Happy Endings (TV series)


Happy Endings is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from April 13, 2011, to May 3, 2013. The single-camera ensemble comedy originally aired as a mid-season replacement. The show was created by David Caspe. Caspe and Jonathan Groff served as the show's executive producers and showrunners.
On May 10, 2013, Happy Endings was canceled by ABC after three seasons. ABC's erratic scheduling of the third season, the season's lower ratings and subsequent cancellation, was called one of the "worst TV decisions" of the 2012–13 television season by the pop-culture website Vulture.

Plot

Happy Endings follows the dysfunctional adventures of six best friends living in Chicago: "crazy-in-love" married couple, businessman overachiever Brad and his neurotic perfectionist wife Jane ; ditzy Alex, a happy-go-lucky boutique owner and Jane's younger sister; daydreamer Dave, an aspiring restaurateur and food truck owner; slacker manchild Max, who struggles to hold a job and maintain a consistent relationship; and outgoing party girl Penny, a serial dater on an eternal search for Mr. Right.
The series begins with the wedding of Dave and Alex, which comes to an abrupt halt when Alex leaves Dave at the altar. The six friends must cope with a sudden change in the group dynamic as Dave and Alex mourn their relationship and the rest of the group try to preserve their friendship. Dave and Alex decide to stay friends, but there are many more complications down the road.
While the initial premise of Dave and Alex's broken engagement was the focal point in earlier episodes, this premise was mostly abandoned as the series went on. Instead, the focus shifted to the group dynamic of six best friends, in a similar vein of ensemble comedies like Friends and How I Met Your Mother. Each episode typically features two plot lines in which varying combinations of the six characters are involved.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Eliza Coupe as Jane Kerkovich-Williams – Alex's older sister and Brad's wife. Before Dave and Alex's breakup, Jane wished to start a family and live a "perfect suburban life", a plan she abandoned when Alex called off her wedding. Jane is competitive, a perfectionist by nature, and something of a control freak. Despite her Type-A attitude, Jane had a wild past in college, most notably embracing her bisexuality, wearing pink streaks in her hair, and donating an egg her freshman year to finance a spring break trip to Cabo San Lucas. She and Brad are very affectionate in public, which often makes their friends uncomfortable. In season three, she takes a job working as a car salesperson, after dealership owner "The Car Czar" is impressed with her negotiating skills.
  • Elisha Cuthbert as Alex Kerkovich – Jane's younger sister and Dave's ex-fiancée. Alex is the youngest in the group of friends. Alex leaves Dave at the altar on their wedding day, a decision she sometimes regrets. She enjoys going on double dates and "girls nights out" with her best friend Penny. She runs a women's clothing boutique called Xela in downtown Chicago. As the group's token dimwit, she often gets lost or confused during many of the gang's jokes, though she occasionally shows signs of intelligence. In season two, she moves in with Penny after accidentally ruining her apartment with smoke damage. She often eats a lot, to the surprise of the gang, though she keeps in shape. In season three, she moves into a new apartment with Dave as they enter a new phase of their relationship.
  • Zachary Knighton as Dave Rose Jr. – Alex's ex-fiancé. In the aftermath of his broken engagement, Dave follows his dreams of owning and operating a food truck business, which he names "Steak Me Home Tonight." Dave becomes roommates with Max after his breakup, and decides to be friends with Alex while still dating numerous other women. Dave often goes out of his way to prove he is the "cool guy" of the group, as he is often the butt of his friends' jokes and ridiculed for his fashion choices, such as his love of v-neck shirts. Dave is also known to go overboard with embracing his th Navajo heritage. In season three, Dave and Alex get back together and try to make their relationship work again.
  • Adam Pally as Max Blum – Dave's best friend from college. Max is gay, but does not display the more common stereotypes: he is slovenly and uncultured, and described by Penny as a "straight dude who likes dudes". In college, he used Penny as a beard while he was still in the closet; he still perpetrates this ruse to his parents until coming out to them in Season 1. He and Brad met as cast members on The Real World. He enjoys playing video games, watching sports, and playing pranks on his friends. Max is fairly casual about relationships, more often settling for brief flings, but he notably dated Grant until Max discovered that Grant did not want children. Max is Jewish, but is licensed as a minister of a non-denominational Christian church to officiate weddings. In season two, he buys a vintage limousine and attempts to start a limo driving service, until he blows up his limousine in a prank.
  • Damon Wayans Jr. as Brad Williams – Jane's husband and best friend of Dave and Max. Brad and Jane first met in college, while appearing on the MTV reality show The Real World based in Sacramento, CA. Despite his uptight day job in investment banking, he is generally laid-back and enjoys getting into crazy adventures with the gang. Brad will often show his effeminate side around Jane, while effecting a "manly" demeanor around the rest of the gang. At the end of season two, his department was cut, and he was briefly unemployed. He spent a brief amount of time working as a Bar Mitzvah hype guy alongside Max, then at a children's gym called "Chuckles & Huggs", before he was offered a new business job again.
  • Casey Wilson as Penny Hartz – a childhood friend of the Kerkovich sisters. Perpetually single and always seeking the right guy, Penny's tumultuous dating life is often a joke among her friends, and she is usually seen with a new boyfriend or love interest. She dated Max in college before he came out to her, and poses as his girlfriend to his parents. She has also shown romantic interest in Dave. Penny works in public relations and prides herself on being the most fashionable person in her office. Despite her unlucky love life, she remains optimistic, often declaring that it is "The Year of Penny". She is known for her unique pronunciations of certain words and her habit of abbreviating words. In Season 3, Penny meets Pete and the two become a steady couple. After four months of dating, Pete proposes to Penny and she accepts. However, she later called off their engagement when she realized they did not know each other well enough, a decision she regrets.

