From the Pale Panda archive. By Andrew Schwegler, originally published April 18, 2012. The review below is preserved as criticism from that date.
Overview
Is this my new favorite because of 30 Rock’s ever-increasing cartoonish-ness? Probably not. I love cartoons. Maybe Parks and Rec just isn’t as funny? Again, no, this is maybe the funniest season of Parks and Rec yet. Is it because I’ve somehow began to loathe how uninteresting How I Met Your Mother has become? Maybe a little—ok, a lot.
It has to do with the cast of characters. This show has all the appeal of an interesting version of How I Met your Mother. It’s like Friends meets people who don’t just magically maintain lavish incomes with little-to-no signs of employment. These characters, though completely crazy sit-com archetypes, manage to bring something more to the table.
We Hate Everything
The characters on Happy Ending seem to hate everything except each other—and even that is sometimes tenuous. This is something that my group of friends can definitely relate to.
There’s actually a show that utilizes our generation’s love of cynicism and I’m happy for that. There is a common, universal fact that anyone will eventually learn as they age: everyone and everything is annoying.
Finally, there’s a show out there that we, the terrible generation, can enjoy with our Wednesday night glass (or so) of wine.
Body images: ABC publicity photography, via the Television Academy’s Happy Endings anniversary interview. Used to illustrate criticism of the series.
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