Why Aren't You Watching: Happy Endings

Here's another classic television scenario: a critically acclaimed show that can't quite seem to catch on in the mainstream as well as it should, making its fans fear for its survival (the campaign to save this hilarious show begins now!). With all the fantastic comedies on TV today, its expected that a few might get lost in the shuffle, especially when they're place on the schedule gets shuffled more times than a deck of cards after going head to head with another comedy targeting the same demographic, but a stronger brand (the also fun New Girl). For those of you who enjoyed watching Happy Endings after Modern Family last year, you may not have even known it is already halfway through its third season and will finish it by doubling-up episodes on Fridays at 8pm starting March 29th on ABC. For those of you who have yet to appreciate the wacky fast-paced humor of this modern-friends gem of a show (more modern than How I Met Your Mother even), now is the perfect time to catch up and join in, and hopefully we'll all get our own happy ending as well. Seriously, just watch the opening minutes of the Season 2 premiere and tell us you're not enticed to stick around.

The series begins at the wedding of Dave (Zachary Knighton) and Alex (Elisha Cuthbert), who grew up up together along with Alex's older sister Jane (Eliza Coupe) and perpetually single Penny (Casey Wilson). However the wedding doesn't go to smoothly as some guy on roller blades comes in to declare his love for Alex and she runs out, leaving Dave at the alter. The initial premise then becomes how a tight-knit group of friends manage when their long-time couple friends split up, though this idea really only sticks for the first 5 episodes or so (for those catching up: ABC aired the first season out of order, so to spare yourself the potentially confusing or just annoying inconsistencies check here for the correct order to watch them), until each episode basically becomes a stand-alone, similar to Friends. The rest of the cast is filled out by Jane's husband Brad (Damon Wayans Jr., recognizable to those who saw the first episode of New Girl, this is the reason he couldn't stay on that show) and Penny's college ex-boyfriend Max (Adam Pally), who she inadvertently helped come out in what he describes as "his first gay relationship" since she is essentially his gay husband. All together they get involved in all sorts of shenanigans, helping each other out while never missing an opportunity for pile-ons (aka a good natured barrage of insults).

One part of what makes Happy Endings so original and modern is its tendency to play with sexual and racial stereotypes, as Max is a selfish slob (who turns into a hibernating Winnie the Pooh for the winter, eating honey by the fistful and speaking in growls) and Brad is a confident flamboyant ("So now a brother can't twirl?"). Furthermore, the theatrically clumsy Penny (who hits her big head so many times she's instructed to wear a helmet) is often seen dating a new guy every episode, something they all make notice of, including her ("Ah yeah David, I did take a whore's bath okay? I had a one night stand and didn't have time to shower so did I rub some dryer sheets on my pits and throw some water on my hush at Au Bon Pain? Yes I did": her eloquent response to being offered a '20s style drink called Whore's Bath). And despite the show's existence in a heightened multiple-jokes-per-minute and fast-paced world, the characters are aware of this and their own excessive quirks. However, these characters are much more than their most prominent traits, like how Jane's extreme type-A personality is much crazier than a simple obsession and far more versatile as she can be as wild as she is organized ("You lightly bite one security guard and they act like you're a criminal!"). Even the initially less-exciting characters of Dave and Alex have also grown into more vital parts of the group, with Alex's enthusiastic stupidity (she buys a racist parrot on Craigslist and names her clothing store Xela, pronounced "Shay-la") mixing well with any other character and Dave's... well, Dave-ness (once you see the season 2 episode where they discuss each of their roles in the group, you'll understand how he is the odd one out, without knowing himself quite as well as the others and constantly thinking he's the best at something: "If I'm not the cool one who am I?").

So if you're a fan of any of the other shows mentioned above or just love to laugh, come check out this ah-mah-zing show, you'll love its fun-loving characters and quick-witted writing as much as we do (and not just because of Penny's words of wisdom)

Retrospective: Veronica Mars

We've all been there, having a show that we love  get canceled, and it really stings when they can't wrap up all their storylines or end on their own terms (and its especially frustrating when it goes out with a cliffhanger). Dozens of shows bite the dust each year, and time was that any prospects of a revival were just wishful thinking. However, in today's television climate, we are very fortunate that cancellation doesn't always mean gone forever. It is getting more and more common for competing networks to pick up their rivals' low-rated-but-quality shows (TBS saving Cougar Town from ABC, TNT saving Southland from NBC, for example), and with the rapid growth of online-viewing, this trend should only increase (Netflix is reviving Arrested Development this May and helped AMC revive The Killing as well). In the internet age, fans no longer have to resort to mailing peanuts (a notable campaign that convinced CBS to revive Jericho for a second season, despite canceling it afterwards) to save their shows. With resources like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, fans can make their voices heard more loudly than ever before. Now Kickstarter, the crowdsourced funding site, is getting into the program revival game with Veronica Mars. Thanks to the tireless efforts of creator Rob Thomas (Party Down) and star Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), fans like myself could contribute directly to fund a Veronica Mars movie, which reached its goal in record time. This brings us to our Retrospective on the series, encouraging you to catch up in preparation for the film.

