Product Description
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Take six twentysomething Chicago friends, add cocktails
and hormones, shake, and, you've got Happy Endings, the
hilarious, edgy new comedy that asks: when a couple splits, who
gets to keep the friends? Dave (Zachary Knighton, TV's
FlashForward) finds fulfillment (sort of) manning a food truck
after losing his hot fiancee Alex (Elisha Cuthbert, TV's 24) at
the altar. Alex's type-A sister Jane (Eliza Coupe, TV's Scrubs)
is almost happily married to horndog Brad (Damon Wayans Jr., TV's
The Underground). Dave's roommate Max (Adam Pally) is a gay,
sports-loving slob, and Penny (Casey Wilson, TV's SNL) is on the
prowl for a good man...or men. The laughs are nonstop as they do
what tightly-knit friends do best: hang out, have fun, debate the
meaning of life, hook up, break up, and do it all over again!
.com
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"It's like Friends, only different." That's the gist of
how fans have described this quick-witted, funny, and
unexpectedly intelligent sitcom on numerous message boards. It's
also quite apt and a nice compliment for a show that stumbled
down a rickety, wayward path as an ABC midseason replacement in
April 2011, getting green-lit just a month later for a full
second season on the fall roster. Happy Endings presents a gang
of six friends (!) working through that awkward about-to-turn-,
turning-, just-turned-30 phase where they can't fit in with the
hipsters, but fear the idea of letting go and getting older. The
winning ensemble cast play with or against each other in various
groupings while the show makes good-natured fun of their
foolishness in clinging to hipsterish speech, style, manners, and
dress. A recurring example of being caught in some sort of
cultural middle is their intentionally moronic use of "I know,
right?" or just "Right?" as a comeback that sounds even wronger
than it does coming from people who talk that way with authentic
sincerity. The premise laid out in the pilot has Alex (Elisha
Cuthbert) playing runaway bride to Dave (Zachary Knighton), who
is stranded at the altar while their best friends (!) Penny
(Casey Wilson--bubbly and boy-crazy), Max (Adam Pally--gay but
not swishy), and Brad and Jane (Damon Wayans Jr. and Eliza
Coupe---married) look on in bewilderment. The conflict that's the
glue and the meat of the 12 ensuing episodes is figuring out if
they can all stay friends (!) without anyone having to choose
sides. It turns out they can, hence the title. With one camera,
no laugh track, and sets that pretend to place them in Chicago,
the troupe of six tease, torment, support, and are generally
there for each other thanks to snappy scripts packed with
running, recurring, and throwaway gags.
Though there's nothing groundbreaking in setup or style, the
cast brings a high level of accountability by making their
individual characters real and giving their group dynamic a gloss
of believable unreality. It fulfills the best measure of any TV
show by positively answering the question, "Do I want to spend my
valuable time with these people?" They're smart, but also shallow
and dopey as demanded by the quick pace of jokes that are crammed
together with well-timed precision. Are Dave and Alex deep down
still in love? Is there anything that can honestly rattle Brad
and Jane's soul-mate devotion? Will Penny ever find a socially or
age-appropriate boyfriend? And by the same token, will Max find a
boyfriend who can appreciate his slothful attitude and the
completely non-gay cut of his jib? There's ample room for more
ing out on all these themes. The 13 episodes in this DVD set
are presented in their originally intended order, which was not
the case when ABC jammed back-to-back episodes over six weeks in
the spring season. (The special features are skimpy--a couple of
Banana Republic tie-in promos, a faux-hipster interview, deleted
scenes, and outtakes.) There's a little bit of overall arc, but
each installment pretty much stands on its own, with favorites
being the one where Penny makes best friends with an
über-stereotypical gay guy (Stephen Guarino, playing it
hysterically over the top); the one where a long-lost college
buddy gets married, but follows his wife's freak-out about Alex
being a wedding jinx; the one where Jane shows off her creepy
competitiveness in a martial arts class; and the one where Brad's
her visits for some medical tests and shows a new-found love
for everyone except Brad. The underlying theme of the Dave and
Alex situation often fades into the background, popping up just
enough to add romantic tension when needed. Though many people
compare the show favorably to Friends, there are just as many who
will give thanks that it really is different. Both camps can
coexist and be happy that Happy Endings has not come to an end.
--Ted Fry
