Happy Endings is a sitcom that ran from 2011 to 2013 about a tightly knit group of six friends living in Chicago.  The show is set in the same vein as well-known television series such as Friends or How I Met Your Mother in that it aims to humorously portray a self-made family of young people navigating adulthood in an urban setting.  

The series was created by David Caspe and starred Eliza Coupe as Jane, the type A matriarch of the group.  Think Monica from Friends on steroids and you get an idea of the character.  She is married to Brad, played by Damon Wayans Jr., who is the most levelheaded of the bunch.  Jane’s younger sister Alex, portrayed by Elisha Cuthbert, is also a member of the clique and throughout the series becomes more and more of an airhead, although her heart always remains warm.  The final female in the ensemble is Penny, Casey Wilson, who is the perpetual underdog.  Her male equivalent in this cast of characters is Dave portrayed by Zachary Knighton.  And finally rounding out the pack is Max, Adam Pally, the instigator of many of the group’s hijinks.

The series starts off with an interesting premise: Alex and Dave are at the altar about to get married in front of all their friends and family members when Alex runs out on the wedding, seemingly with another man.  This, of course, causes a bitter divide between the two that threatens to shatter the group of close friends.  But this whole premise is pretty much brushed to the side after the first few episodes and Dave and Alex are fine being around one another again as friends and the group goes on.  Although romantic tensions do vacillate between Dave and Alex throughout the three seasons that this show ran their relationship never really grabs you as Ross and Rachel did.  

That is the major problem I found with this series.  It doesn’t grab you from the beginning and hook you in.  With Friends, for instance, in the first season, there are an abundance of episodes where the characters are facing deep turmoil about mortality and rebuilding one’s life.  So, from the get-go, we are pulled in and see ourselves in these characters and understand the core underneath their zaniness.  Similarly, in How I Met Your Mother you are from the first episode pulled into Ted’s quest to find his one true love and are rooting for him.  With Happy Endings, there is no immediate emotional pull.  The characters just rib on each other non-stop and do crazy things like throw a giant piñata in the middle of traffic.  The characters also talk quickly with one another and sprinkle into their conversations a good amount of inside jokes and side quips.  As the viewer, I originally felt like an outsider to the in-crowd and like these was not good people to invest in.  But as the series progresses you learn that their ribbing is an affectionate ritual they do.  You learn that the character of Jane, seemingly bossy and overbearing, would die to protect her friends.  You learn that underneath Max’s criticisms of the others lies someone who has their backs no matter what.  In short, as the series progresses you learn that these people are a family that lean on each other and love each other unconditionally. 

When I first started watching the series I was less than thrilled.  But by mid-second season I was warming up to the group.  And by the end of the third season I was heartbroken there weren’t more episodes.  The writing was definitely getting even better and there was a budding romance I wanted to see play out.  So, I am now amongst the many rooting for the whispers of a revival at ABC to be true.  I am currently going back and re-watching the series in the meantime.  So, if you are willing to give it a season to get initiated into this family of friends then you will find a funny, tightly knit group of new TV besties in this sharply written comedy series.  It definitely is a worthwhile relationship to invest in for fun times.

RORSCHACH RATING:

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Victims and Villains is written and produced by Josh "Captain Nostalgia" Burkey. Music by Yuriy Bespalov & Beggars. This post was edited by Cam Smith. Happy Endings is property of Sony Television and Mill Creek Entertainment. We do not own nor claim any rights. Click here to pick up your copy of Happy Endings.

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