Two years ago, I got an email from 1844 studios asking if I’d be open to meeting about a concept they had for a kid’s television program.

Mind you, I get approached about different projects or campaigns regularly, and I’m very discerning on who I say yes to. “A TV show? This can’t be real,” I thought.

Oh, but it was.

They told me the concept: a show for kids 2+ focused on the values we’re trying to teach kids. Think inclusion, kindness, patience, sharing, friendship, frustration tolerance, trying new things, and the list goes on and on.

Basically, things we should be teaching our kids but can sometimes be hard to explain to a 3-year-old. And they wanted me to be an executive producer overseeing the developmental content.

I LOVED the idea. But, back in 2024 Ryaan was four and I told them, “This is amazing but the most important critic is my son. He doesn’t like anything new. Can we watch an episode together?”

They had a pilot, with slightly different animation from what you’re seeing today. We watched it together on my laptop and we both loved it.

For months afterward, he kept asking if we could watch Happy again.

The problem was there was another episode…yet. 

1844 Studios is a small independent studio based in Canada and Happy, Pappy? is based on the founder and creator’s dog. Happy is a 5-year-old St. Berdoodle (St. Bernard and Poodle) and he is so friendly, lovable, goofy, and clumsy just like his character in the animated series. He’s 150 pounds of pure love AND he’s getting certified to be a therapy dog.

For more than a year, the studio tried to pitch the show to traditional networks in Canada where they’re based without much luck. I thought our dream was over. But, one of the things we kept hearing was that kids we just not watching television on traditional networks anymore—they were either on streaming platforms or YouTube. Well, THAT made sense. I should know that as my own kids don’t watch much network programming anymore.

So, we listened and that that original pilot has now become Happy, Pappy?

We chose YouTube because that’s where a lot of kids and their families are already consuming content and we wanted Happy, Pappy? to be internationally accessible to families. I also appreciated YouTube’s parental control features on YouTube Kids. Everything on the official Happy, Pappy? YouTube channel is created and vetted by our team. So, once you follow you know you will get quality programming.

Each episode is about six minutes and centered around one main lesson. The animation is gentle-paced, without quick cuts of bright flashing colors. There are also short mini-episodes that are sing-alongs and with the most adorable puppets!

And every animated episode has an accompanying mini-episode called Dr. Mona and Happy’s corner where me and the real-life Happy speak directly to kids about what happened and give grown-ups the tools to keep the conversation going!

The show is a Puffin Rock meets Sesame Street meets Mister Rogers. Gentle and warm, but still fun and engaging for you and your kids. Trust me, you will WANT to co-watch this with them!  

We also thought a lot about how families actually use screens. Sometimes your child is watching independently. Sometimes you’re sitting right there with them. Happy, Pappy? was created with both in mind, so kids can take something away from an episode on their own while giving grown-ups some wordage on how to communicate the message with their kids.

As part of being the executive producer, I read every script and gave feedback on the language, whether the lessons were developmentally appropriate, and how a preschooler can understand what we’re teaching. Because every episode brings home a value or characteristic we’re trying to foster, our goal was to make this make sense to our adorable kids.

Because telling a kid to “be kind” seems easy. But, helping them understand what kindness actually looks like in their world takes a little more work.

And NOW—Happy,Pappy? is HERE!

The first episode debuts TODAY!

And there’s one more part of this story I want you to know.

Happy, Pappy? is completely bootstrap funded. There’s no big network funding this show. 1844 Studios has put it’s own money into creating it and I’ve been involved in the creative development. (yes, my time and expertise is the investment I’m making for this show I really believe in). The team working on this really believes in the show and I’m so grateful to have spent so much time working with them over the past year+ on season 1.

We have created all of season one and our hope is we can have a season two but we need your help to do that.

So, if you watch and DO love it, please help us get the word out.

Share an episode with another family. Follow @happypappykids on Instagram or Tik Tok. If your kids are watching, tag @happypappykids and @pedsdoctalk. (And of course it’s okay to block your child’s face if sharing to social media).

Word of mouth REALLY matter for a new show.

My four-year-old Happy, Pappy? lover is six now and I am so excited to show him and Vera all the new episodes coming. 

And, I really can’t wait for your kids to fall in love with Happy and Happy, Pappy? too