Happy Endings (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Happy Endings is an American
television series for the ABC network
. The single-camera
ensemble comedy premiered on April 13, 2011, as a midseason replacement
, with a one-hour premiere of two back-to-back episodes starting at 9:30 pm ET/PT. In the weeks that followed, the show continued to air back-to-back episodes that began airing at 10:00 pm ET/PT.
On May 13, 2011, the show was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 28, 2011. On October 13, 2011, the show received an additional episode order of 6 scripts from ABC, citing improved ratings for the series On November 3, 2011, ABC picked up the series for a full 22-episode second season.
, whose group is rocked when the couple that brought them together, Alex and Dave, break up. This leaves the rest of the group (Max, Brad, Jane, and Penny) in an awkward position of either trying to stay together as friends or having to choose sides.
Alex and Dave decide to stay friends, but there are many more complications down the road.
, which was written by David Caspe and directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. The show is from production companies Sony Pictures Television
, ABC Studios, and executive producer Jamie Tarses
' FanFare Productions. Executive producers are Jamie Tarses, Jonathan Groff and The Russo Brothers
.
Casting announcements began in February 2010, with Damon Wayans, Jr.
first cast as Brad, Jane's husband who does whatever she says. Next to join the series was Casey Wilson
as Penny, the group's desperate and single friend. Eliza Coupe
and Adam Pally
shortly joined that cast, with Coupe playing Jane, Alex's control freak sister who is married to Brad, and Pally playing Max, Dave's close friend and roommate. Elisha Cuthbert
later joined the cast as Alex, Dave's ex-fiancé who leaves him at the altar. Zachary Knighton
was last actor to be cast as the newly single Dave.
The pilot was ordered to series on May 13, 2010, as a mid-season entry in the 2010–11 United States network television schedule.
" and then went on to joke that he was referring to "Jessica bin Laden, a super hot Arab girl I went to college with. She was the one that got away". The episode, which was taped prior to the death of Osama bin Laden
, aired with ABC muting the final line, and removing the line entirely from online streams of the episode. The episode aired with the line unmuted on Citytv
in Canada
.
The ninth episode, "You've Got Male", originally included a kiss between Max and Ian and was seen among several promotional images released prior to the episode airing. The kiss was ultimately removed from the episode. Before the episode aired, David Caspe explained that the kiss was cut purely as a creative decision and that there had been no pressure from the network to remove any gay content.
The episode "Why Can't You Read Me?" was initially left unaired, however the episode later aired on August 24, 2011.
On September 16, 2011, ABC Family
aired a 6-hour Happy Endings marathon. The episodes were aired in their intended production order, with the exception of "Why Can't You Read Me?" which was not included.
and are also available to purchase on iTunes
.
, Mad Love
, Traffic Light and Friends with Benefits
. The series also drew comparisons from the hit 90s sitcom Friends
. However, as the season progressed, the show began to receive praise from critics - with some admitting that it had grown on them and that it had improved since the pilot. Happy Endings was the second "relationship sitcom" of the season that was renewed for a second season, second to CBS
' Mike & Molly
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series for the ABC network
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The single-camera
Single-camera setup
The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, is a method of filmmaking and video production. A single camera—either motion picture camera or professional video camera—is employed on the set and each shot to make up a scene is taken individually...
ensemble comedy premiered on April 13, 2011, as a midseason replacement
Midseason replacement
In American and Canadian television, a midseason replacement is a television series that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between January and May...
, with a one-hour premiere of two back-to-back episodes starting at 9:30 pm ET/PT. In the weeks that followed, the show continued to air back-to-back episodes that began airing at 10:00 pm ET/PT.
On May 13, 2011, the show was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 28, 2011. On October 13, 2011, the show received an additional episode order of 6 scripts from ABC, citing improved ratings for the series On November 3, 2011, ABC picked up the series for a full 22-episode second season.
Plot
The series revolves around the lives of a group of friends, living in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, whose group is rocked when the couple that brought them together, Alex and Dave, break up. This leaves the rest of the group (Max, Brad, Jane, and Penny) in an awkward position of either trying to stay together as friends or having to choose sides.
Alex and Dave decide to stay friends, but there are many more complications down the road.
