An adult person is holding a young child in their arms and hugging them.

Text reads, "Blind Bitter Happiness".

14m

Blind Bitter Happiness captures the messy awkwardness of family life, the hard and hilarious truths of childhood, and the hilarity in our seemingly banal everyday battles.

Produced for RNZ by Tinderbox Productions

Series details.

About

When the patriarch of the family, Denis, dies, middle-aged doctor Peter Fahey and his youngest child, superstitious and ritual-obsessed Scarlett, must come to terms with their grief and their relationship with the cantankerous old man. Peter’s wife Jamie, the grounding, logical force in Peter’s life, and their other children, Mary, Harley, and Jasper, face their own set of trials and tribulations.

Credits

Elizabeth Marshall
Executive Producer
Markus Pfeiler
Executive Producer
Brent Jones
Executive Producer
Jaxin Hall
Executive Producer
Dielson Gustama
Executive Producer
Peter Feeney
Producer
Peter Feeney
Writer & Director
Tim Burnell
RNZ Commissioning

Produced by

Tinderbox partner logo for use on dark background

Get in touch

More like this

  • Pilot

    New
    After a prank backfires, Piiza Pie Bandits Jay-Jay, Tomasi, Fuso, and Ina secretly repeat the year, get roasted as 'old,' and prep for rugby finals -- until a familiar face threatens to expose them.
    The School Repeaters/Episode 1
    11m

  • "No Ride. Just Pure Vibes and Aroha."

    Torrell and Trexx kick off their race across the North Island, relying on Kiwi kindness to complete their first challenges in Auckland and Wellington.
    The All Goods Race/Episode 1
    10m

  • Dame Lisa Carrington

    How to DAD heads to Lake Pupuke to go head to head with eight-time Olympic gold medallist kayaker Dame Lisa Carrington (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki & Ngāti Porou). All he has to do is stay upright in the boat... Oh, and win.
    Out of My League/Episode 1
    10m

  • Tangata Whenua

    The first episode tackles the settlement of Aotearoa. From Polynesian travelers, right through to British and European settlers.
    The Citizen's Handbook/Season 1/Episode 1
    11m

  • Migrant Sex Workers

    Sex work is decriminalised in New Zealand, unless you’re a migrant worker. Alice asks why this discriminatory law hasn't been changed.
    Alice Snedden's Bad News/Episode 1
    13m

  • Welly on a Plate

    In 2018, a huge amount of cooked spaghetti was dumped on Wellington’s Mt. Vic lookout and we still don’t know why. Bubbah is shocked people have just moved on. How could you move on from this?!
    ConspiraSeries/Episode 1
    9m

  • Episode 1

    Piripi takes us on a tour of his kingdom, introducing his girlfriend Luxy and showcasing his many talents, which include cleaning the whare and doing the lawns... NOT!
    The Adventures of Piripi Kaiwaru AKA Phillip! /Season 1/Episode 1
    9m

  • The Driving Lesson

    When Trish, a spirited mother, decides to give her son Mana a driving lesson, what was intended to be a simple rite of passage quickly escalates into a chaotic encounter.
    A Place Called Te Awamutu/Episode 1
    5m

  • Serenade

    Mac helps a Palagi boy win over an island girl with an original song.
    I Got You/Season 1/Episode 1
    4mvertical

  • Meet and Greet

    It's the highly anticipated first day of the netball season, aka Jim's send-off. Will Kate be able to assemble her team of misfits in time?
    Here If You Need/Episode 1
    9m

  • Gloss Finish

    A person with sweaty hands searches for a dance partner who, like them, bears the clammy burden of a gloss finish.
    Day One Shorts/Season 2/Episode 1
    13m

  • Kia Tupato (Be Careful)

    With tensions rising between the new government and tangata whenua, Wayne and his traffic-management crew brace for the biggest Waitangi Day celebration in Aotearoa New Zealand's history.
    Hi-Vis/Episode 1
    6m

  • James McKenzie

    The outlaw who committed the most Kiwi of crimes: sheep-stealing. James McKenzie rustled hundreds of sheep and became such a legend that a large part of the South Island still bears his name.
    My Favourite Dead Person/Season 3/Episode 1
    9m

Video section home

Browse all
A green graphic with text reading "Five Nights at Everybody Eats" in the center, a small graphic of stacked yellow plates in the bottom right, and text reading "Making a difference one plate at a time" beneath it.
A vertical poster showing three young men sitting in front of a dark wall, with the title 'Rū ANA TE WHENUA: Alien Weaponry Shake Europe' displayed.
A person sitting on a hill looking out onto an inlet. The image is take from behind the person. Text reads, "Inside Outside". There is an overlay of a recording boarder along the perimeter of the image.
Host Guyon Espiner standing and looking at the camera, with a background composed of sliced images. To his right, the title reads 'GUYON ESPINER: WASTED'.
In an animated graphic, the top of a man's face is seen in front of fence, above which are a collection of native New Zealand birds. In the middle of the image, in the middle of the birds, is the text: "BIRD'S EYE VIEW 2."
9 images of individual people, lined up in two rows of 5. They are all looking into the camera. Text reads, "Generation Next".
A group of penguins walk in a line along the Antarctic ice. At the top of the image, the text reads: "ANTARCTICA IN A WARMING WORLD."
Against a black background, a group of opera singers sing. The green text reads: "Toiere."
A mixed crowd with people standing among police officers wearing helmets and masks. The image has a black background with the white title 'Boiling Point, March 2nd'.
A large group of smiling young performers in traditional Polynesian attire pose together outdoors. They wear orange and yellow garments, necklaces made of white spikes, and have black markings on their faces. Above them, on a yellow banner, bold black text reads “SEVEN WEEKS,” with the subtitle “JOURNEY TO POLYFEST” in italics.
Framed by a purple fabric design is a plus-size model in a green dress. In front of her, in black-on-white text, reads: "CUTTING THE CURVE."
Michal Bush, in all pink, plays a guitar in her music room. The text above reads: "Music with Michal."
In India, a group of people walk down a path in front of a historic building. Above the building in orange reads: "1984"
A Muslim man in a blue shirt stands in a mosque. The text reads "This Is Us"
Guyon Espiner on a black background, looking at camera with logo behind him
Two men embracing in a MMA octagon ring. They look sweaty post match. It's dark around them but they are standing in a spotlight. Text reads, "Fighting Chance".
A portrait of a child looking into the camera. On their head is a collection of blue and green strips of ribbon that intertwine with their long braided hair. They are wearing a blue shirt, a jacket and a bow tie. Text reads, "Loading Docs". Beside the text is a simple graphic circle meant to look like a roll of film.
A large mountain capped with snow. Text reads, "Land of the Long White Cloud".
A person on a BMX bike jumping over the camera, silhouetted against a cloudy sky. Text reads, "No Limits".
An animated graphic of green trees and leaves in a forest, along with a red flower. The text in front reads "What Will I Be Today?"
The top and bottom of the image are battle scenes from the first two seasons of the series Stolen Lands. The gold text in the middle reads: "STOLEN LANDS."
A two dimensional Illustration of a screen showing DNA shapes in front a conveyor belt with kākāpō on it. Text reads, "What if...? Genomics in Aotearoa".
Troy Kingi wearing a traditional red poncho sits in the rocky Californian desert beneath a light blue sky. The text reads "Troy Kingi's Desert Hīkoi"
A yellow baroque style wallpaper. A white line drawing of a house is in the bottom right corner. White handwritten text reads, "Kāinga".