The trades are reporting details about The Jim Henson Company picking up a spec script, The Happytime Murders, which takes a more daring path into adult territory for the company that specializes in kid’s entertainment.

Brian Henson is set to direct Happytime, a comedic film noir murder mystery, which falls under the company’s Henson Alternative banner, a sector of the company developing projects not intended for children. The story takes place in a world where humans and puppets co-exist, with the puppets viewed as second-class citizens. When the puppet cast of an ’80s children’s TV show called “The Happytime Gang” begins to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet — with a drinking problem, no less — takes on the case.

According to the trades, this would not be the first time that Henson is taking a more adult approach to movie making. In 1982, the company made The Dark Crystal, featuring a dark tone with one nudity scene.

Happytime has an obvious absurdist and comedic quality to it, comparable to Broadway’s “Avenue Q,” and will take cues from such movies as L.A. Confidential and Pulp Fiction.