Happy Endings was a severely underrated sitcom that followed the lives of a close-knit friend group living in Chicago after one of their core couples had a messy breakup. The show was absolutely hilarious, with many running gags and silly made-up words and phrases, as well as intense rituals and traditions among the group.
There were many phenomenal episodes of Happy Endings, the best of which played on the group's silliness, intensity, and penchant for codependency and odd group rituals. The show was at its funniest when it embraced its weirdness, and moved away from the traditional sitcom format and towards its silliness. These are the 10 best episodes of Happy Endings.
Happy Endings
Comedy
Where to Watch
*Availability in US
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
- Release Date
- April 13, 2011
- Cast
- Eliza Coupe , Elisha Cuthbert , Zachary Knighton , Adam Pally , Damon Wayans Jr. , Casey Wilson
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 3
10 "The Kerkovich Way"
Season 2, Episode 17
Season 2 of Happy Endings was one of the greatest sitcom seasons ever, with some of the show's goofiest episodes and wildest plotlines. Its seventeenth episode, "The Kerkovich Way," came right after Dave Rose (Zachary Knighton) and Alex Kerkovich (Elisha Cuthbert) slept together for the first time since their breakup in the show's pilot. Rather than fall into typical sitcom tropes, the episode hilariously saw Alex and Jane Kerkovich-Williams (Eliza Coupe) try to trick Dave into thinking it had never happened.
"The Kerkovich Way" was fantastic for another amazing and funny look into the Kerkovich family history, as well as how Jane was an expert at tricking Dave and the oblivious Brad Williams (Damon Wayans Jr.). Additionally, Penny Hart (Casey Wilson) and Max Blum (Adam Pally) compete in a very funny and odd scavenger hunt. The goofy antics and unique schemes of this episode made it really fantastic.
9 "The Shershow Redemption"
Season 1, Episode 13
Every season finale of Happy Endings saw the group attend a wedding, and the Season 1 finale, "The Shershow Redemption" started this tradition. When the least likely guy to get married that they knew, Shershow, was getting married, everyone had wedding-related issues. Penny spiraled about not getting married yet, while Jane and Brad learned their marriage was not legitimate, and Alex got called a wedding jinx.
This episode was really fun, because it was always great to see the friend group put into social situations so that we could see just how funny and weird their behavior was. Additionally, Derek (Stephen Guarino) stole the show as Penny's fake boyfriend, who was essentially just Danny Zuko from Grease. Shockingly, the wedding actually did end up happening, in spite of the group's accidental interference.
8 "The Butterfly Effect Effect"
Season 2, Episode 15
Among the intense group traditions and rules that the core Happy Endings friend group had, was a made-up holiday called Spring Smackdown. Season 2, Episode 15, "The Butterfly Effect Effect" introduced this holiday, as Max, Penny, Dave and Alex impatiently wait for Brad and Jane's annual fight.
This episode was hilarious, to watch the friends all try to manipulate Brad and Jane into a fight for their own selfish reasons, while Brad and Jane even gave into it and faked a fight just for their friends. Additionally, their real fight was just over who left the patio door open, which made it especially funny. The ABC show was always at its best when played on the group's dynamics and their history together, and "The Butterfly Effect Effect" did that very well.
7 "The Incident"
Season 3, Episode 16
The Kerkovich sisters were truly one of the best sitcom sibling pairs of all time. Jane and Alex were hilarious and accurate siblings, who could go from being utterly in sync, to then having a rivalry. In Season 3, Episode 16, "The Incident," Max started seeing Jane and Alex's hairdresser, where he found out about everything the two had been saying about each other behind their backs over the years.
Of course, Max was unable to keep this secret for long, leading to an all-out war between Jane and Alex that had not happened since "the incident" in their childhoods. It was so much fun to see the classic sitcom sibling rivalry between Jane and Alex when they were at war again. Additionally, the resolution of the Serbian dance that their grandmother made them do was absolutely hilarious, especially with how quickly Jane and Alex made up right after.