    Recurring

  • Stephen Guarino as Derrick – The gang's "offensively stereotypical gay" friend, who loves to bring the "D-R-A-M-A!" Max first introduces him to Penny, after she complains that Max is not the gay best friend that she wants him to be. Penny later turns to Derrick to pose as her fake fiancé for a wedding, but the plan fell through when his only way of acting heterosexual was to impersonate Danny Zuko from Grease. He marries his boyfriend Eric at the end of season two.
  • Seth Morris as Scotty – Max's weird, creepy, and slightly psychotic friend. Max will occasionally call him in when he needs a favor, such as attempting to rough-up a coffee shop mascot or pretending to be a tour guide. He is also the new referee/judge at the annual "Rosalita's Run" scavenger hunt. It has been implied that he is stalking Max.
  • Megan Mullally as Dana Hartz – Penny's positive and upbeat mother. She has been divorced three times and is a traveling lounge singer. Dana and Penny used to perform as a mother-and-daughter singing duo called "Two Hartz Beat as One". She started dating Dave's father, "Big" Dave, after running into him at Alex and Dave's wedding.
  • Nick Zano as Pete – Penny's ex-fiancé. They first meet while Penny was shopping for a helmet after getting a concussion. According to Max, he is said to be Penny's first steady boyfriend to last more than her usual 10 days before breaking up. After 4 months of dating, he proposes to Penny, but she later calls off their engagement.
  • Rob Corddry as Lon "The Car Czar" Sarofsky – Jane's crude boss at the car dealership. Known for his famous "The Car Czar: He Knows What Cars Are" slogan. He briefly dates Penny while temporarily separated from his wife.
  • Michael McKean as Big Dave – Dave's single father who started dating Dana after running into her at Alex and Dave's wedding.
  • James Wolk as Grant – Max's former boyfriend who comes back into his life in season two when he shows up in Max's limo on Valentine's Day.
  • Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Chase – Max's former roommate who makes it his mission to ruin Max's life when he least suspects it, after Max accidentally causes him to lose his job and his wife.
  • Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Daphne Wilson – Penny's annoying childhood friend that she always tries to avoid.
  • Jon Daly as Brody Daniels – Dave's obnoxious buddy from college who often finds joy in Dave's misfortunes whenever he runs into him. At one point he gets in a "fistbump war" with Max.
  • Larry Wilmore as Mr. Forristal – Brad's boss who is often unaware that he has food on his face.
  • Paul Scheer as Avi – Max's creepy kimono wearing neighbor.
  • Christopher McDonald as Mr. Kerkovich – Alex and Jane's father who has run the family owned mattress business for 20 years.
  • Julie Hagerty as Mrs. Kerkovich – Alex and Jane's mother. Alex is said to have taken after her mom, while Jane gets her type-A personality from her dad.
  • Damon Wayans as Francis "Fran" Williams – Brad's dad, who never tells him he loves him, instead they share manly stories about sports, etc.. Brad's dad has a breakthrough allowing him to experience the feeling of expressing love, saying it about everything except his son. In season one, Brad indicates that his father was in the military, though he does not say which branch or what his father's rank might have been.