Happy Endings (season 1)

Happy Endings season 1
DVD cover art
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	13
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	April 13, 2011 (2011-04-13) – August 24, 2011 (2011-08-24)

The first season of Happy Endings, an American television series, premiered on April 13, 2011 and concluded on August 24 of the same year. ABC officially picked up the show on May 18, 2010, where it premiered on April as a mid-season replacement, with a one-hour premiere of two back-to-back episodes starting at 9:30 pm ET/PT. In the weeks that followed, the show continued to air back-to-back episodes that began airing at 10:00 pm ET/PT.

Cast

Starring

• Eliza Coupe as Jane Kerkovich-Williams
• Elisha Cuthbert as Alex Kerkovich
• Zachary Knighton as Dave Rose
• Adam Pally as Max Blum
• Damon Wayans, Jr. as Brad Williams
• Casey Wilson as Penny Hartz

Recurring

• Stephen Guarino as Derrick (2 episodes)
• Travis Van Winkle as Bo Bazinski (2 episodes)
• Seth Morris as Scotty (1 episode)
• Paul Scheer as Avi (1 episode)

Notable guest stars

• Mikaela Hoover as Jackie ("Pilot")
• Brett Gelman as Carl ("Your Couples Friends & Neighbors")
• Danielle Schneider as Dianne ("Your Couples Friends & Neighbors")
• Alan Rachins as Howard Blum ("Mein Coming Out")
• Caroline Aaron as Pauline Blum ("Mein Coming Out")
• Damon Wayans as Francis Williams ("Like Father, Like Gun")
• Rob Huebel as Alan Fitzgerald ("You've Got Male")
• Max Greenfield as Ian ("You've Got Male")
• Nat Faxon as Chef Leslie ("Bo Fight")
• Jon Daly as Brody Daniels ("Barefoot Pedaler")
• Nick Thune as Tommy ("Barefoot Pedaler")
• June Diane Raphael as Melinda Shershow ("The Shershow Redemption")
• T.J. Miller as Jason Shershow ("The Shershow Redemption")
• Gina Rodriguez as Rita ("Why Can't You Read Me")
• Meagen Fay as Barbara ("Why Can't You Read Me")
• Bre Blair as Kim ("Why Can't You Read Me")

Episodes

See also: List of Happy Endings episodes

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (million)
1	1	"Pilot"	Anthony Russo & Joe Russo	David Caspe	April 13, 2011 (2011-04-13)	HE101	7.30
Alex suddenly leaves Dave at the altar on the day of their wedding, putting their group of friends (Brad, Jane, Penny and Max) in an awkward position of having to choose sides. All these problems come to a head at Penny's birthday party the following week.
2	2	"The Quicksand Girlfriend"	Jeff Melman	Josh Bycel	April 13, 2011 (2011-04-13)	HE105	5.70
Dave has a one night stand with a girl he met at a bar. Feeling bad about just blowing her off, he decides to call her the next morning. But things go awry when he finds himself in a new relationship and the girl constantly smothers him. Meanwhile, Jane tries to help Alex find a new roommate, and Penny decides to find herself a more stereotypical gay friend to hang out with.
3	3	"Your Couples Friends & Neighbors"	Fred Savage	Josh Bycel	April 20, 2011 (2011-04-20)	HE109	4.59
Jane convinces Brad to try and befriend a more sophisticated married couple (Brett Gelman and Danielle Schneider); Max and Dave try to figure out why stuff has been disappearing from their apartment; Penny encourages Alex to start dating again after finding out that Dave has been doing the same.
4	4	"Mein Coming Out"	Jeff Melman	Gail Lerner	April 20, 2011 (2011-04-20)	HE108	3.86
Max's parents (Alan Rachins and Caroline Aaron) come to visit and his friends try to convince him to finally come out to them, but he is afraid of how they will react; on a blind date, Penny meets the man of her dreams and later discovers he happens to have a rather infamous last name.
5	5	"Like Father, Like Gun"	Tristram Shapeero	Daniel Libman & Matthew Libman	April 27, 2011 (2011-04-27)	HE112	5.17
After a health scare, Brad's uptight dad (Damon Wayans) now has a new lease on life and just wants to have fun, which Brad is having a difficult time dealing with; Penny starts to date an attractive Italian, but she can only speak his language when she's drunk; Dave and Max have fun in their apartment with nerf dart guns.
6	6	"Of Mice & Jazz-Kwon-Do"	Troy Miller	Rob Kerkovich & Todd Waldman	May 4, 2011 (2011-05-04)	HE107	3.88
Dave helps Alex with a mouse problem; Penny regrets inviting overly-competitive Jane to her self-defense class; Brad tries to set Max up with a guy he knows from the office.
7	7	"Dave of the Dead"	Randall Einhorn	Leila Strachan	May 4, 2011 (2011-05-04)	HE104	3.26
Dave talks about quitting his office job to start his own restaurant; Max and Jane compete in a series of challenges to determine who would survive a zombie apocalypse; Penny has trouble keeping up with her new hipster boyfriend.
8	8	"The Girl with the David Tattoo"	Jay Chandrasekhar	Prentice Penny	May 11, 2011 (2011-05-11)	HE111	4.18
Dave and Alex regret their couples tattoos and decide to get them removed; Jane feels Max is missing out on a perfect date; Brad and Penny try to make things right with a waiter they accidentally had fired.
9	9	"You've Got Male"	Matt Shakman	Leila Strachan	May 11, 2011 (2011-05-11)	HE110	3.46
Alex teams up with other small business owners to fight a chain coffee store that moves into the neighborhood, but things become complicated when Max finds out he's dating the store's owner (Max Greenfield); Dave is thrilled when his favorite high school teacher Alan (Rob Huebel) is back in town. But when Penny goes out on a date with Alan, she realizes he's not as perfect as he seems, but keeps the information a secret to avoid disappointing Dave; Brad and Jane make a bet to see who can get a job by using either their charm or being prepared.
10	10	"Bo Fight" "I'll Be There for You"	Joe Russo	David Caspe	May 18, 2011 (2011-05-18)	HE102	3.70
Alex's string of "girls' nights out" start to get on Penny's nerves; Max convinces Dave to track down and fight the man who ruined his wedding; Jane and Brad try to have a night out on the town.
11	11	"Barefoot Pedaler"	Anthony Russo	Gail Lerner	May 18, 2011 (2011-05-18)	HE103	3.10
A concert outing goes awry because of Alex and Dave's constant bickering; Jane gets progressively drunker throughout the night; Penny is determined to get backstage to reunite with the band's lead singer (Nick Thune) who she dated years before.
12	12	"The Shershow Redemption"	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Todd Linden, Steve Basilone, Annie Mebane & Sierra Teller Ornelas	May 25, 2011 (2011-05-25)	HE113	4.02
Being invited to the wedding of old friend Shershow (T.J. Miller) creates unexpected consequences and feelings among the group. Brad and Jane discover unsettling news about their marital status; Alex agrees to act as Dave's wingman at the wedding; Penny pretends to be engaged to Derrick; Shershow's fiancé (June Diane Raphael) thinks that Alex is a "wedding jinx".
13	13	"Why Can't You Read Me?"	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Prentice Penny	August 24, 2011 (2011-08-24)	HE106	2.98
Alex and Jane's sibling rivalry heats up; Dave starts to date a Lacrosse coach (Bre Blair) who has an unusual quirk; Max and Brad start to worry that Penny's new office assistant (Gina Rodriduez) is taking advantage of her.

