1. It's The True Successor To Friends
A controversial opinion and one that I think needs explaining - this isn't to say that
Happy Endings is better than
Friends.
Friends was a cultural phenomenon with a global audience and cast who were household names (and remain so).
Happy Endings has only been around for three years but yet has, I truly believe, the right as the heir apparent to the sitcom throne.
Happy Endings and
Friends obviously share similarities - six friends living near each other, all entertwined with each other's lives and sharing a warmth and a love that makes you all gooey inside. Hell the
Happy Endings characters even correspond with their Friends counterparts - Jane (Monica), Brad (Chandler), Alex (Rachel), Penny (Phoebe), Max (Joey) and Dave (Ross). But there's something deeper than that - both shows are about the ties that bind, not necessarily the ones that we're born with. While Jane and Alex are related by blood, there's very little on-screen rivalry that takes place, albeit in specific plot-aimed episodes, and there's is a strong sisterly bond built on love. Brad and Jane are the power couple of the show, Penny and Max's pseudo-sibling antics are a joy to watch and every pairing on the show is a hit when it comes to comedy and affection. Even though the show doesn't have a live audience to react with like
Friends utilised to great effect,
Happy Endings is an equally fun, breezy, drily witty but uncynical show about the ability to great through any life changes with some joie de vivre, love and friendship. It doesn't matter whether it's death, moving on, the birth of a baby, the end of a relationship, both shows are aimed squarely at the human condition, hitting home with humour. Can
Friends ever be replaced? No.
Friends was a wonderful show at the perfect height of prime zeitgeist.
Happy Endings is a show that is on the danger of being lost forever. But in this modern time when viewers have more power than influence what is going on, maybe the executives their energies into finding a place for
Happy Endings, a show whose legacy in the future will hopefully be of years of laughs, rather than a great show brutally cut down in its prime. So: do you think
Happy Endings should be saved? Or is it destined for the DVD box set bargain basement? Leave your comments in the box below!