Who else watched the new sitcom Happy Endings? Eliza Coupe, playing a character not that much like Denise in Scrubs: Med School; Casey Wilson, proving that she didn’t drop off the edge of the world after leaving SNL; some other people, including a Wayans offspring.
I liked it. The characters are pretty solidly written, the cast play them reasonably well, the situations are goofy but so far not too annoying for me.
But my tastes are non-standard. I love* Cougar Town*, and sometimes I’ll watch Better With You as well, which is good in different ways, but Modern Family is between them, & I usually just skip that. I know, sacrilege.
I didn’t bother watching. When the promote the show using a singularly unfunny line (the “retort” to the woman in the gym), you know the show has to be in trouble if that’s the best they can find.
I thought it ironic that one review they showed compared it to Friends, but less white. It’s basically *Friends *on film. Left at the altar, white girl w/ cornrowed hair, angst about age and dating competitiveness, 2 characters are siblings, both the black guy and gay guy are novelties who must be commented on in every scene…I could go on but spoil more for those who haven’t watched it.
I didn’t bother to finish watching the last, no doubt predictable, 10 minutes. Go away, show about neurotic white people, you do not interest me.
I had just finished watching a DVD last night and flipped on the regular tv right when it started. I got just past the first commercial break when I turned it off. Just awful.
I watched the first of the two episodes, and found it unfunny and full of unpleasant, unlikeable characters. I put up with unpleasant characters if the show is funny (Curb Your Enthusiasm, etc.), but if there’s no laughs, why bother?
I wouldn’t say the characters are unlikeable. They’re flawed, they’re quirky.
Eliza Coupe’s character is a massive worrier and drinks in stressful situations, but she loves her husband and cares about her “harebrained” sister. Also, I have give them points for having an interracial couple on the show. Yes, we as a society are still where that’s noteworthy. Even if her husband is token black guy on a white show, and as written so far, could just as easily be white.
I figure they had to get the “hey, I’m gay” stuff established in the pilot. The second episode (which they ran right after) then establishes that the token gay friend isn’t stereotypically gay. I think his gayness is just another potential source of humor, and will get mentioned a lot in shows where they get a running joke from it.
I liked the other three characters’ sort of neurotic qualities. It seemed to balance out, each has their moments where they demonstrate some sanity compared to their group, and each gets to be dumb about something.
Now, as for the second episode, it may have gone too silly in some ways, but I actually liked the resolution of the “gay husband” arc.
I chuckled about a half-dozen times during the two episodes. That’s not a lot, for sure, but considering most sitcoms don’t even get one *laugh *per episode, let alone one chuckle, it was enough that I’ll keep an eye out for further episodes.
I guess I’ll resurrect this thread to note that as of last night’s episode (where Brad’s father, played by Damon Wayans, Sr, appears) I am sold on the “Brad and Jane” (Damon Wayans, Jr/Eliza Coupe) married couple. I think they’re getting that down.
I think Eliza Coupe is sexy and she is one of the reasons I watch. In general I think the show is mediocre but I like sitcoms and there aren’t a lot of great ones on.
Based on the episodes so far, I’m of the opinion that Happy Endings is more or less in the middle of the pack compared to the other sitcoms currently on the air. Mind you, there are a lot of bad sitcoms on the air right now. I’d definitely rank it ahead of Better With You and Rules of Engagement, for instance, but it’s streets behind Community. If the show can’t find its footing, it will wind up as the best “bad sitcom” on the air; if it does find its footing, it could be one of the least good “good sitcoms”.
Pretty much everything is streets behind Community. In the 2 years it’s been on, it’s developed into pretty much the best sitcom since Arrested Development.
This show, it’s not great so far, but it definitely shows some potential. And it’s at least watchable unlike Better With You.
Best part so far was when they went meta in, I think episode 2, with a joke about Elisha Cuthbert’s character bringing up the horrible “caught in a trap with a cougar stalking her” plot from 24 season 2. They probably took it a little too far by continuing to joke about her dad stopping terrorists, but I still laughed.
Bumping just to say… something seems very groundhog day-ish about this week’s episodes.
Are they being shown out of order? Between Dave going to beat up skateboard guy, and the ‘keep Dave and Alex apart’ plot, it seems like these should have been shown immediately after the pilot.
Yeah, kinda pissed me off. These had to be the second and third shot, or very close to it. The showed Dave moving into the crappy apartment, so it was very shortly after the breakup.