As a hard-hitting entertainment journalist, I make it my business to check out as many television shows, movies and new albums as I can. Because of this, I'm a discerning viewer and it takes a lot for a show to stick. The only shows I'd say I'm a regular viewer of are "Glee" (which is currently enjoining a reprieve after a dramatic season-to-season improvement), NBC's weirdo gems "Parks and Recreation" and "30 Rock," "Louie" (which wrapped up its amazing second season a few weeks back) and Emmy-winner "Modern Family." Late last season, I also decided to get back into "The Office," an old favorite that I'd given up, and am glad I did. Did you see the season premiere last week? It felt like a return to form.
(Note: I know I also should also be watching "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men," but I have a harder time getting into dramas, especially particularly heavy ones like "Bad." I like my drama on the uplifting side, like sadly departed "Friday Night Lights." Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose!)
One show that popped on my radar last season was "Happy Endings." I enjoyed the show, but it was never must-see TV for me. I watched it when I caught it, but it never got a place on the DVR. Then this summer I caught up a bit online and found that beneath the occasionally manic dialogue and slightly overdone premise (six wacky friends living it up in the big city!) was a truly funny little show that deserves a fighting chance.
I can see why some people might have trouble embracing "Endings" – the whip-fast dialogue can feel a little less than natural and the situations can be borderline absurd. But once you settle in, you start seeing that the strange little quirks shows like "The Big Bang Theory" go to great lengths to fake come naturally and its cast has something that is sorely lacking from the other sitcom ("Up All Night") I really wanted to work this season – chemistry.
I'm not arguing that "Happy Endings" is perfect, but it's good enough that it deserves some time to find its groove. Remember, both "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" were a little rough in their first seasons too – before audiences warmed to their shooting style and premises and the wonderful actors could move to center stage to give viewers someone to connect with.
In last night's season premiere, Jane (Eliza Coupe) encourages exes Alex (Elisha Cuthbert) and Dave (Zachary Knighton) to be more honest with each other, which sends both on an insult rampage and forces Jane into a lie-off with both because she's too afraid to take sides and confirm Alex and Dave's failings (she's careless and can't cook, he's a terrible songwriter with bad taste in footwear). Meanwhile, Max (Adam Pally) worries that something is amiss in his friendship with Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.) because Brad has started cancelling their bro-sessions. At first, Brad says he's just networking, which forces unprofessional Max to toss on a suit, but we later learn that his real motivation is his desire to hang out with other black guys for a change, that he sometimes needs a kind of camaraderie that Max just can't give him. (That's kind of big stuff for a sitcom, no?)
While all this is unfolding, Penny (Casey Wilson) moves into a fantastic new condo but begins to worry she's become too independent and successful for her own good and that she will die a spinster.
All these situations are ratcheted up with all-out, balls-to-the-wall sketch comedy that finds cats taking over Penny's condo, Jane paying the price for trying to handle Alex and Dave with kiddie gloves and Max behaving like a manic, spying on Brad and eventually crashing his hangout session.
Everything plays out with occasionally laugh out loud, rapid-fire dialogue that isn't afraid to go for the jugular – when Penny unexpectedly finds her DVR overwhelmed with episodes of "The View" and "The Good Wife" she says those shows are for "lonely women who talk to themselves," and Alex tells Dave that his "stupid webbed barefoot running socks … weren’t bad for your calves. They were bad for my ability to want to have sex with you."
The back-and-forth can be a bit much, but it's ultimately endearing and the characters' hearts are always in the right place – which brings me to an important point. You actually care about these characters. As out there as they can be, there's enough truth in each character's situation that it grounds the absurdity. Some gay men worry that their sexuality will interfere with friendships with straight men, a la Max and Brad. A successful and single younger woman may fret that her success is intimidating to men. There's a hot-button aspect to both of those topics, but "Happy Endings" handled both with ease because it didn't introduce them as "very special episodes." It's just part of the narrative, part of what these people would deal with daily, and it's interesting that a show that revels in the outrageous can handle such delicate topics with such ease.
It makes me excited for what the show has to offer going forward.