While Jane and Brad have stopped sleeping to avoid Dave-centric dreams, Penny, who has bailed on the cleanse, struggles after experiencing them herself. Oh, and Alex joins a cult run by smarmy nemesis Avi (guest star Paul Scheer). After spending time with boyfriend Grant (James Wolk), man-child Max realizes that a grown-up relationship involves adult decision-making and literal horse-holding. The next morning, Brad and Jane gasp awake after having sex dreams about Dave set to the saxophone riff from “Baker Street.” (Brad’s also features the faux male fragrance Busch, by Kyle Busch.) Penny and Alex have embraced their lifestyle changes with varying results: Airheaded Alex is thrilled that her vertical leap has improved, while Penny, in a flashback, considers climbing off Jane’s balcony. Newly cleanse-committed Alex and Penny decline. (The show loved to invent surreal celebrity endorsements.) After greeting them with a hug, Dave asks, “Whore’s bath?” to which Penny replies with a line reading that will forever change the way you hear “Au Bon Pain.” As it turns out, “Whore’s Bath” isn’t an accusation but the gin-based cocktail special. While making plans to visit the pop-up bar, the rest of the Happy Endings gang reflects on Dave’s earlier “stupid ideas.” (Insert cutaways to plans for boxer thongs, changing his name to Dustin, and - oof - proposing to Alex.) Withering insults are this group’s love language. Despite the razzing, married couple Jane (Eliza Coupe) and Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.) stop by, flanked by pals Max (Adam Pally), Jane’s sister Alex, and Penny (Casey Wilson), who’s on a sugar-free cleanse she read about on Teri Hatcher’s Tumblr. Even the concept of his success happens at his expense the man owns a steak-sandwich truck called Steak Me Home Tonight, but it takes off only once he has parked and converted it into a theme bar. But this is Happy Endings, where his unfailing commitment to increasingly ludicrous personality traits places the joke on Dave. With his boyish good looks and goofy sensibilities, Knighton would be the sole lead on any other prime-time show plot lines would default to Dave navigating life after being left at the altar by Alex (Elisha Cuthbert) in the pilot. This expertise is on full display in “Cocktails & Dreams,” the season-two episode in which Dave (Zach Knighton) secures a liquor license for his food truck. It delivered the formula that TV viewers expect while leaving them breathless after each deranged pun, meta-joke, and niche cultural reference. With exceptional chemistry from its leads, rapid-fire dialogue, and pleasantly predictable twists, Happy Endings - which premiered ten years ago today - was genuinely weird and wonderful from the jump. If you’re among the former, you’re likely used to the latter’s insistence that the network failed this gone-too-soon favorite, which you should totally stream tonight. There are two types of people: Those who haven’t watched Happy Endings and those who are obsessed with it. Join the gang in Los Angeles on November 13. At Vulture Festival, we’ll be reminiscing about the many high jinks that took place on Happy Endings - and speculate about what would have happened to the friends in the ten years since the show ended its run - with cast members Adam Pally, Casey Wilson, Elisha Cuthbert, Eliza Coupe, and Zachary Knighton and executive producers David Caspe and Jonathan Groff. This article was originally published in 2021. Colin Hanks as (a dumb, boring, obnoxious version of) himself.
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