Steve Coogan stars in “Happyish”

Seeking happiness: It's been a long time in the works, but Showtime's highly hyped new dark comedy/drama has finally hit TV screens.

The premiere of "Happyish" comes with both a sweet and a sour note. The original pilot starred the late Oscar winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman ("Capote," 2005) in what was to be his first regular TV role, but his death in early 2014 led to the show being reworked with a new leading man.

"Happyish" had a special premiere of its pilot Sunday, April 5, in the U.S., but the show really gets into the swing of things Sunday, May 3, on Showtime. The reworked show now has Steve Coogan in the lead role, along with Kathryn Hahn ("The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," 2013), Bradley Whitford ("The West Wing") and Ellen Barkin ("Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," 1998).

English actor Coogan is well known for both his acting chops and also his comedic timing. He's starred in the entire "Night at the Museum" series, the satirical action movie "Tropic Thunder" (2008) and did voice work in 2013's animated "Despicable Me 2."

In "Happyish," Coogan portrays a middle-aged man whose life is in an all-too-familiar place. His new bosses are young, hip and love their tech-savvy buzz words, his prescription medicine might be interfering with his romantic life and his life at home leaves something to be desired.

"'Happyish is about happiness and trying to find it," series creator Shalom Auslander explained in a video preview hyping the new show. When life keeps giving you lemons, what happens when lemonade just isn't cutting it anymore?

"Happyish" may have already aired its first episode, but the new series continues Sunday, May 3, on Showtime.

More than 'Casual': Her works have successfully made the transition from the pages of books to the screen before -- in one heck of a big way -- and if her past experiences are any indication, author J.K. Rowling is about to have another hit on her hands.

The author should barely need an introduction. Her Harry Potter series of novels is one of the best selling in history, and the film adaptation of those books is the highest grossing film series of all time.

So Rowling and her works are big news, and her post-Harry Potter adult novel "The Casual Vacancy" has finally been adapted for the screen, this time as a three-part miniseries on HBO.

Premiering Wednesday, April 29, the joint HBO/BBC production revolves around the people of Pagford, a classic little English town whose idyllic surface disguises a village that's at war with itself.

The casting list of "The Casual Vacancy" reads like a who's who of British cinema. Big names such as Michael Gambon ("The King's Speech," 2010), Rory Kinnear ("Skyfall," 2012), Richard Glover ("Into the Woods," 2014), Monica Dolan ("Kick-Ass 2," 2013) and Julia McKenzie ("Notes on a Scandal," 2006) are just a few members of the large ensemble cast that have been assembled.

A large cast means a lot going on, and "The Casual Vacancy" may not lend itself to a casual viewing. The first of three episodes premieres Wednesday, April 29, on HBO.

Late-night shakeup -- again: The massive shakeup of late-night TV continues. It started with Jay Leno leaving "The Tonight Show" last year, and since then, the reverberations have been felt across networks all through the late-night talk space.

Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" is the latest show to be losing its host, with Stewart planning to leave later this year.

"The Daily Show" is a satirical fake news program that's extremely popular with coveted younger demographics, and Comedy Central has already lined up Stewart's replacement -- and its pick is proving to be controversial.

Granted, Stewart has hosted the show for so long (since 1999) that most regular watchers probably wouldn't even remember that "The Daily Show" existed before him, with Craig Kilborn ("The Kilborn File") sitting in the host's chair before Stewart took over.

Host-to-be Trevor Noah, though, is at least a familiar face to "Daily Show" watchers. He's been a recurring contributor to the show since late last year, and the South African comedian's sense of humor has been a good fit.

The controversy, though, comes from a number of old jokes that he once made on Twitter that some have said are offensive. Noah has defended himself: "To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn’t land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian," he wrote on Twitter.

Comedy Central is standing behind its new star-to-be, and Noah certainly isn't the first comedian to have made tasteless jokes. Whether the controversy will hurt him in the long run remains to be seen. The exact date of Noah's takeover is unannounced, but it's expected to happen late this year.