“Happy Endings” deserved better

There was a time when ABC was committed to new comedic proposals. Those were happier times. On bumpy roads, shows like Don’t trust the bitch in Apartment 23 And Cougar City graced our screens with elements that deviated from the expectations of a normal sitcom. David Caspe‘S Happy endings was also part of this outstanding cast. A show about a group of six friends in an urban setting drew the obvious comparisons with Friends And How I met your motherbut that’s what it was always about – being a self-aware comedy that makes fun of the stereotypes of its predecessors.

Since its publication Happy endings quickly distanced itself from other sitcoms. It never needed a laugh track. What it needed was the audience’s full attention, as its cleverly quick dialogues came up with quirky jokes every second. Although it was not exactly short-lived – it ran for a total of three seasons – Happy endings would still have deserved more. ABC messed up here by poorly handling the show. Schedule changes, some episodes being shown out of order, and others not being aired were some of the problems the show faced during its run.

Happy endings

Release date

13 April 2011

Main genre

comedy

Seasons

3

The magic of “Happy Ends” is based on its unique circle of friends

Happy endings gathered the most unlikely group of friends. The former couple Alex (Elisa Cuthbert) and Dave (Zachary Knighton) – who abruptly called off their wedding after she was dragged away from the altar by an ex-boyfriend – try to rebuild their friendship. Alex’s sister Jane (Eliza Coupe) and her husband Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.) thought they wanted a baby, but they realize they have so much more to do as a couple before that. Man-child Max (Adam Pally) and wife-child Penny (Adam Pally) and wife-child Penny (Julian Wilson) cope with their lives in the only way they know how – they ignore the fact that they are now adults.

The magic of Happy Endings lies in how well each actor embodies his character. Cuthbert’s Alex may be a blonde dimwit on the surface, but she’s also a tough business owner who refuses to settle. Knighton’s Dave is a cool guy struggling. He hasn’t had it (that) easy, but he finds his calling as he slowly begins to develop his culinary dreams. In Brad, Wayans Jr. shows a sensible goofball who is surprisingly capable of balancing his professional and personal life. Pally is a total hit in every scene as Max, as he’s “a straight guy who likes men” who sporadically opens up to the prospect of a relationship. Wilson’s Penny represents all the millennials who don’t have their lives together and are trying to keep up through dating and made-up words. Finally, in Happy endingsCoupe becomes obsessed with the compulsively perfect Jane, and I would be surprised if she didn’t call herself a “parent hero” in real life.

The broadcast of “Happy Endings” was handled appallingly

At some point before the release, ABC decided it would be fun to re-run the episodes of Happy endings both in the wrong order and two at once. That’s right, the series’ pilot aired in a different time slot, followed by a random episode that clearly wasn’t Episode 2. From that moment on, the order of Season 1’s episodes seemed to be determined by a roll of the dice. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Caspe said the studio intended the episodes to be more standalone — so audiences could tune in and watch without context. But Happy endings is both a sitcom and a comedy series. Major plot points were supposed to be repeated in each episode, but that didn’t seem to matter much.

Not only were there program shifts in seasons 2 and 3 (together with the sister series Don’t trust the bitch in Apartment 23), but they suffered from episode shifts. What was supposed to be the penultimate episode of the second season was removed and hastily shoved into the middle of the third season. Although the media in the home media corrected some of the errors made during the broadcast, the damage was damaging to the chances of survival. Happy endings was canceled after the third season in 2013 due to poor ratings and no proper conclusion.

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“Happy Endings” is anything but dead

Happy endings built a highly dedicated fan base that is still very active on social media today. Their efforts to keep the show relevant were not in vain. In 2016, the cast reunited for a read-through of “Happy To Be Here,” also called episode 401. In keeping with the style of their outrageous storylines, the episode ends with the whole series being a dream of Dave’s before his and Alex’s wedding day. The wave of pandemic Zoom revivals in 2020 also brought the cast of Happy endings in “And The Pandemmy Goes To…” In the episode, the group video calls to stay in touch during quarantine. As expected, Jane was always prepared for this moment.

According to Wilson, there were attempts to revive the show, but they failed when an actor or writer was committed to other projects. marry mea show created by Caspe, once showed Stephen Guarino as Derrick – Penny’s other gay friend (drama!) – which suggests a shared universe that survived after the show was canceled. More recently WandaVision contained an allusion to Happy endings that might have escaped those who are not familiar with the show. The former’s 2010s-themed episode – “Breaking the Fourth Wall” – has brought the show into Modern Family And The office‘s mockumentary style. But the styling of WandaVisionThe opening credits of the seventh episode were a direct homage to Happy endingsand thus consolidated its cult status.

While the premise may have seemed formulaic or generic at the time, Happy endings quickly showed that it was something completely new. Plus, it has everything – great cold opens, iconic guest stars (Megan Mullally as Penny’s mother and James Wolk as Max’s boyfriend? We were and still are so there) and incredible seasonal episodes (never let the birth of Jesus overshadow Jane’s birthday). Had the network recognized this, perhaps they would have understood the show and let it run on its regular schedule and in the intended order. Although it is already a cult classic, with better handling it could Happy endings could (and should) have lasted longer.

Happy endings can be streamed on Hulu in the US

Watch on Hulu