Courtney K fell in love with the show HAPPY ENDINGS just in time to hear the great news that it’s been picked up for a second season.  Here’s her take:

Let me begin by stating for the record, the title of the show kept me from first watching it. I know. It’s incredibly judgmental of me but I didn’t like it and was planning to boycott. Then @MyTakeOnTV had some rave tweets about it and I decided to give it a shot and I’m so very glad I did!

The pilot had a rocky start but thankfully was short and to the point. Very little boring back-story detailed out but the pertinent parts are easily gleaned: 1) long-term relationship couple breaks up at the altar. 2) There’s a close-knit group of friends surrounding the couple. 3) Couple manages to quickly and quietly work out their venom without screwing up the group dynamic (completely unrealistic but it works with this show). 4) The age group ranges from mid-to-late twenties to early thirties. 5) One friend is gay. Two members of the group are married to each other and none of them have any kids. And LET THE FUNNY COMMENCE!!

So far, for me the stand-out characters have been Max (Adam Pally), Brad (Damon Wayans, Jr.) and Penny (Casey Wilson). Max is the gay. He’s the greatest anti-stereotypically gay character on television. He’s awesome! Pally plays the character Max with such lovable snark it’s impossible for me not to throw my head back laughing.  His dead-pan deliveries are more glorious when wrapped in his situationally-thick what-I-think-is-Chicago-but-it-could-be-Michigan accent (confirmed: it’s Chicago). I mean seriously, hearing him say “Apple Smacks” was a joy! The aimless one, Max doesn’t appear to have a career at this point, but that really doesn’t matter. He appeals to the 80’s child in me that wants to watch bad movies and TV marathon style and eat cereal for dinner. I hang on every word he says and am giddy when the focus of the ½ hour episode is heavily in his favor.

Second in my mind is Brad, one of the married duo squished into the group. Portrayed by Damon Wayans, Jr, Brad appears to be the most professional of the 6 friends; he wears a suit to work. Though again, I have no idea what he does for work. He’s married to the tightly wound Jane (sister of Alex, the bride who left groom Dave at the altar) and seems to be the perfect balance of naiveté, silliness and whispery-aside one liner dropping excellence. He’s got the Wayans physical comedy smoothness down without being obnoxious. Brad is endearing with an edge. When he’s paired in scenes with Max, the two really give a solid buddy vibe; it’s easy to believe that they could be friends since high school.

And finally, we come to Penny. Casey Wilson is a delight! Thankfully they seem to have stopped having her say the affected “Ah-mah-zing” which was driving me a bit crazy (but I have to admit, my friends and I are guilty of mispronouncing words ironically which must be just as obnoxious). Penny is the single gal who is perpetually looking for “the one”. Completely relatable, Penny is realistic and cynical but is inarguably a romantic whose search has brought her much fodder from her pals. I can relate. A lot. And I LOVE Penny!! Her character recently accidently dated a “hipster” and THANK GOD because I wasn’t precisely sure what a hipster really was and when she dated one it cleared that right up for me! She’s smart, funny and gorgeous and practically a professional dater. Her storylines are all centering around this, and I’m really hoping we get a bit more out of Penny because I adore her so much!

HAPPY ENDINGS airs on ABC, check your local listings and DVR it for crying out loud! Hopefully the network won’t pull the plug on the show. It’s really good! go ahead and catch up with it, I’m sure it’ll be up during the summer, plus it’s on hulu.com for the moment. Don’t be afraid like I was. I was frightened by the unfortunate title and was pleasantly proven wrong by the content of the writing and presentation. While writing this, it dawned on me that this show provides just what a feel good sitcom should, a look at situations where deflective humor is flung about like confetti, arguments with hysterical comebacks instead of actual insults, resolutions without tears, and yes…there it is, always a Happy Ending. Now I get it.