Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Happy Endings: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 12, 2018

In a world of numerous networks and countless random channels vying for eyes and searching for the next great TV hit, not to mention a world in which watching reruns of pretty much anything ever made, in an instant, makes the battle for viewership of new content more challenging than ever, it would be a surprise for a show like Happy Endings to become a happy hit. By all exterior accounts it's a clone or facsimile of, or at the very least greatly inspired by, shows like Friends and Will & Grace. Shows like this seem to come and go, to fade into the noise made by so many other options, even with the clout of one of the traditional "big three" networks behind it. But rather than go quietly into the night and migrate to the scrap heap of forgotten television, the show demonstrated some growing power through some growing pains, eventually maturing into a three-season hit with a dedicated fan base and reviews that grew more glowing as time moved on and particularly in retrospect when one modern of television's most under-appreciated shows finally left the airwaves.

Dave's not going to have a "happy ending" tonight.

Dave (Zachary Knighton) is on top of the world. He's about to marry his longtime sweetheart Alex (Elisha Cuthbert) and live the dream, but the dream is dashed when Alex inexplicably leaves him at the altar. That leaves the couple's longtime friends -- Alex's sister Jane (Eliza Coupe) and her husband Brad (Damon Wayans, Jr.), the perpetually single Penny (Casey Wilson), and the gay man Max (Adam Pally) -- in a bit of a bind: what to do with the friendship now that Dave and Alex are no longer together? Dave wallows in self-pity and Alex begins to see the error in her ways. The two agree to remain friends, and sometimes draw a little closer together like in the old days. The show follows the friends through their life and times, loves and losses, and the bonds that hold them together through thick and thin.

The comical and convoluted comings-and-goings of a handful of twenty-something friends is certainly not uncharted territory for the evening Sitcom; the aforementioned Friends and Will & Grace obviously don't, or didn't, have the market cornered on such storylines, even if they're the proverbial big boys in the room, and with the glut of similar, even tangentially so, programs means any competitor need raise its voice and its stature, and relatively fast, to make inroads into a crowded market where hyped newcomers, cherished veterans, and colossal classics all vie for the same market. Happy Endings didn't begin with much promise, playing to a stale plot and struggling to make heads-or-tails of its purpose, seemingly lost in the murk of unoriginality and unsure how to distinguish itself beyond the opening episode's hook.

The show's six core characters interrelate nicely between the broken couple, the madly in love couple, and two who fret over their inability to build long-lasting relationships, three unique perspectives of live and life in a microcosm of humanity. There's enough red meat in that grouping to make for some great moments, and the show often runs with those moments to relatively good success. It's ironically when the focus shifts a bit further away from Alex and Dave's break-up and spends more time getting to know the characters beyond that veil that it really begins to take off in a meaningful and even memorable direction. For whatever reason, the original hook -- how will the friends remain together when there's such a significant fracture amongst them? -- never quite catches fire that way it might should have, and perhaps the greatest irony is that the show accelerates and eventually excels when it more-or-less drops any pretenses and makes the jump to a "friends" show that simply follows their comings-and-goings without worrying about how the group operates with the Dave-Alex wedding day disaster looming over everything.

What matters most, then, when a show ambles into and through comedic territory that has been previously charted, explored, done to death in other shows, is the character roster. Happy Endings' characters have not, and will not, grow into television legends -- they'll never exist alongside names like Joey, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, and Monica -- but over three seasons they're molded and finessed into agreeable and well rounded individuals worth knowing and rooting for, characters who flourish under fine writing and engaging plot drivers that certainly don't reinvent the genre but that bring enough character novelty and scenarios to distinguish the show, and its roster, from its peers. But the actors are all-in and that's enough to elevate the material to the point of keeping the audience engaged with their comings-and-goings, getting into the humor, feeling joy at the highs, and suffering through some lows. These six will feel like part of the family by the time it's all said and done.

