How I Met Your Mother is a legendary sitcom beloved by critics and audiences, but there is another TV show that aired at the same time that offered an even better comedic take on finding love. The 2000s saw many sitcoms like How I Met Your Mother try to reinvent the Friends format of a close-knit friend group, and How I Met Your Mother was one of the most successful and longest-running of those shows. Happy Endings was a critically acclaimed and criminally short-lived sitcom, as well as a perfect replacement show for HIMYM.
Both shows use romantic narrative devices. HIMYM famously uses a frame story of future Ted Mosby voiced by Bob Saget telling his children the story of how he met their mother, while Happy Endings begins with a friend group navigating how to stay friends after a breakup. The shows are thematically similar, but Happy Endings has aged better. Anyone who loves How I Met Your Mother but now sees Barney in a different context than they did in 2005 should check out Happy Endings.
Similarities & Differences Between Happy Endings and How I Met Your Mother
One HIMYM Character Aged Especially Poorly
Happy Endings and How I Met Your Mother share thematic overlap. Both are low-concept hangout sitcoms about an insular group of yuppies in major American metropolitan areas, built around a romantic framing device. Even the breakdown of the relationship statuses between the friend groups mirrors each other: the central on-again-off-again couple, the longstanding married couple, and one chronically single person constantly searching for love or sex.
Tonally, HIMYM is a more earnest show and willing to occasionally dip into dramedy territory, while Happy Endings is a true network sitcom joke machine. Happy Endings only ran for three seasons while How I Met Your Mother ran for nine seasons, so perhaps Happy Endings had a longer run it also would have gone into soapier territory, like the death of Marshall’s father in HIMYM or the reveal of Robin’s infertility. Happy Endings does not get more serious than Max coming out to his parents, who immediately pivot to setting him up with Jewish boys instead of Jewish girls.
Each of the six main characters Happy Endings characters has an archetype - dumb blonde, chronically single, control freak - but is imbued with so much weirdness and specificity that they are anything but stereotypes.
Perhaps to offset the more emotional storylines, Barney Stinson is always there seducing women in increasingly comical ways. Barney has catchphrases, schemes, and suits to spare, but his character has aged poorly since the show’s release in 2005. Barney Stinson's Playbook schemes might have been played for laughs, but without the laugh track, they could be seen as rape by deception through a contemporary lens. Only Neil Patrick Harris’ irrepressible charm makes the character palatable on rewatch.
Related
12 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching How I Met Your Mother
While How I Met Your Mother is a beloved and very funny sitcom, there are some jokes and characters that don't sit well.
By contrast, Happy Endings seems to get better with age. By 2010s sitcom standards, Happy Endings was relatively diverse. Race and sexuality are addressed in light, comedic ways, like Brad grumbling, “What’s the point of having white friends?” when he’s stuck with the brunch bill, or Penny complaining she fits more gay men stereotypes than Max does. Each of the six main Happy Endings characters has an archetype - dumb blonde, chronically single, control freak - but is imbued with so much weirdness and specificity that they are anything but stereotypes.
If Happy Endings Is So Great, Why Did It Get Canceled?
Scheduling Changes Did Happy Endings No Favors
Happy Endings faced stiff competition. The show ran from 2011 to 2013, during a time that was an embarrassment of riches for sitcom fans. Happy Endings was competing for eyeballs against shows like New Girl, Parks & Rec, Modern Family, 30 Rock and HIMYM, which were all running contemporaneously. ABC, the network behind the show, prioritized Modern Family and The Middle over Happy Endings when it came to marketing, so the viewership numbers aren’t reflective of the show’s quality.
ABC’s lack of focus on Happy Endings was reflected in the show’s tumultuous broadcasting schedule. Season 1 episodes were aired out of order and had an atypical release schedule of two episodes dropping a week. The following season the time slot was changed to accommodate the first season of Don’t Trust the B**** in Apartment 23, and the season was cut short by one episode, which was held for the third season.
The third season had an irregular broadcast schedule. For the third time in as many seasons, the time slot was changed, now losing the slot to Dancing with the Stars. Midway through season three, the time slot was changed again without an immediate announcement of when the show would air. Even the finale was pushed when a national news story broke. For fans of the show, it was hard to be loyal watcher given the constant schedule upheavals.
Best Roles You Might Have Seen The Happy Endings Cast In
They Still Appear In Sitcoms
Both HIMYM and Happy Endings pop because of the electric chemistry between the cast, but sometimes that can be lightning in a bottle and does not ensure an ongoing career. Despite the wild success of the show, the How I Met Your Mother cast has largely not returned to the sitcom realm. They have gone on to indie films, studio comedy movies, reality completion hosting gigs, and even the MCU. Neil Patrick Harris has the most varied career, from Gone Girl to winning a Tony on Broadway. It is curious that none of the cast has had a successful sitcom since HIMYM ended.
Major Roles of Happy Endings Main Cast Post Series Finale | |
|---|---|
Actor | Roles |
Happy Endings Cast | |
Eliza Coupe | Benched, Future Man, Pivoting |
Elisha Cuthbert | The Ranch |
Zachary Knighton | Weird Loners, Magnum PI |
Adam Pally | The Mindy Project, Chapaign ILL , Knuckles , Mr. Throwback |
Damon Wayans Jr. | Let’s Be Cops, New Girl |
Casey Wilson | Marry Me, Black Monday, The Shrink Next Door |
Conversely, the Happy Endings cast did not become household names, but they are constantly showing up in TV comedy gems. Damon Wayans Jr. reprised his role as Coach in New Girl. Elisha Cuthbert starred in Netflix’s The Ranch, and Eliza Coupe stole every scene in the underrated Hulu sitcom Future Man. Adam Pally even created his own show, Champaign ILL. It’s fun seeing the talented cast of Happy Endings pop up in other projects.
Happy Endings
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Romance
Comedy
Happy Endings is a sitcom created by David Caspe that aired for three seasons on the ABC network. Starring Eliza Coupe and Elisha Cuthbert and sees six best friends try to keep their group dynamic together when two of them start having issues.
- Cast
- Adam Pally , Eliza Coupe , Elisha Cuthbert , Zachary Knighton , Casey Wilson , Damon Wayans Jr.
- Release Date
- April 13, 2011
- Seasons
- 3
- Network
- ABC
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu
