Maybe no one noticed, but almost every TV network tries to create the next ‘Friends.’ Without fail, a show debuts with half male and half female characters that hang out and somewhat date each other. NBC’s ‘Perfect Couples’ and CBS’s ‘Mad Love’ were last year’s examples of this ‘Friends’ clone phenomenon. Another feature all these carbon copies share: cancellation. Of shows formatted to Ross and Rachel standards in the past five years, only two survived. One, CBS’s ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ gets by with a creative premise and, let’s face it, Neil Patrick Harris. The other, almost no one has heard of. However, ABC just picked it up for a full second season. This show, ‘Happy Endings,’ is one of the fresher takes on the sitcom.

To be fair, it takes the premise right out of the ‘Friends’ playbook. The show is about three guys and three girls who are all friends. Two are married, two dated but just broke up and the other two are generally weird and off in their own worlds. So in ‘Friends’ terms, they are Chandler and Monica, Ross and Rachel, and Joey and Phoebe. But luckily, that’s where the similarities end. ‘Happy Endings’ takes place in Chicago instead of New York, and though the characters may resemble their ‘Friends’ counterparts, there are some welcome differences. For example, Max, one of the male friends, is gay, and not in the stereotypical flamboyant, quippy, girl’s-best-friend way. He’s a fully realized, dimensional character who dates men. His sexuality doesn’t completely define him, which is a refreshing concept.

The rest of the cast is not nearly as interesting. On the surface level, they are all upper-middle class, or ‘TV rich.’ They all have enough money to live in pretty apartments and have wacky adventures. Brad works at an investment company, Alex owns her own clothing store, Penny works for a public relations firm and so on.  Despite these bland backgrounds, ‘Happy Endings’ really thrives on its talented cast. Brad would be just another suit if Damon Wayans Jr. did not play him.

Granted, there isn’t any groundbreaking character work going on here, but the show’s writers really make the entire cast enjoyable. They all bicker, quibble and fight, but at the end of the episode, it’s been an enjoyable half-hour. ‘Happy Endings’ does this by keeping conflicts pretty low stakes and formulaic. For example, the most recent episode made Penny continually envious of whomever Alex dated. Even when the two switched boyfriends, Penny gets jealous again.  It was a plot easy enough to recognize and predict, and yet getting there was a blast. That’s also true of the episode’s other two stories.

In fact, there is so much of this show that shouldn’t work, and yet it all does: The writing is fast, fun and pop culture-heavy. Many shows feature lightning quick dialogue, and ‘Happy Endings’ should be no exception —but it is. Nothing about the lead characters seems particularly special — but they are. The show should be nothing more than the latest in a long line of ‘Friends’ imitators —and it isn’t.  

For some inexplicable reason, this is an extremely fun show to watch, and no synopsis or moment can capture its essence. Almost in spite of itself, ‘Happy Endings’ is consistently fun and likeable and is surely worth a watch.

jswucher@syr.edu

Published on November 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jeff: jswucher@syr.edu