Art by Gerald Scarfe's son Alex

Channel 4 has commissioned a new animated sitcom billed as a rival to American shows such as The Simpsons and Family Guy.

Happy Families features artwork by illustrated Alex Scarfe, son of political cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, and the cast includes Kayvan Novak from Facejacker, Simon Greenall, Rosie Cavaliero, Lucy Montgomery and Darren Boyd.

The six-part series revolves around a suburban family, with wage-slave Edgar working for his ‘borderline-evil’ father-in law. With houseproud wife Wendy, their children are ‘freaky weirdo Dusty, amiable idiot Jason and ‘highly-strung emo’ Eve.

Channel 4’s comedy commissioning editor Nerys Evans said: ‘The combination of slick American animation with quintessentially British humour gives Happy Families a really distinctive feel. Not only is the dialogue laugh-out-loud funny, it's packed with fantastic celebrity cameos and satirical swipes at every turn.'

The show has been created by Jack and Harry Williams, the brothers who wrote the Channel 4 Comedy Showcase The Amazing Dermot and BBC Two series Roman's Empire.

They said: ‘Channel 4 commissioning an animation on this scale shows just how committed they are to bringing something new to the comedy schedules.'

Happy Families – Channel 4's first animated sitcom since 2005's Bromwell High – will be animated by LA-based Rough-Draft, the company behind Family Guy, Futurama and The Simpsons Movie.

Published: 13 May 2011