Production

On January 19, 2010, ABC green-lit the pilot episode, which was written by David Caspe and directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. The show is from production companies Sony Pictures Television, ABC Studios, and executive producer Jamie Tarses' FanFare Productions. Executive producers are Jamie Tarses, Jonathan Groff and The Russo Brothers.

Casting announcements began in February 2010, with Damon Wayans, Jr. first cast as Brad, Jane's husband who does whatever she says. Next to join the series was Casey Wilson as Penny, the group's desperate and single friend. Eliza Coupe and Adam Pally shortly joined that cast, with Coupe playing Jane, Alex's control freak sister who is married to Brad, and Pally playing Max, Dave's close friend and roommate. Elisha Cuthbert later joined the cast as Alex, Dave's ex-fiancé who leaves him at the altar. Zachary Knighton was last actor to be cast as the newly single Dave.

The pilot was ordered to series on May 13, 2010, as a mid-season entry in the 2010–11 United States network television schedule.

ABC originally aired the episodes out of production order, affecting the continuity of the show. For example, Dave owns a food truck in the third episode to be aired, Your Couples Friends & Neighbors, though he doesn't get into the food truck business until the seventh episode to be aired, Dave of the Dead. The DVD release puts the episodes back into their intended order.

Reception

Critical reception

The first season currently holds a 57 out of 100 rating from critics on Metacritic, which indicates mixed or average reviews.

While initially criticized, being negatively compared to several similar "relationship sitcoms" that had premiered earlier in the season - Perfect Couples, Mad Love, Traffic Light and Friends with Benefits - all of which were canceled after one season. The series also drew comparisons from the hit 1990s sitcom Friends. However, as the season progressed, the reviews from critics became much warmer - with some admitting that it had grown on them and that it had improved since the pilot.

U.S. Ratings

The show's first season averaged 4 million viewers and a 1.7 rating in the adults among the 18-49 age demographic.

#	Episode	Original air date	Timeslot (EST)	Viewers (millions)	Ratings share (Adults 18-49)
1	"Pilot"	April 13, 2011	Wednesday 9:31PM	7.301	2.8/7
2	"The Quicksand Girlfriend"		Wednesday 10PM	5.700	2.3/6
3	"Your Couples Friends & Neighbors"	April 20, 2011	Wednesday 10PM	4.591	1.8/5
4	"Mein Coming Out		Wednesday 10:30PM	3.875	1.6/4
5	"Like Father, Like Gun"	April 27, 2011	Wednesday 10PM	5.169	2.1/5
6	"Of Mice & Jazz-Kwon-Do"	May 4, 2011		3.88	1.7/4
7	"Dave of the Dead"		Wednesday 10:30PM	3.26	1.4/4
8	"The Girl With the David Tattoo"	May 11, 2011	Wednesday 10PM	4.178	1.7/4
9	"You've Got Male"		Wednesday 10:30PM	3.463	1.4/4
10	"Bo Fight"	May 18, 2011	Wednesday 10PM	3.70	1.5/4
11	"Barefoot Pedaler"		Wednesday 10:30PM	3.10	1.3/3
12	"The Shershow Redemption"	May 25, 2011		4.02	1.7/4
13	"Why Can't You Read Me?"	August 24, 2011	Wednesday 9:30PM	2.98	1.3/4

DVD release

Happy Endings: The Complete First Season
Set details			Special features
13 episodes 2-disc set 1.85:1 aspect ratio Languages: English (Dolby Digital 5.1, with subtitles)			Banana Republic Style Previews The Girls of Happy Endings The Guys of Happy Endings Deleted Scenes Outtakes Mike Relm Remix Mark Douglas Interview with Adam Pally and Casey Wilson Parody Theme Song
Release dates
Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
September 20, 2011	March 12, 2012	August 15, 2012