'Happy Endings' cast finds new TV beginnings
All's well that ends well for the cast of Happy Endings.
The offbeat ABC sitcom met an untimely end last year when it was axed after three low-rated seasons, but its stars weren't sidelined for long. By early next year, all six principals will be regulars on other shows such as Benched, a legal comedy starring Eliza Coupe that premieres Tuesday (USA, 10:30 p.m. ET/PT).
"I'm actually surprised it didn't happen quicker," says Coupe, who played Happy's Type A Jane Kerkovich-Williams. "I literally thought that the second the show had been canceled, we'd all be on something. Every single person in that show is so unique and so talented. The six of us together? We were an insane group of people."
"Usually, an entire ensemble cast isn't that sought after, but for me, I always knew they were awesome," says Happy Endings creator David Caspe, whose new NBC show Marry Me stars another Happy alum, his wife Casey Wilson. "It was just a crazy murderers' row of hilarious people and I would always say that to the network, too, like, 'You're never going to get this cast again. This is six people that could all carry their own show and they're on one team.' It's like, some of those '80s Lakers teams."
So where on TV can you find this ah-mah-zing group of individuals?
Eliza Coupe
With Benched, Coupe moves from Happy's fiercely competitive former wild-child Jane to the equally aggressive but more grounded Nina, who loses her attorney job in the first episode and becomes a public defender. Despite their similarities, "Nina would get annoyed with Jane really quickly, and I think Jane would just walk past her and make a really bad comment about her hair or something," Coupe says.
Adam Pally
Oh, Max Blum. We can all relate to the lazy, loud-mouthed, gay friend of the Happy clan who could shovel down an entire pizza or go out for groceries and come back with Nerf guns. Pally's frat-bro sensibilities haven't gone to waste, though: He joined Fox's The Mindy Project last fall as a crude OB/GYN who's actually a big softie.
Casey Wilson
Who plays kickball in heels? Happy's clumsy, unlucky-in-love Penny Hartz, of course. After appearing in awards contender Gone Girl earlier this month as the frazzled neighbor of Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike), Wilson is back on the small screen as Annie, the manic, romantic fiancée of everyman Jake (Ken Marino) in Caspe's relationship comedy Marry Me (Tuesdays, 9 ET/PT).
Damon Wayans Jr.
If only everyone could make dentist visits and ventriloquism look so cool. As the group's only married couple, Brad Williams is the goofy, affectionate complement to the more uptight Jane. But rest easy, Happy fans: Wayans' charms spill over into Fox's New Girl (Tuesdays, 9 ET/PT), which he returned to last year after appearing in the pilot episode. As womanizing roommate Coach, Wayans has been upped to series regular in Season 4.
Elisha Cuthbert
Alex Kerkovich, Jane's dim-witted sister who does a killer Ellen DeGeneres impersonation, sets Happy in motion in the first episode after abandoning Dave Rose (Zachary Knighton) at the altar and leaving their close-knit group of friends unsure of whom to side with. In NBC's One Big Happy, due early next year, Cuthbert will play a lesbian who decides to have a baby with her best friend, but is thrown a curveball when he gets married to someone else.
Zachary Knighton
Dave not only ran steak-sandwich food truck Steak Me Home Tonight, but the dude loved rocking a V-neck shirt. Although he's since appeared on Parenthood, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Wilfred, Knighton will be a regular on TV once again starting with Fox's midseason comedy Weird Loners, about four relationship-repellent "almost-fortysomethings" living in a Queens townhouse.