# flashback: happy endings and the terrible generation

- Link: https://tacobout.online/2026/11/03/pale-panda-happy-endings-2012/
- Published: 2026-11-03T20:30:00-06:00
- Author: schwegler

_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.

![The six principal cast members of Happy Endings pose together in an ABC publicity
photograph.](https://i0.wp.com/tacobout.online/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/happy-
endings-cast-abc.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1)

## 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.

![Elisha Cuthbert and Zachary Knighton as Alex and Dave in the Happy Endings pilot.](
https://i0.wp.com/tacobout.online/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/happy-endings-pilot-
abc.jpg?resize=900%2C609&ssl=1)

Body images: ABC publicity photography, via the [Television Academy’s Happy Endings anniversary interview](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/online-originals/happy-endings-abc-elisha-cuthbert).
Used to illustrate criticism of the series.