter comes home for the holidays with a new boyfriend.
The first season of the show will take place over the week or so around Christmas. Future seasons of Merry Happy Whatever might explore other holidays. This is one of the first-ever series to be completely based around a holiday, and is presumably meant to be binged during the long winter break.
Dennis Quaid is confirmed to star as Don and will serve as an executive producer. There are going to be 8 episodes in all, but it isn't announced whether or not these will be full-hour episodes honing into the style and tone of the popular dramatic sitcom Parenthood or if they will run a half hour, in more of a sitcom style. This will play out like a 4 to 8 hour Netflix movie depending.
Tucker Cawley (Everybody Loves Raymond, A Million Little Things is the Writer / Showrunner / Executive Producer. Pamela Fryman (One Day at a Time, How I Met Your Mother) is directing what sounds like all 8 episodes, so there will be a pretty consistent through line running through the entire first season of the show. Executive producers include Aaron Kaplan, Wendi Trilling (The Neighborhood, Fam) and Dana Honor>
Dennis Quaid is renowned for his distinct portrayals in both comedic and dramatic roles over the past forty years. Quaid will next be seen starring in Sony's movie The Intruder which will be released May 3rd as well as in Universal's A Dog's Journey which will be released May 17. Quaid will also be starring in the third season of Amazon's Goliath starring opposite Billy Bob Thornton which will premiere later in 2019.
On the big screen, Quaid was most recently seen in Roadside Attraction's faith-based film I Can Only Imagine which was released to wide critical acclaim as well as in Universal's A Dog's Purpose. On the small screen, Quaid starred in Crackle's auctioneering drama The Art of More on which he also served as an executive producer as well as in the BAFTA award-nominated series Fortitude.
Quaid began to gain attention in the late 1970s for roles in such films as Breaking Away before gaining public and critical acclaim for his role in the 1983 release The Right Stuff. Other notable credits include The Rookie, The Day After Tomorrow, Traffic, Vantage Point, Frequency, The Parent Trap, and Soul Surfer. For his role in Todd Haynes' Far from Heaven he won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. In 2010 he was nominated for numerous awards including a SAG Award(R), an Emmy, and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Bill Clinton in the TV Movie, A Special Relationship. This PR comes from Netflix Media Center.