Cast
- Zachary KnightonZachary KnightonZachary Andrew Knighton is an American actor who currently stars as Dave Rose on the ABC comedy series Happy Endings. Prior to that, he co-starred as Dr. Bryce Varley on ABC's science fiction series FlashForward from 2009–2010....
as Dave Rose – Newly single after being left by his ex-fiancée Alex on the day of their wedding. Still trying to figure his life out after the wedding, Dave followed his dreams of quitting his office job and is now self-employed with his steak sandwich food truck business. After his break-up with Alex, he now lives on Max's couch. - Elisha CuthbertElisha CuthbertElisha Ann Cuthbert is a Canadian film and television actress. Cuthbert is known as the former co-host of the Canadian children's television series Popular Mechanics for Kids. In 1998, she had her first film role in Airspeed. She followed this in 2003 with a role in Old School...
as Alex Kirkovich – Dave's ex-fiancée who leaves him at the altar on the day of their wedding. Alex still has some regret about leaving Dave at their wedding and feels guilty about it. She enjoys going on double dates and "girls nights out" with best friend Penny. She runs her own women's clothing boutique called Xela ("Alex" backwards) in downtown Chicago. - Eliza CoupeEliza CoupeEliza Coupe is an American actress best known for her role as Denise "Jo" Mahoney in the medical comedy Scrubs, in which she became a regular for the ninth season. Coupe currently stars as Jane Williams in the ABC comedy series Happy Endings.-Career:Coupe grew up in New Hampshire and graduated...
as Jane Kirkovich-Williams (nee Kirkovich) – Alex's control freak older sister. She is married to Brad and wanted to start a family and live a "perfect suburban life", prior to being freaked out over Alex and Dave's break-up. She is very competitive and always likes to be in charge of everything. Has a tendency to turn to alcohol when she's stressed out. - Damon Wayans, Jr.Damon Wayans, Jr.Damon Kyle Wayans, Jr. is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian. He is the oldest son of actor-comedian Damon Wayans. Wayans currently stars as Brad Williams on the ABC comedy series Happy Endings.-Early life:...
as Brad Williams – Jane's husband who does whatever she says, despite not usually being crazy about her ideas. He works for a big Chicago investment firm and is best friends with Dave and Max. Brad and Jane were first introduced to each other by Dave when they were in college. - Adam PallyAdam PallyAdam Saul Pally is an American actor and comedian, currently starring as Max Blum in the ABC comedy series Happy Endings.-Life and career:...
as Max Blum – Best friends with Dave and Brad since college. He is sarcastic and enjoys sitting around his apartment playing video games. He is openly gay, but only recently came out to his parents, after years of having Penny pose as his girlfriend. Max is single and unemployed; he now shares his apartment with newly single Dave. Max is a minister of a non-denominational ChristianityNon-denominational ChristianityIn Christianity, nondenominational institutions or churches are those not formally aligned with an established denomination, or that remain otherwise officially autonomous. This, however, does not preclude an identifiable standard among such congregations...
church (though he himself is Jewish) licensed to officiate weddings, although he technically wasn't licensed when he did Brad and Jane's wedding. In season two, Max attempts to start a job as a limo driver. - Casey WilsonCasey WilsonCathryn Rose "Casey" Wilson is an American actress, comedienne and screenwriter. She was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2008–2009 and currently stars as Penny Hartz in the ABC comedy series Happy Endings....
as Penny Hartz – the group's desperate, single friend who constantly worries that she'll never find the right guy. She has known Dave, Alex and Jane since high school. Max has been her "gay BFF" since college, though they briefly dated before she realized he was gay. She works at a public relations firm and prides herself on being the most fashionable person in her office.
Production
On January 19, 2010, ABC green-lit the pilot episodeTelevision pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
, which was written by David Caspe and directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. The show is from production companies Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
, ABC Studios, and executive producer Jamie Tarses
Jamie Tarses
Jamie Tarses was head of ABC's entertainment division from 1996 to 1999, the first woman and one of the youngest people to hold such a post in an American broadcast network...
' FanFare Productions. Executive producers are Jamie Tarses, Jonathan Groff and The Russo Brothers
Russo brothers
Anthony and Joe Russo, known together professionally as the Russo brothers, are Emmy Award-winning American film and television directors. The brothers direct most of their work jointly, and they also occasionally work as producers, actors, and editors. The Russos are from Cleveland, Ohio, and were...
.
