It’s three seasons and out for ABC’s Happy Endings. After the network cancelled the critical darling and fan-favorite series, backing studio Sony TV made an effort to shop the the show elsewhere. Cable net USA passed on reviving it, and apparently so did the rest. On July 1 the cast’s options expired and now they are free to look elsewhere for work. But never again will they all team up as Jane, Alex, Dave, Max, Brad, and Penny and that’s the real shame here. (In a world where Arrested Development saw new life seven years after its premature cancellation, perhaps never say never?)
With my personal grieving out of the way, it’s time to hear from Happy Endings series creator David Caspe and executive producer Jonathan Groff. They recently broke their silence surrounding the show being axed and they shared their thoughts in an interview with TVLine.
On talks with bringing the show to USA: “It was as close as it could come without happening,” says Caspe. Darn!! Now it stings even more.
On potential season four storylines: “We knew we couldn’t do Dave and Penny until we got Dave and Alex sorted out,” Caspe shared. At the end of Season 3, they got the break-up that they really needed to have, which is one with an even playing field and nobody having left anyone at the altar. We wanted to have them break up in an amicable way so we could go back to telling Dave’s dating stories in a way that was more serious, or Alex dating and what that would mean for the group in a way that was more even-handed. Would Penny have been part of that? Maybe. I think we would have needed to regroup because Penny and Alex are so close and that relationship is so important and they’ve known each other their whole lives. [It’s similar to] the way it was tricky for Barney and Robin to hook up on How I Met Your Mother. It didn’t come without some degree of difficulty for Ted and Barney’s relationship. We would have had to handle that. And maybe we would have, I’m not sure.”
On the possibility of reviving the show in the future: “I would never say never to anything. We would always be open to talking about it. But the only way to move on is to move on. We have other stuff that we’ve gotta do. Who knows? I’m sure when they moved on from Arrested Development they never imagined that seven years later they would do it again. If you’re thinking that it’s gonna happen as a writer, you’re not focusing on the new stuff you have to work on. None of us would ever close the door, but I can’t really spend too much time hoping for that.”
For more words, read the full interview at TVLine.