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Should I have noticed that Jane and Alex are sisters before Episode 13?

Yes, though sounds like you did end up watching a bit out of production order, as you're presumably talking about the literacy episode (clomp clomp clomp).

LQ: You're not the first to criticize the show for being a joke machine, but I honestly don't understand that line of criticism. I feel like barrier-pushing shows like Arrested Development and Community have spoiled us to the pleasures of a TV comedy whose highest ambition is to be hilarious. I had to stop reading the AV Club recaps of this series because they kept boiling down to "Well, it's really funny but what does it all mean?" as though the first duty of comedy isn't just to be funny. The cast is attractive and appealing and clearly having a good time and the positive energy translates well (needless to say, complaints that the show is smug also leave me mystified) and I think from the outside looking in the show appears very old fashioned and unhip, but once you let yourself acclimate to the tone and the characters, it's addicting as hell and yes, one of the best comedies in recent memory

I find the hipster episode, for example, a whole lot more authentic and funny than something like Portlandia or Girls because it doesn't inhabit this weird gray area where people are smugly making fun of people who are just like themselves. The show makes sharp observations but it doesn't exist as a meta upon meta upon meta pat on the back for the writers - they just literally try to cram as many sharp jokes into a 21 minute script as possible and let it roll. And not to pile on my lovely wife, but she takes issue with the actors being faceless joke machines - but this show would be a dreadful misfire if this cast (particularly Coupe and Pally considering what lines they're often asked to read) weren't so talented.

mfunk9786 wrote:this show would be a dreadful misfire if this cast (particularly Coupe and Pally considering what lines they're often asked to read) weren't so talented.

Yeah, perhaps I was in the wrong to take a swipe at their talent, because the actors do sell the jokes well enough - I'm just overly picky about the sitcoms in which I invest myself. I have to see the ensemble as a group of well-developed individuals whom I might imagine could carry on a life apart from being thrown together by writers.. and it has to be funny. I watched a few more episodes last night with m and it was pleasant and entertaining enough, but it doesn't have that extra oomph to make me turn it on myself.

Plus, it gets bogged down by the writing frequently. For an example, the first mention of "chicksand" and Max's casual follow-up "Dude, you're better than that" was great, but then "chicksand" proceeded to be flogged dead-horse style for the rest of the episode.

Adam Pally is fantastic, though. Far and away my favorite on the show.

I'm gonna get in a few episodes before you come home from work and I become bogged down in chicksand

Sounds like y'all got a lot of to sort through

LQ wrote:I have to see the ensemble as a group of well-developed individuals whom I might imagine could carry on a life apart from being thrown together by writers...

Not to get all hipster/meta (plus I have to get back to my blog about zines), but the writers do start having fun with the fact that some of the characters they've created are fairly bland.

Of course, one of the more pleasant surprises about the series is how Cuthbert has, over time, actually found a specific groove within the show's loopy comedic style and has become a dependable source of hilarity. In fact, she's funny enough that I can overlook the fact that some of Alex's character traits seem to come out of nowhere. That's kind of how the show succeeds - even though they take some short-cuts/off-ramps/dead-ends in terms of character development, it never really matters when the results are genuinely and consistently hilarious.

She can gnaw on a turkey leg like no other incredibly gorgeous woman can.

At some point in Season Two Alex basically becomes this show's Britta (in the best way)

Oh my God, the V-Neck Intervention episode is the most I've laughed at anything since the first Community fake clip show-- as the second season progresses, the show is moving towards virtually every line being quotable (AKA Arrested Development levels)

Have all y'all seen the Happy Rides webisodes? There's six and they're just as good as the actual series

Not sure if anyone's seen it (can't find video) but the ABC announcer was saying that the new Wednesday night lineup or whatever is going to be "amah-zing" in each ad for it. So. They're trying to make it work.

Season Two DVDs out on October 2nd!

I've been meting out these episodes to make them last but my earlier prediction was correct: Every last joke of "Party of Six" made me laugh out loud, something I'm not sure any episode of any TV series has ever accomplished. I was in can't-breath tears of hysterics by the end-- I'm not sure I actually stopped laughing for more than four or five seconds. And AV Club gave it a B+-- why do I torture myself by reading these things?

EDIT: Completely caught up now. The season finale was fantastic and felt like it was an hour long, which shows how good this show has gotten at cramming as much story and jokes as possible into 21 minutes. The one-off kickball ep that still (?) hasn't aired in America was fun and a good "Summer" episode as well. All told this season ranks with the best seasons of some of the best shows-- really glad some of you on this board mentioned it to start this ball rolling, I'm an obnoxious true believer Happy Endings convert for life now!

Just got my Season One and Two set in the mail: It contains both seasons in their respective single Amaray within an Eclipse-style slipcover. The sad news is that the softball episode is indeed missing from the second season, no doubt reappearing on the third. Great deal for both of these, cheaper than just getting the second season (which doesn't come out by itself for two months?) and I'll use the first for borrowing purposes

Typically a-mah-zing premiere last nite. Not so amazing ratings though

Seems as though me and my fellow Canucks can enjoy Happy Endings episodes a few days in advance, since CityTV seems to be airing episodes on Sundays and/or Mondays, due to their overloaded Tuesday night line-up of comedies. I'm assuming this serves as the universe's apology for our winter weather. Looks like everything's coming up THRILLHO!

Catching up from the beginning over the last week or so, liked it well enough until "The Kerkovich Way" which begins maybe the greatest five-episode stretch of TV comedy I've seen since "Kamp Krusty" through "Treehouse of Horror III"

Now to figure out what to kick out of my dynamic top 10...(which is already 80% comedy)

A run which includes the above-mentioned "Party of Six," a strong contender for funniest episode of any TV show ever. This show is so painfully in Arrested Development mode right now: Brilliant beyond reason but with no one is watching. In a couple years everyone will be and bitching about how it got canceled

Hmm, I don't know about all five of those episodes, but certainly the first two are among the series' best. Also the kickball and V-neck episodes, which were from around the same time.

tarpilot wrote:... until "The Kerkovich Way" which begins maybe the greatest five-episode stretch of TV comedy I've seen since "Kamp Krusty" through "Treehouse of Horror III"

I would support this assertion more if it were to somehow include "Cocktails & Dreams" in the run of episodes being proposed as "greatest stretch of TV comedy." Whore's Bath?

I'm holding out hope that some sort of cable network or streaming service picks it up - quite frankly, it'd be refreshing to get smaller seasons with more creative flexibility - I'd rather have 10-12 very strong episodes that are direct to Netflix than 22 episodes of mixed success that I have to wait week-to-week for.

And even if it goes away, it'd be avoiding the fate of a lot of shows like this - for example, How I Met Your Mother got extremely stale and remains extremely stale, and cancellation after three or four seasons would have done it a huge favor in terms of overall quality.

Still, I love this show - have just gotten LQ into this show - and want it to stick around. So I've got my fingers crossed.

I'm surprised they got away with all those Dave jokes in "Fowl Play/Date" but no one's watching anyway. Would love it if the writers said screw the censors and used what may well be their last season to go all out.