Warning: This discussion contains spoilers for the entire first season of #1 Happy Family USA, which became available on Amazon Prime Video starting from April 17.
In simpler terms, Ramy Youssef’s previous TV shows, “Ramy” and “Mo,” portrayed a likable, self-deprecating Muslim man who invited non-Muslim viewers to share a hookah pipe, symbolizing cross-cultural friendship. However, in his latest show, “#1 Happy Family USA,” Youssef appears to have abandoned this image, burning the hookah and its symbolic message. This change is particularly significant given the current administration’s tactics of labeling large groups negatively and disappearing individuals they deem undesirable. As a result, “#1 Happy Family USA” feels like the warnings of a visionary and a long-overdue expression of righteous anger.
Youssef’s debut animated series, jointly created with veteran writer Pam Brady from South Park and carrying a similar satirical tone and fast-paced humor, focuses on the Hussein family, a Muslim Egyptian clan residing in New Jersey during 2001. Before September 11, they exhibit varying degrees of assimilation; following the event, they react differently to the Islamophobic hostility they face. The series’ title is an homage to their initial endeavor, where they emphasize their patriotism and American pride, which eventually leads to increasingly disheartening consequences. A mix of absurd scenarios, lewd humor, and sarcastic commentary on the significance of representation, “#1 Happy Family USA” becomes progressively more critical of both its characters and the nation they inhabit, with resentment escalating into a blazing fire that consumes everything in its path, from the Husseins’ self-esteem to America’s dedication to perpetual wars. Its shocking cliffhanger ending depicts former president George W. Bush as a kidnapper and psychopath, deriving pleasure from dropping children into war zones, which represents the wildest, wackiest, and angriest work Youssef has ever associated with his name.
As “#1 Happy Family USA” debuts on September 10th, the Hussein family’s multi-generational dynamics bear some resemblance to those in “Ramy”. Hussein Hussein (voiced by Youssef) operates a halal food cart outside Fox News headquarters in New York City, while his wife, Sharia “Sharon” Hussein (voiced by Salma Hindy), works as a receptionist at a dentist’s office. Their children include Mona (Alia Shawkat), a top student planning to attend Harvard who keeps her queerness hidden from her parents, and Rumi (also voiced by Youssef), a socially awkward adolescent infatuated with his teacher Mrs. Malcolm (Mandy Moore) to the point of daydreaming about being Vili Fualaau to her Mary Kay Letourneau. Living with them are Sharon’s parents, her mother, who is always fully veiled and fond of television (voiced by Randa Jarrar), and her misogynistic, cigarette-smoking father (voiced by Azhar Usman). “#1 Happy Family USA” initially has a chaotic quality as family members vie for screen time and character development, but by the end of the premiere, which depicts 9/11, the series narrows its focus on both plot and politics.
In the animated series “#1 Happy Family USA,” Hussein Hussein encourages his family to adopt more friendly, Americanized personas when they venture outside (as depicted through various character animations, such as Mona’s hair straightening from its natural curls). The show raises questions about how long the family can sustain this act. Can they withstand an FBI agent, voiced by Timothy Olyphant, moving next door? Or Sharon changing her name back to Sharia? What if Mona uses her classmates’ stereotypes about Muslim girls to boost her popularity? And what happens when Rumi, struggling to balance fitting in and honoring his family, finds that the president considers him more like Osama bin Laden than anyone else on Earth? In the universe of “#1 Happy Family USA,” even a socially awkward, lonely child like Rumi can be linked to the world’s most-wanted terrorist.
Title #1: “The Contentious Clan of America”
Youssef and his team have crafted a fiery yet humorous series, filled with fantastical elements and inside jokes catering to first-generation immigrant audiences and Muslim viewers who are tired of defending themselves. The Hussein family frequently debates which Middle Eastern ethnicities are superior. Rumi, the character, cringes whenever his parents put him on the phone with their Egyptian relatives, unsure of what to say, and finds comfort in how quickly their phone card runs out of minutes. The song “Spies in the Mosque,” which humorously portrays the FBI’s secret wiretaps through animated eyes and arms emerging from the mosque’s shoe cubbies, is surprisingly catchy. And if the Dubai version of Real Housewives was as entertaining as #1 Happy Family USA’s take on the franchise, it would be a hit!
In a similar vein as Ramy’s season-one episode “Strawberries,” where a younger Ramy grappled with understanding 9/11 and had an unusual dialogue with bin Laden, the character Youssef has been on a quest to process how that event reshaped his identity and the larger world. However, unlike “Strawberries,” #1 Happy Family USA ventures even deeper into unconventional and thought-provoking territories, disregarding societal norms and good taste to explore the toxic, peculiar atmosphere of the early 2000s in America.
The final episode of the show, titled “A Sleepover with Mr. President,” awkwardly concludes the critique on the War on Terror during that season. In this episode, Bush – who became friends with Rumi through AOL Instant Messenger – suddenly appears at the Husseins’ home and reveals to Rumi that he shares the same internet browsing history as bin Laden. As a result, Bush conscripts Rumi into a secret government agency for children, modeled after the Spy Kids franchise, and drops him from a plane into Kabul in an attempt to locate Al Qaeda’s leader. The series was renewed for two seasons, so this suspenseful ending will be continued in future episodes. However, before reaching that unexpected finale, the show takes a more emotional approach by focusing on pain rather than anger as Bush convinces the rest of the Hussein family to abandon their efforts to free a relative from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for personal benefits. The Husseins agree to stop advocating for the closure of Gitmo when Bush offers to clear their credit-card debt and increase business at their halal cart, while Mona is swayed by promises of admission into Harvard. For the right price, the Hussein family sacrifices their principles. This scenario mirrors Ramy in the episode “Egyptian Cigarettes,” where Ramy neglected social issues to grow his jewelry business. Unlike Ramy, however, Rumi and his family aren’t isolated cases; they represent a uniquely American tragedy due to both the actions taken against them and their self-destructive choices.
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2025-04-24 23:54