Before the pandemic hit, I bought the complete series of Happy Endings on DVD to check out to see if all the hype about the show was real. After carefully "binge-watching" the whole thing, I've come to say this..... Here are my thoughts!
The series' premise is as simple as possible: It's about six best friends who get into real dysfunctional adventures in Chicago, Illinois.
You got overachiever businessman Brad (played by Damon Waynes, Jr.) along with his neurotic perfectionist wife Jane (played by Eliza Coupe) as they are crazy in love with each other; Jane's silly little sister Alex (played by Elisha Cuthbert), who's a happy-go-lucky boutique owner.
Then you have Dave (played by Zachary Knighton), a daydreamer, aspiring restaurateur, and food truck owner. The slicker ma child is Max (played by Adam Pally), who can't hold both a job and a relationship, and the outgoing party girl, Penny (played by Casey Wilson), who is searching for Mr. Right.
The premise starts when Alex and Dave's wedding ends. Alex becomes a bride because she isn't ready for marriage. The group reunites with Ale, and X returns and tries to preserve their friendship as Alex and Dave decide to stay friends.
After the series dropped the whole Alex and DaDaveroken engagement arc in the first season, the series focused on the group dynamic of the six best friends.
After watching all three seasons of the series, I very much enjoyed it. These characters kept me wanting to see more and more of what wacky stuff they'll be going on in the next episode.
While the first season had some ups and downs, the series found itself during that season's end. The second and third got a whole lot better with some fantastic episodes like "Secrets and Limos," "Spooky Endings," "The Kerkovich Way," "Party of Six," and "The Marry Prankster," just to name a few.
While the so-called "series finale" ended at Jane's older sister's wedding and Alex and Dave broke up for their second time dating each other, I thought it ended well with the six characters still at each other's hips having fun as life will move on.
It's still a head-scratcher why ABC decided not to let this series continue. It's like the network's recent decision about a previous comedy getting canceled (Single Parents). ABC must still want quantity over quality shows, which has yet to help them in recent years.
While Happy Endings isn't in my top five best comedies of all time, it's a good enough show for me to pop an episode in and get something that I know will be very funny.
Overall, I give the series an 8.5/10.
You can catch the complete series of Happy Endings available on Blu-ray & DVD and Hulu.
