One year later, I am still heartbroken that Happy Endings actually did end. What an ominous title that was...
It took me almost the entirety of the first season to start feeling the love for Happy Endings, but I stuck it out and I found that while I was expecting a How I Met Your Mother meets Friends kind of show, Happy Endings was much more and very different in all the right ways.
Although the series builds from Dave & Alex's wedding, all 6 characters are equally hilarious, entertaining, adorkable (yes there's a k there), relatable and whimsical. I couldn't pick one strong character in this cast, neither could I pick a weak one (although Dave is a bit of an acquired taste). I will never forget Max' genius "hold your horses" or Winnie The Pooh episode, Alex' "I'm not as dumb as I am" and her couch prank or her "I may not know what an Ira Glass is", Brad's Sim-Brad, Penny's falls and head bumps, Jane's ideal salary negotiation, her calm authority and that episode she loses it all at the couples games night, and Dave's so subtle dorky behavior.
But that isn't even half of Happy Endings' strength. Never before has any show assumed the gay/black attributes of its characters so openly, without making that one particular define their whole identity. Happy Endings broke the stereotypes of those characters, and the stereotypical way in which they are usually dealt with in TV/Movies. It didn't dance around the obvious, try to make a political stance, or avoid laughing about it. As with any group of friends, they sometimes joked about Max not being gay enough, or Brad's black origins and the way he speaks, and the jokes were real and tasteful.
There's also the fact that Happy Endings is a physical + spoken + situation comedy at once, a traditional sitcom in that sense, but the spoken aspect was always subdued, full of references, and it made you work for your reward in every joke. I was often too focused on one aspect or character and didn't notice what else was happening simultaneously. I also missed some of the verbal jokes. That's why there is such an added value in re-watching Happy Endings.
I have seen every episode at least 5 times and I STILL find new things to laugh at. That's how much there is going on, and how brilliant the show is. I am grateful that we got 3 seasons of Happy Endings, but I would have loved more, so much and much and much more.
