I'm pulling for Happy Endings. Really, I am. I think ABC's got a good thing going with Modern Family and I'd love to see the channel's comic programming expand to cover new material. Because, let's face it, not everybody can really enjoy Cougar Town.
I figure people like yours truly are in the target audience for Happy Endings, a new sitcom that aims to blend the buddy-antics of Friends with the culture-savvy, tech-focused culture of the Millennial generation. Series creator David Caspe has brought together a talented cast and devised an interesting, if occasionally troublesome premise: A group of friends orbiting power couple Dave (FlashForward's Zachary Knighton) and Alex (Elisha Cuthbert of 24) has to deal with the fallout when the core of their social circle shatters. In the first minutes of the show's pilot episode, Alex leaves Dave at the altar (for a dude on roller skates, no less!) and from then on, the battle lines are pretty clear. On the runaway bride's side, at least to start, are Alex's high-strung sister Jane (Scrubs' Eliza Coupe) and famously dateless friend Penny (SNL's Casey Wilson, who showcases special mastery of the comedy milieu). Standing with Dave are sassy gay friend Max (Adam Pally, whom you will like by the second commercial break, I promise) and Jane's husband, Brad (Damon Wayans, Jr., whose dad is slated to guest star).
Yet even the separation of Dave and Alex is not enough to destroy the strong relationships among these six friends. Sure, the pilot's mostly a series of hit-or-miss insults hurled across a table at Penny's 30th 26th birthday, but by the end of the episode, everybody's more or less buried the hatchet. Good thing, too--the team needs some serious cohesion in order to handle Dave's rather eccentric ebound girl, Andrea, and the parade of weirdos applying to be Alex's new roommate in the show's second episode. In this second outing, the team does a decidedly better job winning my heart. It's especially obvious here that Happy Endings is groping toward Friends, and that's not necessarily a bad thing--even if the Six Amigos formula is showing its age just a tad. If Happy Endings wants to be anything like its predecessor, though, it's going to have to make us believe that these six people care deeply for one another, and it's only in this second episode that that love starts to shine through.
If further episodes refine and build on this foundation, Happy Endings will definitely be worth further viewings. The actors are likeable enough--Casey Wilson, Adam Pally, and Damon Wayans, Jr., all stand out as quirky-but-believable supporting characters. The script is of uneven quality--sometimes, the cast has to toss some iffy pop culture references back and forth, but in other, brighter moments, they have the freedom to riff on one another (such as when Brad invents the word 'chicksand' to describe the romantic quagmire in which Dave finds himself circa episode two). The foundation's there, even if it gets a bit shaky in spots. There's something missing, though--that certain sitcom magic that keeps you coming back, week after week, for additional hijinks. It feels like it'd be a tough show to marathon, and that may be a troubling sign. Yet there is still hope. These are, to a surprising degree, funny people. The writing is viable, though not yet perfect. This could work. This should work.
Sum...ology: Have a little faith, and you might help turn this into a comic staple. Show some love, Happy Endings fans.
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