Happy Endings Review: 1.01 "Pilot" & 1.02 "The Quicksand Girlfriend"

NBC

Today is not a good day to cancel Happy Endings.

This is a special review, not only is it of two episodes, but the first two episodes of a new series! I know, exciting stuff.

Let me get this out of the way off the bat, the show is actually very well done and extremely funny. Unfortunately, it also comes at a time when the market is saturated with a ridiculous amount of 'romantic, group of friends' sitcoms. How I Met Your Mother, Mad Love, Traffic Light, Better with You, Cougar Town, and Perfect Couples have all aired this year and all have very similar premises.

So while there is the overwhelming sense of deja vu here, the series still manages to feel fresh, which is no small accomplishment.

The basic premise of the series is Dave (Zachary Knighton) is left at the altar by Alex (Elisha Cuthbert). Blah, blah, blah, blah. Look, every review you see out there for this show is going to go into these people are and the crux of what we learn in the pilot. The truth is, the series only gets good when it gets past that point and lets the brilliant writing take hold.

Don't get me wrong, the series is not perfect, but it is already a better show than Perfect Couples was before it was cancelled, and has plenty of room to grow.

But is the show already Destined to be Cancelled, like it's NBC counterpart?

Well the truth is a little sad, but it very well could be. Launching a show in mid-April is never a good sign and next week it will be moving to 9:00 CDT, which is a very untraditional slot for a sitcom. It will be interesting to see how the ratings do, but initially it seems to be the perfect coupling (excuse the pun) with Cougar Town for a potential Tuesday comedy block next season.

It is at this point that I usually wrap these things up with bringing in a joke from earlier to tie things up nicely in a little package.

I guess for this one, I will just have to skip the Happy Ending.

Although seriously, give it a try next Wednesday night (I just couldn't end on such a terrible joke, despite evidence to the contrary, I am better than, but only by a little).

-Blake

Read Blake's other Wednesday Night ABC Comedy reviews for The Middle and Modern Family.