No, I’m not frequenting sketchy massage parlors. I simply have added a new television show to my weekly mix. “Happy Endings” premiered a month or so ago on ABC and has started to run through two episodes a week on Wednesday nights.
I worried at first because the premiere of this show followed the run of Matthew Perry’s “Mr. Sunshine.” That show had some good moments, but overall fell short of impressing me. Since these trial runs had pushed “Cougar Town” to the side, I didn’t enjoy the prospect of another crappy sitcom taking the place of one of my favorites.
I should not have worried. I really didn’t watch until this past weekend when I caught up on most of the season on the DVR (Sue me – I’m old, and the show runs at 10 p.m. in the middle of the week) and found I had something new to look forward to each week.
The premise could have completely fallen on its face. Basically, a girl leaves a guy at the altar, and their friends try to figure out how to deal with this split. But the nuances within the familiar group of six makes this show well worth the time.
First off, Casey Wilson may have worked her way onto “my list.” I have a weakness for normal-sized, dark-haired women with sass. So that’s definitely a plus.
The presence of a gay character shouldn’t surprise anyone, but Adam Palley does an amazing (or a-mah-zing as Wilson’s Penny character would say) job of bringing depth to the character by making him shallow and non-stereotypical.
Elisha Cuthbert and Eliza Coupe fill out the other two female roles with Damon Wayans Jr. (as Coupe’s wife husband) and Zachary Knighton (as the guy Cuthbert left at the altar) round out the dudes.
Like any group friend comedy, there are things you need to get over, but the show does some clever things which really make it a candidate for long-term success. They even managed to successfully pull off a guest appearance by Damon Wayans playing the TV father of his real-life son.
The show has clever writing combined with quality casting. They certainly have some obstacles to overcome over time with the whole “will they get back together” question looming over Alex (Cuthbert) and Dave (Knighton), but they have already tackled some of that which makes me think this show has more than a few good episodes left to come.