11 Years Later, Fans Still Cannot Believe ABC Axed This Show That Outshone Friends
There are not many quality sitcoms on TV – this project was one of them, but its life was too short.
The cult sitcom Friends ran on television from 1994 to 2004, leaving a void that spin-offs and imitations have inevitably had to fill – and they continue to appear from time to time, with varying degrees of success.
The series Happy Endings, built on the same formula as Friends, started rather modestly on ABC and did not receive positive reviews at first, but, as often happens, it gradually gained momentum – some people began to compare it to Friends, and it was not in favor of the latter. All the more painful was its cancellation in 2013 after only three seasons.
What is Happy Endings About?
The pilot plays out the runaway bride drama: Dave and Alex are standing at the altar, preparing to say their last vows before entering into a legal marriage. Suddenly some crazy guy on roller skates bursts into the church, screaming that he has objections: Alex is the love of his life. He grabs her hand, she mumbles some excuses and disappears.
A shocked Dave and four friends are left at the altar, no less surprised than Dave by this turn of events: in fact, Dave and Alex have known each other since childhood and lived together for ten years, so no one expected any surprises from this couple.
Happy Endings Was Canceled Due to Low Ratings
Despite a small but loyal fan base, Happy Endings was canceled. The fact that the show had ratings problems was no secret: ABC even aired a promotional video in 2013 asking viewers to save the show. But no miracle happened, and fans are still coming to terms with the cancellation.
“This show to me is the closest to Friends in terms of being consistently funny and having characters I love and care about. Shame it got canceled far too soon,” Reddit user herewego199209 wrote.
When news of the possible cancellation of Happy Endings broke, a backup option appeared on the horizon. The show attracted Sony TV, which made a proposal to pick up the project.
The idea had every chance of succeeding, especially since such deals were nothing new for ABC – the network had previously used the same approach to successfully move Cougar Town to TBS. But as we now know, the deal never happened and we only have three seasons of Happy Endings to revisit.