Which is why it's good that both USA and TBS are expressing interest in continuing the series should ABC cancel it. What really surprised us was the homophobia at work trying to destroy the series.
We praised the show from the beginning. It was a breakthrough show and one that just got funnier each season (we noted the third season greatness at the end of this piece). The story about six friends includes one gay friend, Max (Adam Pally). NBC's failed sitcom The New Normal also tried to include gay characters. For some reason, Ellen Barken felt the need to demonize whole groups of people with Tweets before the show came on ensuring that it would have a very rocky time getting viewers. We found her remarks stupid and uninformed because her generic hatred for all things conservative failed to grasp that there are Republicans who are pro gay (and Republicans who are gay) as well as Democrats who are homophobic.
For example, we would assume the website The AV Club is a liberal and welcoming site. But then we read this nonsense from David Sims and we have to wonder: "There’s a rather sweet kiss between Max and Wilson (I generally approve of such things on network TV, even if Adam Pally is beginning to shoulder an outsized load compared to say, Eric Stonestreet) but apart from that it feels nonsensical. I don’t know why I’m so grumpy about this!"
He's writing about two episodes that aired Friday, specifically the "Bros Before Bros" episode. In that one, Dave's food truck finds competition when another food truck parks opposite it. There's intense rivalry. Turns out the food truck is owned and operated by the father of Max's new boyfriend. Max is torn. At the end, the rivarly erupts into a huge food fight and the only thing that stops it is when Wilson (Alex Quijano) and Max kiss. The kiss, a passionate one, served a plot point.
So why is Sims being so damn snippy? Why's he such a homophobe? And exactly why does he have to bring up Eric Stonestreet? Stonestreet plays Cam, one of the two gay stereotypes Modern Family loves, the other being bitchy Mitch played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson. David Sims wants Max to be more like Mitch and Cam. But Mitch and Cam are like most married couples on Modern Family -- driven by their children and lacking in sexual desire. Even so, Clair and Phil and Jay and Gloria have some sexual desire. It's just Mitch and Cam that are asexual.
On Happy Endings, characters are sexually active. That's Penny, that's Dave, that's Brad, that's Jane, that's Alex. It hasn't been Max this season.
Dave Sims seems to think otherwise. But the last real kiss we're recalling Max having was when James Wolk was guesting as his boyfriend in season two. Instead, season three has honestly played like Will and Grace in terms of Max. He's stepped through hijinx with a new male beside him and, pay attention to the dialogue so you can learn that the two have had sex. It's the Jack scenes from Will and Grace with everything but Guapo.
Season three has been Max and Penny competing for her physical therapist with both losing. It's been Max finding a guy he likes (episode 8) that he might get involved with (or have sex with) but Jane and Dave are determined to fix him up resulting in the guy Max likes walking out. It's been Max unsure what type of gay he was and finding a guy he might like at the end of the episode (episode 9).
Though Dave Sims is bent out of shape, this is the first on camera physical contact Max has had all season. (Episode 15 featured a guy the gang found repulsive -- had a head like a thumb -- that Max slept with when the stress of pretending to be straight for Chicago Bulls ticket got too much for him. The sex took place off stage and the two never kissed on camera.)
Friday night, in episode 17, Max had his first romantic kiss of the season and that's too much for Dave Sims who admits he doesn't know "why I'm so grumpy about this." It's obvious: Homophobia.
That's what leads him to compare Max to Cam. Would you compare Penny (Casey Wilson) to Deborah on Everyone Loves Raymond? Hell no. Penny's not married and she's a sexual character. Why would you compare Max and Cam? Because they're both gay? So the issue for Dave Sims is the characters being gay which goes to his homophobia.
Dave Sims might benefit from some self-examination and asking himself why one kiss is one kiss too many? After he does that, he might want to ask himself what's the 'acceptable' number of same-sex male kisses? Or why he feels that an asexual couple like Max and Cam should be considered the standard? Or if the real issue is that he needs his TV gays to be stereotypes and when a groundbreaking character like Max comes along it leaves Dave Sims in a sexual panic?
What Happy Endings leaves us with is aching sides from non-stop laughing.
Season three has taken the humor to another level. There have been the sight gags -- best the Halloween costumes where they went as the Jacksons and all picked up on Latoya (Dave), the prank schemes -- hilarious ending with Alex (Elisha Cutbert), the mistaken moments -- Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.) and Penny think they've killed Alex's racist parrot Tyler, the angry get-backs -- Brad getting back at Jane saying he was a trophy wife by playing one at her work, complete with tea cup pet pig Carnitas, and so much more.
It's been a hilarious season. Instead of spinning wheels, the show's deepened the characters and deepened the laughs. Every detail matters. So in the Daniel Chun scripted "Ordinary Extraordinary Love" (episode nine), Penny offers a song she wrote whose lyrics include, "Take a penny, leave a penny." And in the Jason Berger scripted "Bros Before Bros" (episode 17), her father (Andy Richter) explains he met Stephen Sondheim when he grabbed an umbrella at what he thought was a communal stand "give an umbrella, take an umbrella kind of thing." And hats off to Beth McCarthy-Miller for her strong direction of episode 5 "P&P Romance Factory." Brad sliding across the hood of the car in faux sexual excitement was comedy magic. And the episode with Black Plague: A Love Story hasn't even aired yet.
When the show came on, the strongest were Casey Wilson, Damian Wayans Jr. and Max Pally. Now days, every one of the six is the strongest. Zachary Knighton's Dave is among the biggest surprises. He and the writers have fleshed out the character that a whole episode could track Dave and it would be hilarious. Alex and Jane (Eliza Coupe) have their own special chemistry -- even in "The Incident" when gearing up to kick the s**t out of each other.
They're all so amazing they should get an ensemble acting Emmy this fall.
And maybe they'd get a bigger audience if ABC wasn't forever moving them around the schedule? It's as if ABC's whole point is to keep it a secret just how funny and how wonderful this show is. A happy ending has to be shared to be enjoyed.