[1] Happy Endings follows the dysfunctional adventures of six best friends living in Chicago: "crazy-in-love" married couple, businessman overachiever Brad (Damon Wayans, Jr.) and his neurotic perfectionist wife Jane (Eliza Coupe); ditzy Alex (Elisha Cuthbert), a happy-go-lucky boutique owner and Jane's younger sister; daydreamer Dave (Zachary Knighton), an aspiring restaurateur and food truck owner; slacker manchild Max (Adam Pally), who struggles to hold a job and maintain a consistent relationship; and outgoing party girl Penny (Casey Wilson), a serial dater on an eternal search for Mr.

Before the episode aired, David Caspe explained that the kiss was cut purely as a creative decision and that there had been no pressure from the network to remove any gay content.

[18] On April 3, 2013, it was reported that Sony TV, which produces Happy Endings, had approached a few networks about continuing the series should ABC cancel it the following month, with USA being the most likely to pick up the show.

[20] Talks were underway by May 15, 2013,[21] but showed signs of being unsuccessful as on May 16, 2013, the pickup was already labeled "unlikely"[22] as a result of Sony TV and USA being unable to agree on a price.

[29] On June 28, 2013, Sony announced that the series had officially ended, citing an inability to find a new home for the show before the expiration of their contracts with the cast as the sole reason behind the decision.

[31] On February 6, 2015, the Twitter account of the show's writers room tweeted a link to a timer counting down to exactly 12:00 a.m. CT on April 1, 2015, with the text 'It's almost a new day'.

[35] The availability of the show's cast was also seen by some as giving credibility to theories of a revival – Eliza Coupe's show Benched was canceled in January 2015,[36] Adam Pally's exit from The Mindy Project was announced in November 2014[37] with his final episode airing February 3, 2015, and Damon Wayans, Jr.'s departure from New Girl at the end of the fourth season was announced on February 5, 2015.

[44] In mid-March, cast member Adam Pally stated that "the origin of that 'Happy Endings' countdown clock was not intended to be where it is headed".

[48] On July 19, 2016, it was announced that the cast of the show would reunite at Entertainment Weekly's EW PopFest in October 2016 for a live reading of a lost episode of the series.

[50] The "episode", titled "Happy to Be Here", reveals that the characters all went their separate ways after a fight between Jane and Brad on the night of Brooke's wedding at the end of the third season.

Eventually Alex's deception is revealed (as is the fact that Scotty actually killed himself while attempting to fake his death) and Jane and Brad reconcile.

In the closing moments of the episode, it is revealed that the entire series was actually a dream Dave was having the night before his wedding to Alex, and after waking her up he inadvertently gives her the idea to leave him at the altar.

[51] There have been multiple reports in the years since the show ended that Sony is attempting to work on a revival,[52] but to date nothing has come to fruition.

In April 2020 Casey Wilson confirmed that there has been truth to the reports that Sony has attempted to get a revival underway multiple times but has always fallen apart when at least one cast member is under another deal with another studio.

The event was organised to raise money for Color of Change and World Central Kitchen supporting Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 relief.

[56] Marry Me is a sitcom television series created and executive produced by David Caspe that aired on NBC, which premiered on October 14, 2014.

Three of the original six series regulars on Marry Me – Casey Wilson, Ken Marino and Sarah Wright Olsen – also appeared on Happy Endings, albeit in different roles.

[60] The season also aired mostly out of the intended broadcast order to make the initial episodes more "stand alone" in an effort to get more people invested in the show.

[74] However, on February 13, 2013, ABC announced that, starting March 29, the series would move to Fridays at 8 pm ET/PT with back-to-back original episodes.

[77] On February 29, 2012, ABC premiered the first of a six-part webisode series titled Happy Rides, which follows the events from Penny deciding to get rid of her storage space, which leads to her selling her first car.

In addition to airing the show, the network licensed rights to showcase episodes of the series online via its TV Everywhere platforms and also on the VH1 app.

The series initially received a mixed response from critics, many comparing it to several similar "relationship sitcoms" that had premiered around the same time—Perfect Couples, Mad Love, Traffic Light and Friends with Benefits.

Club,[92] Hulu,[93] the Associated Press,[94] the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,[95] and Yahoo!TV[96] all included the series in lists of the top television programs of 2011.

Verne Gay of Newsday wrote that "The show exists on the same cosmic (and comic) TV plane as Scrubs, Arrested Development and that other late bloomer, Cougar Town.

"[97] Maureen Ryan of The Huffington Post stated that "Happy Endings has so many things going for it that the occasional weak story line or meh scene is not a big deal at all.

Blending comedic elements of Friends, Arrested Development, and 30 Rock, it manages to serve up something new and refreshing by being both consumed by and annoyed with the frenetic world we live in.