Wednesday night's newest sitcom begins with a runaway bride disrupting the impossibly close friendship of six yuppies who all own absurdly awesome apartments. No, I'm not talking about "Friends" (1994-2004), but rather a similarly premised show on ABC named "Happy Endings."
In reality, though, to write off "Endings" as a "Friends" imitation would be as ridiculous as calling "House" a duplication of "General Hospital" — the setting might be the same, but the writing and production values could not be more different. First of all, two of the characters in "Happy Endings" are already married, one character is black and another is gay. And before you say, "Oh, so it's just progressive ‘Friends,'" also note that there is no cheesy studio laughter and that it takes place in Chicago. See? Totally different.
The show centers on a couple that has just broken up: Alex (Elisha Cuthbert) has left her boyfriend of 10 years, Dave (Zachary Knighton), at the altar. Their friends then scramble to pick sides and mend the hole in their tight little clique. Hilarity does not ensue.
Fortunately for "Happy Endings," the writers soon forget this stupid, unfunny premise after the pilot and instead assert that Alex and Dave will be perfectly good friends who barely remember dating for an entire decade. This is where the fun begins, as each plot gets more and more ridiculous and the characters become increasingly less realistic. In episode three, Penny (Casey Wilson) realizes her new boyfriend's last name is "Hitler," Dave finds out a man is living in his ceiling and Alex gets a Bo Derek hairstyle.
In fact, the show's penchant for the bizarre that sets it apart from "Friends" is entirely reminiscent of another popular sitcom — "Scrubs" (2001-10). Completely borrowed are the quick cut-aways, throwback references, cutesy indie music (Indigo Girls? Really?) and even the magnificent Eliza Coupe, who plays Alex's bossy married sister. The writing and acting may be decent, but this blatant recycling of "Scrubs'" fantastic humor is what renders "Happy Endings" unoriginal.
On the flip side, it does separate "Happy Endings" from the billions of other couple-centric shows that premiered this year. After watching the midseason debuts of "Better With You," "Traffic Light" and "Perfect Couples," I was pretty prepared to tick off "Endings" as another kitschy flop. But honestly, it's way better — I'd rather watch a show modeled after "Scrubs" than "The Big Bang Theory" any day.
Even if "Scrubs" isn't your cup of tea, there is still one great reason to try "Happy Endings" out: Adam Pally as the hilarious Max. Pally steals the show with his nonstereotypical depiction of a gay character. Max is Dave's bro-ish and sloppy best friend, an incredibly refreshing departure from the flamboyance so often seen in primetime (a la Chris Colfer in "Glee" or Eric Stonestreet in "Modern Family").
I would go so far to claim that Pally gives the most realistic portrayal of a gay character on television, an impressive accomplishment considering the unrealistic nature of "Happy Endings" as a whole. Either way, he does have the greatest reason I have ever heard for not coming out of the closet: "Coming out is so gay," he tells Jane. "Why should I? My parents only visit like once every two years."
"Happy Endings" airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m., and you should probably check it out if you have nothing better to do.
