Happy Endings

Show: Happy Endings, ABC (2011-2013)
Episodes: 57


What would happen if, at the day of your wedding, your other half leaves you at the altar? How would this affect you and your friends? Should you all try to remain close together, or pick sides?

This is the dilemma that is raised in the pilot for Happy Endings, one of the most criminally underrated shows in history. 

When it first premiered, Happy Endings was negatively compared to buddy comedies such as How I Met Your Mother and Friends. However, as time went on, the show became a critical smash, appearing in several Top 10 lists for all the three seasons the show aired.

Plus, unlike other buddy comedies like How I Met Your Mother and Friends (which frankly, hasn't aged well) the characters here are people that you'd actually want to spend time with.

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First up, we have the ex-engaged couple Dave and Alex. Alex is a the ditzy member of the group while Dave is the self-appointed "cool guy" of the group, which amuses everyone since they don't consider him like that at all.

We also have Max, an uncultured, lazy, freeloading irresponsible gay man. Personally, the fact that Max displays such non-stereotypical qualities of a gay man is hilarious and practically groundbreaking. 

Gay men on TV are usually portrayed as rather feminine, so to see someone destroy every single one of those stereotypes (and have the rest of the gang be so cool with his sexuality) is refreshing. Also, the fact that the show's straight male characters are incredibly metrosexual makes him the straightest man in the group is hilarious. As one friend points out, he's "a straight guy who happens to like penises."

We also have married couple Brad and Jane who, despite being several years into their marriage, they're still in love and there's never in danger of their flame burning out. A refreshing thing to see since comedies usually depicts struggling marriages. Here, the humor comes from how insanely perfect Brad and Jane are together.

And finally, we have the  the ambitious, talented, but perpetually unlucky in love Penny, one of this decade's best characters in a comedy series. 

A third of the way into the show's first season, Happy Endings ditched its breakup storyline in favor of revolving the episodes around the characters dysfunctional adventures (the search for the perfect restaurant to host a birthday dinner, a kickball battle, a date with a guy who has the misfortune of having Hitler as a last name) and more. 

Thanks to these storylines, the show developed a fast-paced, witty tone that's reminiscent of such classic shows like 30 Rock, Scrubs and Arrested Development. 

Sadly, Happy Endings ended up getting cancelled at the end of its third season, a victim of ABC's erratic scheduling (the third season was rescheduled four times without any warning, causing viewership to plummet.) 

Even sadder, the show is only available on DVD, but have no fear!

This week, VH1 announced that they've bought the rights to the show, and will exclusively air it, starting with a series long marathon on New Year's Eve. Catch it then!

Below is a clip from a season 1 episode, in which Penny discovers she can speak fluent Italian when drunk.