If you’re a die-hard Happy Endings fan already in a foul mood because your cubicle-mates decided that it would be hilarious to put mayonnaise in your doughnuts and an air horn under your desk for April Fools’, it’s probably best that you click away right now. You could read a TV recap, perhaps, or watch a video in our new, highly entertaining Pick A Choice series.
Okay, they’re gone. Man, April Fools’ Day is the worst. So many hurt feelings, so few laughs. Case in point: recently, the writers of Happy Endings started a mysterious countdown on their official Twitter page, along with the vague promise, “It’s almost a new day.” That new day happened to be today, April 1, a.k.a. April Fools’ Day, but people love Happy Endings so much that they were willing to put aside their skepticism and hope that this countdown would herald a return for the dearly departed ABC sitcom.
Well, it didn’t, although in a roundabout way it kind of did. Here’s what happened: After the initial countdown ended last night, another message went up promising an update today at noon PT. Here’s that update:
Turns out the whole thing was orchestrated by a writer, or maybe even a writers’ assistant, who started the countdown as a prank. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, series creator David Caspe says he didn’t know about the countdown at first, but that as the buzz around the joke grew, he considered revealing that the whole thing had been a joke—until the possibility of an actual reunion emerged:
“It took on a life of its own to the point that actually there was some interest in finding a place to do a few more episodes or an hourlong special,” says Caspe. “So then I couldn’t comment because I wasn’t allowed to say anything yet. But as we hit April 1, nothing has really panned out, and I don’t want to keep people hanging on, so I have to say something. Happy Endings remains cancelled for now. Hopefully one day we’ll be able to do an hourlong or a couple stand-alone episodes, and I’ve talked to the cast about even just doing a five-minute cold open. I want to apologize to anyone who is annoyed. It was just a writers’ room bit that kind of got away from them.”
So until Happy Endings actually comes back—and who knows, they brought back Coach, anything could happen at this point—our stance remains clear: April Fools’ Day sucks.