Casting announcements began in February 2010, with Damon Wayans, Jr.
Damon Wayans, Jr.
Damon Kyle Wayans, Jr. is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian. He is the oldest son of actor-comedian Damon Wayans. Wayans currently stars as Brad Williams on the ABC comedy series Happy Endings.-Early life:...
first cast as Brad, Jane's husband who does whatever she says. Next to join the series was Casey Wilson
Casey Wilson
Cathryn Rose "Casey" Wilson is an American actress, comedienne and screenwriter. She was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2008–2009 and currently stars as Penny Hartz in the ABC comedy series Happy Endings....
as Penny, the group's desperate and single friend. Eliza Coupe
Eliza Coupe
Eliza Coupe is an American actress best known for her role as Denise "Jo" Mahoney in the medical comedy Scrubs, in which she became a regular for the ninth season. Coupe currently stars as Jane Williams in the ABC comedy series Happy Endings.-Career:Coupe grew up in New Hampshire and graduated...
and Adam Pally
Adam Pally
Adam Saul Pally is an American actor and comedian, currently starring as Max Blum in the ABC comedy series Happy Endings.-Life and career:...
shortly joined that cast, with Coupe playing Jane, Alex's control freak sister who is married to Brad, and Pally playing Max, Dave's close friend and roommate. Elisha Cuthbert
Elisha Cuthbert
Elisha Ann Cuthbert is a Canadian film and television actress. Cuthbert is known as the former co-host of the Canadian children's television series Popular Mechanics for Kids. In 1998, she had her first film role in Airspeed. She followed this in 2003 with a role in Old School...
later joined the cast as Alex, Dave's ex-fiancé who leaves him at the altar. Zachary Knighton
Zachary Knighton
Zachary Andrew Knighton is an American actor who currently stars as Dave Rose on the ABC comedy series Happy Endings. Prior to that, he co-starred as Dr. Bryce Varley on ABC's science fiction series FlashForward from 2009–2010....
was last actor to be cast as the newly single Dave.
The pilot was ordered to series on May 13, 2010, as a mid-season entry in the 2010–11 United States network television schedule.
Edits
In the sixth episode of the season, "Of Mice and Jazz-Kwon-Do", Dave refers to the mouse he is trying to catch as "his bin LadenOsama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
" and then went on to joke that he was referring to "Jessica bin Laden, a super hot Arab girl I went to college with. She was the one that got away". The episode, which was taped prior to the death of Osama bin Laden
Death of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit....
, aired with ABC muting the final line, and removing the line entirely from online streams of the episode. The episode aired with the line unmuted on Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
The ninth episode, "You've Got Male", originally included a kiss between Max and Ian and was seen among several promotional images released prior to the episode airing. The kiss was ultimately removed from the episode. Before the episode aired, David Caspe explained that the kiss was cut purely as a creative decision and that there had been no pressure from the network to remove any gay content.
Broadcast
The first season of the show premiered on ABC on April 13, 2011, and concluded on May 25. The season aired mostly out of the intended broadcast order to make the initial episodes more "stand alone" in an effort to get more people invested in the show. As a result, the episodes "Bo Fight" and "Barefoot Pedaler", which were intended to air as the second and third episodes as they show the events in the weeks after Alex and Dave's wedding, aired as episodes 10 and 11. It was later revealed that the decision to air the episodes out-of-order was ultimately made by ABC, and that the episodes will appear in the intended order on the DVD release.The episode "Why Can't You Read Me?" was initially left unaired, however the episode later aired on August 24, 2011.
On September 16, 2011, ABC Family
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
aired a 6-hour Happy Endings marathon. The episodes were aired in their intended production order, with the exception of "Why Can't You Read Me?" which was not included.
Online
Full episodes of the series are available for streaming on both ABC.com and HuluHulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
and are also available to purchase on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
DVD
On September 20, 2011, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first season on Region 1 DVD. Special features include outtakes, a Banana Republic-Style Preview: The Guys of Happy Endings, Mike Relm Remix, "I'm in a Great Place Right Now", The Wedding Prep Scene, Mark Douglas Parody Theme Song, and a Mark Douglas Interview with Adam Pally and Casey Wilson.Reception
The series was initially heavily criticized being negatively compared to several similar "relationship sitcoms" that had premiered earlier in the season - Perfect CouplesPerfect Couples
Perfect Couples is an American comedy television series that was originally broadcast by NBC. The half-hour romantic comedy was co-created by Jon Pollack and Scott Silveri and produced by Universal Media Studios. A sneak preview of the series aired on December 20, 2010, and officially premiered on...
