Christopher Meloni Starred In A Violent, Offbeat Series From The Boys' Co-Creator

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Christopher Meloni is used to pounding the streets as detective Elliot Stabler in NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and the recently-canceled "Law & Order: Organized Crime," but he once played a twisted former-cop in a brutally wacky Syfy series from the co-creator of "The Boys," Darick Robertson. "Happy!" is a black comedy/thriller based on the Image Comics graphic novel of the same name, by Robertson and writer Grant Morrison. The series follows Nick Sax (Christopher Meloni), a cop-turned-hitman who is brought back to life after having a heart attack, and discovers that he can now see a fluffy blue unicorn called Happy (Patton Oswalt). 

The adorable creature is his daughter's imaginary friend, but the problem is, Sax didn't know he had a daughter — and he's tasked with saving her from a villain dressed in a Santa Claus outfit. Robertson is best known for his work on "The Boys" comics with writer Garth Ennis, and the pair were executive producers on the Prime Video TV series. Meanwhile, Morrison has written some of the most iconic comic runs of the 21st century, including "All-Star Superman" and "New X-Men."

Like "The Boys" and other great superhero shows, "Happy!" goes all-out with wild set pieces, fights, and unique visuals — and that's without mentioning the unicorn himself. In Season 1, Christopher Meloni puts on an incredible performance as a morally gray hero who regularly experiences trippy hallucinations, all while dabbling in extreme violence. Season 2 escalates the madness, introducing death cults and the idea that God himself is humanity's biggest imaginary friend. According to Meloni, Syfy was never afraid to let "Happy!" go as far as it needed to.

"God bless Syfy. I hesitated to sign on where what is written never makes it to screen, because whatever broadcast entity is holding it, they get cold feet," He told Brief Take. "Syfy assured us that they were going to present this show as what was on the page and they were of their word, and I think it benefitted them." Commenting on the show's uniqueness, Meloni said, "I don't know one person who hasn't watched it and been like 'I haven't seen anything like Happy! on TV.' I mean, every person says that."