Happy Endings Premiered 10 Years Ago Today, and Was Gone Too Soon

On April 13, 2011, ABC premiered the pilot episode of Happy Endings, a sharply-written comedy from creator David Caspe (Black Monday, Kenan) and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (Community, Avengers: Endgame). This clip is from Season 3, showing how the main characters all got together when they were on The Real World: Sacramento. 

The series followed a group of friends navigating their social lives in Chicago. Eliza Coupe and Elisha Cuthbert play the Kerkovich sisters, the hyper-competitive-to-the-point-of-madness Jane and the impossibly dim bulb Alex. Damon Wayans Jr. is Jane's occasionally effeminate husband Brad, and they are really, really into each other, while the same can't quite be said for Alex and her earnestly douchey ex-fiance Dave (Zachary Knighton), whom she leaves at the altar in the pilot episode while still remaining on-again, off-again friends. Penny (Casey Wilson), whose dating life is a revolving door of disasters, is a childhood friend of the Kirkoviches and occasional beard for Max (Adam Pally), Dave's gay slacker-slob college friend.

ABC mismanaged the scheduling of what could have been the next generation of Friends so badly that it didn't make it past Season 3, much to the chagrin of its devoted fans, with the network airing the show's semi-serialized episodes out of order and shifting timeslots from Wednesdays to Tuesdays and ultimately Fridays.

Despite the early demise in 2013, there were attempts to save the show with other networks that didn't pan out, there have been talks of a revival, and there were actual cast reunions at both PaleyFest and during the pandemic. There may yet be hope of seeing Brad break out his ventriloquist dummy Sinbrad once again someday.

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Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.