It’s been seven years since Friends bid farewell, but the beloved sitcom’s 236 episodes continue to pull in viewers through the magic of syndication — and the Internet — resulting in an eternal, Dorian Gray-style loop. In light of the NBC show’s overwhelming success, you really can’t blame TV producers for having a go at the buddies-in-a-big-city template.
Some shows, like How I Met Your Mother, did relatively well during its first few seasons — well enough, at least, for it to become the defining ensemble sitcom of the 00s. (But it appears to have jumped the shark. Someone needs to tell the show’s writers that no one cares who the mother is anymore.) Others, on the other hand, have not been as fortunate: ABC’s Better With You, NBC’s Perfect Couples and CBS’s Mad Love were just some of the Friends copycats that didn’t survive the 2010-2011 TV season. That ABC has renewed Happy Endings — a late, late mid-season replacement — is a spot of good news amid the carnage of cancellations.
Debuting in April, the series focuses on a late twentysomething couple who break up at the altar. Though not together anymore, the former bride and groom still want to share their four best friends, which lays the groundwork for a whole lot of awkwardness. In short, comedy gold.
Though it was off to a rocky start — the pilot was dismissed as bland and one-dimensional — Happy Endings has since overcome the tepid reception by moving away from the Runaway Bride angle and becoming, well, surprisingly funny.
The underdog show owes its strength to its charming cast and crisp dialogue. Casey Wilson, who plays Penny, is fast becoming my favorite. After 14 short episodes, I can say that her gleefully self-centered character — her attempts at Jazz-Kwon-Do are priceless — is to Happy Endings what Grace Adler was to Will and Grace when it was new. Adam Pally is excellent as Max, the chubby-skinny dude who just happens to like dudes; he has some of the best lines in the freshman sitcom. That said, Damon Wayans, Jr., as Brad, is underused, while Elisha Cuthbert, the most recognizable name on the show — she is Alex, the ex-bride — is ironically the weakest link. I hope that these two become more memorable next season.
On airing the episodes out of order, Happy Endings writer David Caspe tells the Hollywood Reporter: “In launching a show it takes a while for people to hear about it and check it out, so if someone’s seeing the fourth episode first and they haven’t tuned in, you don’t want them to have known what happened in the previous episode. You really want each episode to stand alone.”
As the rookie relationship comedy takes the coveted pre-Modern Family slot this fall, it will be fun to see how the characters evolve and what sort of surreal dilemmas they’ll get into. Happy Endings has restored my faith in new shows and I’m positive that it will, hilariously, live up to its title.
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