![]() I pitched it to producers and literally half a sentence in, every single person was like, “People have pitched that idea a ton.” Literally every single person didn't like it. I was like, that would be really funny and sad. With the five-year anniversary of the show’s debut coming around on April 13, Complex spoke with the actors and executives that made Happy Endings the cult classic it remains today.ĭavid Caspe: I was writing movies and my agents were like, “Would you ever want to pitch a TV show?” I came up with what I thought was a phenomenal idea about divorced guys living in one of those divorced guys apartment buildings. It speaks volumes to the nerve Happy Endings struck that it continues to live on, even in death. A new fan base has also come into the fold, thanks to the show finally becoming available for streaming in January 2016. Rumors bubbled earlier this year that a Happy Endings movie could be in the cards. Sony shopped the show to USA, which almost picked it up shortly after its cancelation, but the deal fell through at the last minute. Since then, its cult status has given it consistent, renewed life. Happy Endings was canceled in 2013, after three seasons. The show never got the support it deserved. The midseason airdate, April 13, 2011, preceded what would become a stronger second season, when Modern Family was its lead-in. ![]() Picked up in 2010 from a pilot directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Happy Endings shot its first season in the dark, filming every episode prior to its network debut. In spite of its quality, the show faced an uphill battle. The writing was sharp, the editing left no room for lags, and the chemistry was palpable. The show, created by David Caspe, followed six 20-somethings living in Chicago, transforming the experience of post-collegiate adulthood into a factory line of jokes, carried by a handful of distinct stars at a ceaseless pace. Happy Endings is one of the rare ensemble comedies that got it right, but it was choppy waters from the start of its three-season run. It’s a machine controlled by an even larger machine-the networks and studios-that easily crumbles when a single screw falls loose. But each 22-minute episode is an exhausting process, from hatching the idea in the writer’s room and fine-tuning the script to blocking it on set and piecing it together in post-production. ![]() Friends, Seinfeld and Cheers made it look easy, banking on comic actors to deliver punchlines with expert ease and carry storylines across the finish line, all in the name of microwave popcorn entertainment. Striking the right balance for a network ensemble comedy is like finding the perfect storm.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |