Happy Face: Dennis Quaid Is an Infamous Killer in New Trailer — Plus, Get Paramount+ Release Date

Don’t be fooled by its cheery name: Happy Face looks haunting.

Paramount+ released a new teaser for the forthcoming drama on Monday, which premieres its first two episodes on Thursday, March 20. (The eight-episode series will then follow a weekly release schedule.)

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The footage sees Dennis Quaid don an orange jumpsuit as Keith Jesperson, aka the Happy Face Killer, who sits behind bars for his murderous crimes. He’s visited by his daughter, Melissa Moore (played by B Positive’s Annaleigh Ashford) — but the meeting doesn’t exactly radiate with familial love. (Watch above.)

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Per the official synopsis, Happy Face follows the pair as Keith “finally finds a way to force himself back into his daughter’s life” after decades without contact. “In a race against the clock, Melissa must find out if an innocent man is going to be put to death for a crime her father committed,” the description continues. “Throughout, she discovers the impact her father had on his victims’ families and must face a reckoning of her own identity.”

The series is inspired by the real-life story of Moore, who at 15 discovered her father was the infamous Happy Face serial killer; he got the moniker because of the smiley faces he drew on evidence while boasting about his crimes. Moore went on to change her name and keep their relationship a secret while her father served life in prison. The story has already been adapted in Moore’s Happy Face podcast, and Shattered Silence, her autobiography written with M. Bridget Cook.

As previously reported, the cast also includes James Wolk (Mad Men) as Melissa’s bank manager husband, who thinks they’ve left the trauma of her past behind them — that is, until that past comes knocking on their door, and he grows concerned that his wife is being manipulated all over again.

Joining Quaid, Ashford and Wolk are Tamera Tomakili (Winning Time), Khiyla Aynne (Ponysitters Club) and Benjamin Mackey (The Morning Show).

Jennifer Cacicio (ShooterYour Honor) serves as showrunner and executive producer. Other EPs include Robert and Michelle King (EvilThe Good WifeThe Good Fight), Michael Showalter (The Dropout, Spoiler Alert) and Liz Glotzer (Evil); Showalter also directed the series’ pilot.

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After you watch the teaser above, scroll through the photos below and hit the comments with your first impressions of Paramount+’s Happy Face.

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Courtesy of Paramount+

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