If there’s one major point I have to make about the Happy Endings Season 2 premiere, it’s that the show’s lucky it had such a strong first season.
Not that I hated tonight’s episode, but it was substantially weaker than the rest. The storylines made the characters seem immature and one-dimensional. Even if certain members of the group we’ve come to love, such as Max, have always been a bit childish in their actions, at least they made us bust a gut laughing. But in this premiere, I’m sad to say I only chuckled a couple of times. (And mostly it was due to Max’s whining, ironically enough.)
Let’s take Penny, for example. While it is funny that the guy she brings home is turned off by her independence and ability to buy her own place, this plot line takes a turn for the worse when Penny fears that her house is haunted … by spinsters. I did laugh out loud when Penny rattles off things she has to go do — buy a housecoat and create an AOL account, for example — but the cats appearing in her apartment and the mysterious DVR taping The Good Wife and The View? That felt a little absurd. Absurd could be good if, again, the laughter follows. I’m sad to say it didn’t, for me. (Well, maybe a little, when Max admitted to being the one who DVR’ed The View.)
Even Casey Wilson‘s performance didn’t seem as vivacious as usual tonight. I usually love her zany antics, but tonight she played it kind of subdued. It was like how Penny plowed through three separate pints of ice cream in sweats instead of enjoying her party: her heart seemed to just not be in it.
Equally bad, if not more terrible, was the trio of awkward and annoying cattiness, courtesy of Alex, Jane (who seem to have swapped hairstyles with each other this season), and Dave. It’s bad enough that just thinking of jambalaya makes me want to puke as it is, but they had to mention it over and over again! Also, maybe I’m just traumatized from watching too many godawful Idol (and, now, X Factor) auditions, but I can’t stand when people sing horribly on TV. It makes me need to physically leave the room. Which I really didn’t want to do, as Happy Endings has been on the top of my list of comedies this year. And I don’t want to give up on it.
So, I won’t, and instead I’ll move on to a more affable approach: I really liked the interactions between Max and Brad in the premiere. I always enjoy their friendship the most out of anyone on the show. Even though Max spent the majority of his time onscreen whining, a lot of hilarious things were said.
The best thing about the show’s humor is that it’s very quick and a lot of the jokes can go unnoticed if you happen to be texting, tweeting, or responding to someone next to you on the couch (yep, honey, stop interrupting me while I watch my show!). This is partially why I like it so much. It’s understated humor, because it’s very conversational and is often funny simply because of the implications of what’s being said, the body language, the tone of voice, the physical comedy (Alex taking a spoonful of jambalaya and then promptly spitting it back into the bowl, for one) and so on.
That’s why tonight’s premiere wasn’t so impressive: because despite the sprinkle of laughs and chuckles, I know the show can do better.
Happy Endings quotes:
“I’m glad you all could be here to commemorate the worst day of my life.” — Dave, referring to the day Alex left him at the altar
“No, I thought the worst day was when you didn’t get pulled onstage at that Spin Doctors concert.” — Jane
“I could be professional.” — Max, to Brad, in response to not getting invited to Brad’s networking outing
“Yeah. You have a better chance at being black than professional. [beat] That’s not a challenge. That is not a challenge.” — Brad
“I know it seems like I have my life together, but I am a mess, ok? Psycho! I will, like, friend your mom on Facebook and start showing up at events I was not invited to!” — Penny, to Jeremy, who is turned off by Penny’s owning a home and “having her life together”
“Wait. [creepy music plays] I didn’t get a cat. Because … cats are for spinsters. Is it cold in here? I need a housecoat and a hot tea with lemon. Should I get an AOL email address? What’s wrong with me?!” — Penny, who’s afraid of turning into a spinster in her new condo
Clacked by Rachel Blum-Jose 
on Sep 28, 2011 @ 23:16 EST5EDT
I loved it. So glad its back and if you loved it last year give it a chance and don’t be a h8ter. I think its important to support the good shows so the networks keep producing them.
and btw – who care that haircuts changed? girls change hairstyles, even girls on tv.