6 "The St. Valentine's Day Maxssacre"
Season 2, Episode 13
Happy Endings always did holiday episodes well, with a hilarious twist. In Season 2, Episode 13, "The St. Valentine's Day Maxssacre," the whole group wound up in Max's limo for the night. Of course, nothing went as planned, with Brad high on painkillers from the dentist, Penny trying to get through the night with a date she wanted to dump, and Max avoiding his ex-boyfriend, Grant.
This episode was fun for the antics that all were held together by the structure of the limo ride. Additionally, there was a very sweet plot line of Max realizing he still had feelings for Grant, and winning him back.Happy Endings always had a lot of comedy in the characters' failed romantic ventures, so it was lovely to watch one of them win in this department.
5 "No-Ho-Ho"
Season 3, Episode 7
The best holiday episode of Happy Endings came with a huge reveal, that Jane had been lying about her birthday for decades. Season 3, Episode 7, "No-Ho-Ho" was a sitcom Christmas episode with a hilarious twist. When the group found out the truth about Jane's birthday, they agreed to all pass on celebrating Christmas that year, and to devote the entire day to Jane.
This episode was hilarious, showing everybody in Christmas withdrawal, and them all being tested with bits of the holiday. From Max's eggnog tank to Alex's intensity about opening presents, it was all very fun and silly. Additionally, it was a rare look into Jane's emotional state as she struggled with feeling like an afterthought on her own birthday.
4 "Big White Lies"
Season 2, Episode 20
For a group of people that were so codependent and intensely devoted to one another, it was always so much fun to watch them interact with people outside their group. Season 2, Episode 20, "Big White Lies" saw the group get tangled up in a pile of lies, where they ended up throwing a fake baby shower just so that Penny could avoid getting tea with a woman that she didn't like.
This episode was so funny, with Daphne (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Mary Elizabeth Ellis) being so intense and sincere that Penny kept lying to avoid her constant questions. Additionally, the way that the group solved a small problem with such big lies was hilarious, with some of the lies being that Jane was pregnant and Dave was dying.
3 "Party of Six"
Season 2, Episode 18
Season 2, Episode 18, "Party of Six" addressed the age-old problem of trying to find a place to go eat with a very particular group of people. Of course, this episode came with the collective group revelation that Penny's birthday was cursed. In spite of the group trying to prove otherwise, they end up having to leave multiple restaurants, and with Penny dealing with continuous personal bad luck.
The episode also saw the return of Jackie, whom Dave had briefly dated in the show's pilot to make Alex jealous. It was funny to have Jackie present for another one of Penny's birthdays, especially with the group so worried that she was going to put something in their food. Additionally, in spite of the curse, the friends really did work hard to make the night special for Penny.
2 co*cktails & Dreams
Season 2, Episode 16
Season 2, Episode 16, "co*cktails & Dreams" was Happy Endings at its funniest. Dave started seeing success when he began serving drinks at Steak Me Home Tonight, only for a horrible side effect to occur: whenever any of the friends drank the co*cktails, they had sex dreams about Dave. This led to some absolutely hilarious moments, with Brad and Jane waking up in the middle of the night, each with separate sex dreams about Dave.
Additionally, Penny was at her funniest here, struggling to complete a fast that she told Alex she would stick to, and hilariously getting caught cheating when her food fell from the fan. This episode also had some amazing jokes, with Penny's speech about her morning trip to Au Bon Pan, Brad complaining about Jane waking him up in the night, and Alex mixing up her cereal with her rat poison.
1 "The Marry Prankster"
Season 3, Episode 12
Happy Endings was at its best when the group was at its weirdest and most intense, and Season 3, Episode 11, "The Marry Prankster" truly capitalized on this. After a mean prank where the friends made Max think he had won the lottery, Max vowed to get revenge on all of them, even poor, innocent Pete. This was phenomenal, with Max intensely pranking everyone, leading Alex to pretend to freak out and prank herself, and Penny to believe Pete proposing was a prank from Max.
The episode culminated in Max's ultimate prank, where he blew up his limo and faked his own death. Max destroying his only source of income just for a prank was amazing, as was the group's collective reactions to the pranks. Even Dave, who could not be got and was always one step ahead, fell for Max's fake death. It was Happy Endings at its sharpest and funniest, with the group taking pranking to the highest stakes.
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