Much more than the show that launched Kristen Bell's career, Veronica Mars premiered back in 2004 on the WB and ran for two and a half seasons. Then WB merged with UPN to form the CW, where the second half of its third season got lost in the transition and the series was unjustly cancelled. The first season (also the best one) begins with Veronica Mars' Junior year at Neptune High (yes Veronica Mars lives in Neptune, California), nearly a year after her best friend Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried) was murdered. Veronica's dad, Sheriff Kieth Mars (Enrico Colantoni), was convinced Lilly's family was responsible, but a few months later an anonymous tip led to a Kane Software employee, who then confessed. Lilly's billionaire father had Kieth ousted as Sheriff, while Veronica was dropped from by her rich clique (and her boyfriend Duncan, Lilly's brother), making them local outcasts and leading Veronica's mother to abandon them with the town. Kieth then became a private detective with Veronica working after school as his assistant, typically taking on her own clients (both within and outside the school) as well. She also starts her own investigation into the suspicious elements surrounding Lilly's murder, determined to find the real story and culprit, all in a modern-noir setting.

Despite all she's been through (including a suspected rape--she can't remember what happened--at a party right after her outcasting) and her pariah status, Veronica, as we know her, is far from a victim. Instead of being sullen, wistful, or angry, she is proactive, persistent, and tough. Armed with a camera, a taser (not to mention her dog, Backup), and her own quick wit, she never backs down from a fight and readily defends herself from the popular bitches and douchebags she once called her friends. The most prominent of them being the wise-cracking Logan Echols (Jason Dohring), the wealthy, broody son of actors (played by Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna) and former boyfriend of Lilly (Ryan Hansen plays another named Dick Casablancas who provides some dimwitted comic relief as well). Veronica does end up finding a friend in the form of new student Wallace (Percy Daggs), and eventually teen motorcycle-gang leader Weevil (Francis Capra) as well, who helps demonstrate the steep class separation present in the small town. To delve deeper into these characters and their relationships with Veronica would be to spoil the surprising and rich developments that ensue as the primary mystery is slowly uncovered, along with various other twisty cases.

Yes despite the show's cancellation, the mystery of Lilly's murder is solved by the end of the first season, with another central mystery introduced and resolved in the second season, and two more that divide the third (which moves the setting to college, changing the show's formula slightly). You won't be left with lingering mysteries, though you will be left wanting more of Veronica, her snarky insults, and her inquisitive narration. So come discover this high school noir gem and get sucked into its fairly dark plotlines, but often hilarious characters, and then join us for the high school reunion in 2014. (the first two seasons are available for free at www.thewb.com)

So, How Is: Arrow

Although it only just premiered this past fall, Arrow (which returns March 20th to Wednesdays on the CW) seems to maintain a fully realized and complete vision for its entire series, setting up various villains and plots while delving deep into the history of its main character. Thanks to its comic origin, Arrow has a vast catalog of material to help it stay on the air for a very long time, much like Smallville before it (which actually featured its own, shallower, version of the Green Arrow character), though they are considerably different in their execution. Heavily influenced by Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and its gritty, more realistic, portrayal of the comic book word, Arrow follows billionaire heir Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) as he returns to Starling City after being stranded on a mysterious island for five years. Through chronological flashbacks (of course there are flashbacks, what show today doesn't have flashbacks?), we witness Oliver's transformation from irresponsible trust fund kid to solemn hero as he is forced to survive in a very inhospitable, and surprisingly far from desolate, island environment after his father's yacht sinks off shore leaving no other survivors.

In the present, Oliver is reunited with his remaining family members and former friends who presumed him dead along with his father. His secretive mother Moira (Susanna Thompson), wild sister Thea (Willa Holland), and fun-loving buddy Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell) struggle to accept this darker and scarred version of the Oliver they once knew, while a mysterious hooded vigilante begins to threaten the rest of the city's one percent. Armed with a bow, quiver full of arrows, and an insane physique capable of even more insane acrobatics and combat, Oliver works to save Starling from the selfish upper crust like his father who "have failed this city." However, Oliver's careful planning goes even further as he recruits his imposed bodyguard Diggle (David Ramsey) to his cause, while elaborately evading Detective Lance (Paul Blackthorne), who has sworn to catch the murderous vigilante, and protecting his secret identity.

Despite the character's similarities to Batman, unlike that caped vigilante, the Green Arrow has no qualms about killing criminals when necessary. Very much like Batman however, Arrow has been developing an eclectic stable of enemies as it introduces additional DC Comics villains, such as the expert assassin Deadshot, and leaves the door open for them to return and grow throughout the series. Another introduction was the character Huntress, whom Oliver clashed with over the definition of justice and vigilantism (and who will be returning as well). Although it employs its comic roots effectively for story and character development, the show is far from restricted by them. Much like AMC's The Walking Dead, Arrow tends to switch things up from the source material, keeping even the fans guessing as to what will happen with a character such as Assistant DA Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), who is Oliver's ex-girlfriend, and according to the comics, eventual crime-fighting partner Black Canary. Add to these rich characters and twisty plotlines some expertly choreographed (and truly exciting) fight scenes, and you have a show that should keep any Batman fan (and come on, who doesn't like Batman?) satisfied for years to come.