, Mad Love
Mad Love (TV series)
Mad Love is an American television series that aired on CBS from February 14, 2011 to May 16, 2011. The sitcom was planned as a midseason replacement during the 2010–11 television season.On May 15, 2011, Mad Love was officially cancelled by CBS....
, Traffic Light and Friends with Benefits
Friends with Benefits (TV series)
Friends with Benefits is an American romantic sitcom created by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. It was originally set to air on NBC as a midseason replacement during the 2010–11 television season, but was ultimately delayed until August 5, 2011...
. The series also drew comparisons from the hit 90s sitcom Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
. However, as the season progressed, the show began to receive praise from critics - with some admitting that it had grown on them and that it had improved since the pilot. Happy Endings was the second "relationship sitcom" of the season that was renewed for a second season, second to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
' Mike & Molly
Mike & Molly
Mike & Molly is an American sitcom created by Mark Roberts, which premiered on CBS on September 20, 2010. The series stars Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy as the title characters.-Premise:...
.
Ratings
The third episode of the second season achieved a season high of 7.29 million viewers and a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating. Its fifth, Halloween themed episode, of the second season achieved a series high of 8.33 million viewers and a 3.5 adults 18-49 rating.| Season | Timeslot | Originally aired | TV Season | Viewers (in millions) |
Rank | 18-49 Nielsen ratings Nielsen Ratings Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States... rank |
18-49 Nielsen Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere Season premiere In North America, a season premiere is the first episode of a new season of a given television show. It often airs in September or October, after several months of reruns.-Evaluating the changes:... |
Season finale Season finale A season finale is the final episode of a season of a television program... |
|||||||
| 1 | Wednesday 9:31PM (April 13, 2011) Wednesday 10:00PM (April 13, 2011 - May 18, 2011) |
April 13, 2011 | May 25, 2011 | 2011 | 5.043 | 105th | 2.1/5 | 75th |
| Wednesday 10:30PM (April 20, 2011, May 5, 2011 - May 25, 2011) | 3.632 | 122nd | 1.5/4 | 103rd | ||||
| 2 Happy Endings (season 2) The second season of Happy Endings, an American television series. ABC officially renewed Happy Endings for a second season on May 13, 2011. It was later announced it would move to a new time-slot on Wednesdays at 9:30pm, as a lead-in to new series, Revenge... |
Wednesday 9:30PM | September 28, 2011 | TBA | 2011-2012 | TBA | TBA | 3.9/9 | 28th |
International broadcast
| Country / Region | Channel | Premiere |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
Citytv Citytv Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division... |
April 13, 2011 |
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Zee Cafe Zee Cafe Zee Café is an Indian cable and satellite television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 15 March 2000 as Zee English and known for general entertainment channel... |
Summer 2011 |
| Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... |
FOX Life Fox Life Greece Fox Life Greece is a television network, launched by the Fox International Channels, which launched on 1 December 2008 and is currently available to the subscribers of NOVA Greece, Conn-x TV and On TV.... |
Fall 2011 |
| New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
TV2 | July 27, 2011 |
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November 22, 2011 |
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August 22, 2011 |
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TV Norge | August 23, 2011 |
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PRIME | September 3, 2011 |
| UK | E4 | September 8, 2011 |
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November 28, 2011 |
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September 8, 2011 |
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Fox Life Fox Life Fox Life is a television network, launched by the Fox Broadcasting Company, which airs across Latin America, Europe and Japan . Its basic programming include numerous television series, sitcoms and movies, among others, which includes some original programming in certain regions... |
October 3, 2011 |
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Fox Life Fox Life Fox Life is a television network, launched by the Fox Broadcasting Company, which airs across Latin America, Europe and Japan . Its basic programming include numerous television series, sitcoms and movies, among others, which includes some original programming in certain regions... |
October 2, 2011 |
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Comedy Central Germany Comedy Central Germany Comedy Central Germany is a German speaking equivalent to Comedy Central. The channel is available free-to-air and on local digital/cable operators in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It broadcasts many American and British imports as well as original programming. It launched on January 15, 2007... |
December 2011 |