Poll of the Day > On paper, the show Happy Endings is a show I really should like

(+) Yeah! (+)

But I dont.

I dont hate it. I mean, its fine. Its something I can leave on the TV and passively experience as I read something more interesting, or write, but if I sit down and actually try to watch it, I just roll my eyes the entire time. But... its fine. Its just fine.

Im usually a sucker for shows consisting of quirky, insular, casts of close friends who constantly get into wacky situations. Its like a slightly more tolerable version of Friends. And HIMYM. I like some of the characters. Theyre okay. And the ones I dont particularly like are okay too. Just less okay. Theyre... just fine.

I keep thinking that the problem with the show is that each pairing group has their own subplot each episode. So in a cast of 6 characters, you have an A, B, and C plot, and it feels kinda thin at the end. It makes sense, because that was sorta my problem with Schitts Creek, only its a little more serious there because there were 4 main characters and everyone had their own thing going on. But thats not the problem either. Because Schitts Creek at least had solid characterization for two of the four characters, with solid comedic gimmicks, and even if one of them got a subplot with a grand total of 3 minutes of time, it still felt... decent...ish. Definitely better than just a meh, fine.

So its not really the pacing either, because a good group of writers can make even a 3 minute long subplot decent. So what the hell is my problem with Happy Endings.

Im halfway through season 2 now, and I just found out I have, like, another 30 episodes until the end. I guess Ill finish it, it Im just not invested enough in it to care. But Im also not not-invested in it enough to just drop it like I did with shows like Schitts Creek or Fate/Apocrypha. Its weird.

I feel like Happy Endings has this big cult following, and I just dont get it. Just like how I kinda liked Breaking Bad, but I didnt think it was fan-fucking-tastic like people say it is. What does that say about me as an aspiring television writer? I think thats the thing thats really bothering me here. Can I even make a show that people everywhere will really like if I dont jive well with these shows that a lot of people seem to love?
---

Is it a show about hand jobs?
---

MICHALECOLE posted...

Is it a show about hand jobs?

Its basically a group of friends being silly and quirky, and sometimes jerks (but not like Always Sunny jerks, like, funny people who arent immediately understood by other people jerks)

Also the first episode is about two of the friends getting married but the lady runs off in the middle of the actual wedding, and they wind up staying friends. And its mentioned a decent bit in the show, but, like everything else, it all just feels so... inconsequential.

This show is the worst parts of television of syndication. And I think my least favorite thing about the show is how its so... status quo.
---

So no hand jobs?
---

Uh... I guess the gay guy once talked about having sex some college student we never see offscreen. So... maybe?
---

I loved the show at first, but during the initial broadcast they did things like glaringly show episodes of order (the continuity was all messed up) and weren't consistently showing episodes. Eventually I just gave up on it.

Plus it was never that great.
---

Not like the show needs to be in a specific order anyway. I think part of my problem with the show is how inconsequential everything is.
---

MICHALECOLE posted...

Is it a show about hand jobs?

I would watch that show.
---

PK_Spam posted...

Not like the show needs to be in a specific order anyway. I think part of my problem with the show is how inconsequential everything is.

There are running plot points where the order matters. And, even when that's not true, it's annoying to hear events referenced *before* they happen and previous events referenced as coming up.

Crowded (which I was perhaps saddest to see canceled) did the same thing at times.
---