Happy Endings: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Happy Endings: The Complete Series features 57 episodes across six discs, two discs per season, regardless of how many episodes appear per season (13 in season one, 21 in season two, and 23 in season three). The image is by no means an eye-catcher but it's solid enough to scrape by on resolution and color almost exclusively, though. Details are adequate, though the image is very flat as a rule. There's some shaky compression that renders objects occasionally blocky and general clarity is never stellar, even in the most stable and elaborate shots, for example shots inside, or establishing shots outside, Alex's clothing store. Essential textures are decent enough, such as skin details, facial scruff, and the like, but never to any soaring height of complexity. Colors are fairly enjoyable across the board, bright and punchy but lacking stability and nuance. Noise can be, and often is, extreme. Take a look at the last episode on disc one, a scene in which Penny is in training at a self-defense class. Noise is clumpy and dense, as it is in much of the show, and that scene is another good example of the severe macroblocking and banding that can pop in, though never to the same extreme as the noise. Noise is not entirely constant, ranging in intensity, and the third season looks the best overall in that regard. As a budget release and with little breathing room for the individual episodes the presentation isn't bad, but fans expecting something closer to 1080p perfection will likely be disappointed.

Happy Endings: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Happy Endings: The Complete Series features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, though one would be excused for believing this to be a very good 2.0 presentation. While width is never a problem, the track rarely makes any prominent, or even subtle, use of the surround channels. The front-heavy elements do present with commendable clarity through all essential elements, primarily music which is punchy and fairly well defined throughout the various songs and styles that play throughout the show. Some light atmospheric effects help set the stage for various scenes but don't necessarily draw the listener fully into any environment. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized with natural front-center positioning.

Happy Endings: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Happy Endings: The Complete Series contains various supplemental features across both discs for seasons one and two; no bonus content is to be found on either season three disc. No DVD or digital versions are included. Each season ships in a standard Blu-ray disc case, one disc per side. The three cases ship in a basic slip box.

Season One, Disc One:

• Banana Republic Style Previews: The Girls of Happy Endings (1080i, 2:18): Costume Designer Keri Smith discusses and shares the costumes and why they work with the individual characters.
• Banana Republic Style Previews: The Guys of Happy Endings (1080i, 2:10): Smith returns to run through some of the ideas behind the mens' wardrobe.
• Deleted Scenes (480i, various runtimes): Included are The Wedding Prep Scene, Fired from Love, Not Awkward At All, I'm in a Great Place Right Now, Business Man to Business Man, We're All Animals, and Tough Crowd.
• Outtakes (1080p, 4:13): Humorous moments from the shoot.

Season One, Disc Two:

• Mike Relm Remix (1080i, 1:28): Moments from the show musically remixed.
• Mark Douglas Interview with Adam Pally and Casey Wilson (1080i, 5:02): A hilarious "interview" in which Douglas interrupts his own questions to play silly impromptu songs on his guitar. Mike Relm lingers in the background to save the day with an interview remix.
• Mark Douglas Parody Theme Song (1080i, 1:17): Douglas performs his theme song for the show which actually does a good job of recapping the premise and plot lines.
• Deleted Scenes (480i, various runtimes): Included are We Don't Pay for Popcorn, Apology, Open the Windows, Rehearsal Dinner, Cake Arrives Early, and Renewed Vows.

Season Two, Disc One:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, various runtimes): Included are Penny's Dream, Show Day Breakfast, 40-50 Kids Showed Up, 37 Takes, and I Want Keith Back.
• Outtakes (1080p, 4:36).

Season Two, Disc Two:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, various runtimes): Included are I'm Not Having Mood Swings, I'm Not a Prostitute, Candle Lighting, Pie - Director's Cut, Pie, Going Drinking Tonight?, and N.S.F.W.
• Outtakes (1080p, 4:16).

Happy Endings: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Talk of a Happy Endings continuation on another network after ABC's cancellation never yielded that much-desired fourth season, and those wished-for cast reunion shows never materialized entirely either (but there is a "table read" of a "future episode" floating around online, which is sadly not included in this set). Nevertheless, fans still have three good-to-great seasons to reflect on and enjoy again and again thanks to Mill Creek's six-disc complete series set. While video and audio are not of A-list quality, both are generally fine in the aggregate, and there's enough season one and two supplemental content to keep fans busy for a nice little chunk of time. Recommended.