Sumith Prasad
Vincent Anderson is a puppeteer and the co-creator of ‘Good Day Sunshine’ in Netflix’s crime series ‘Eric.’ When his son disappears without a trace, Vincent gets convinced that the best way to reunite with his child is to launch the former’s creation, a monster puppet named Eric, in the children’s show. ‘Good Day Sunshine’ remains an integral part of the engrossing narrative of the series, which is made evident by the number of significant scenes set in the puppet show’s studio. While Abi Morgan’s creation opens a window into life and existence in New York City in the 1980s, Vincent’s children’s show is only a fictional part of them!
The Significance of Good Day Sunshine
‘Good Day Sunshine’ is not a real children’s show. Even though it is seemingly modeled after PBS’ legendary educational children’s series ‘Sesame Street,’ which was an unignorable part of the country’s households during the 1980s, the show doesn’t have any explicit connection with the crime thriller’s narrative. The similarity between the two can be seen as Abi Morgan’s nod to the cultural icon. The creator-screenwriter conceived ‘Eric’ as a buddy series with a puppeteer and puppet taking center stage. To validate the existence of the puppet, ‘Good Day Sunshine’ was apparently created, which helped Morgan to present the monster as the new member of the children’s series.
More than ‘Sesame Street,’ Morgan’s own upbringing inspired her to create ‘Good Day Sunshine.’ “I grew up with my dad running a theater, so I was always seeing the magic behind the scenes. I was drawn to the idea of Vincent in the world of Good Day Sunshine,” the creator told Entertainment Weekly about creating the fictional series. The narrative of ‘Eric’ unfolds through Vincent’s search for Edgar with the help of Eric the Monster. As someone who has been giving life to puppets for years and years, it is understandable how he can believe that a monster exists when he is in his most vulnerable state.
According to Morgan’s interview with Netflix’s Tudum, her crime drama asks “where the real monsters lie.” The show juxtaposes Eric the Monster with potent figures such as Richard Castillo. Even though Eric is the monster puppet, he is the one who motivates Vincent to find his son. Castillo and his group are the guardians of the city, who are supposed to protect its citizens, but they not only cause the death of an innocent child but also try to make sure that the boy’s mother will not receive justice. As the series concludes, the humongous monster brings a father and son together, while the real monsters end up in jail.
To bring out this contrast between monsters and humans, Morgan needed a setting where they could be placed without seeming out of place. The production of ‘Good Day Sunshine’ becomes the same ideal setting in the crime drama where a monster is expected to exist.
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