“Happiness Is a Warm Gun” for U2 and ABC

If the distinguished directors and cast involved in the new ABC series Gun aren’t reason enough to get you to tune in, well, here’s another one–U2. That’s right, Bono and the boys have recorded a new version of the Beatles’ “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” as the theme song of the new series, which debuts this Saturday night at 10 p.m. Kicking off with famed director Robert Altman (Short Cuts, The Player) at the helm, the six-episode anthology follows one pearl-handled revolver through the lives of everyday schmoes.

Of course, this is only one small part of the U2/ABC partnership. On April 26, the network will broadcast a prime-time special, U2: A Year in Pop, which is conveniently tied with the Las Vegas kickoff date of U2’s Pop tour the night before. On top of that, ABC is pushing its May sweeps with a sixty-second promo set to the techno-disco groove of “Discotheque,” the first single from Pop. The piece will highlight ABC stars and upcoming specials but, thanks to some computer animation, will cast them in an unfamiliar light. Catch the promo, and you’ll witness Forrest Gump sprinting through a U2-inspired “Pop Mart,” along with images of Drew Carey animated Keith Haring-style. No one in the ABC family is safe, and Roseanne, Michael J. Fox, and U2 themselves will all go animated.