I didn’t think I’d like “Happy Endings.” I’ve sworn off sitcoms for the most part except for “Modern Family” and the occasional ep of “The Middle.” One hour dramas have dominated the market for years after most sitcoms became lame and un-funny.

There appears to have been a resurgence. And a lot of truly funny material is now being offered. “Happy Endings” is part of that resurgence.

Let’s call it the 2k “Friends.” Six individuals (dumb-ish, gay, girl hound, married, controlling, etc.) rotate in and out of each others’ world. The writing and the non-typical character types really elevates this though. In the pilot, we see two of these characters about to be married but the bride (Elisha Cuthbert) decides she can’t go through with it. She bails leaving her groom (Zachary Knighton) and their friends confused and shattered. But, being that it’s a sitcom, by the end of the episode they are again all friends. Okay, unbelievable but how believable does it have to be?  I mean we bought into all the Rachel/Ross drama, right?

I liked the 2nd ep better than the pilot and that’s a good sign actually. It means the characters are being explored more and finding their voices. If you watch any sitcom you’ll notice a huge difference in the later eps and most of the time in a good way. The evolution is a healthy part of any show. Check out the oft-brilliant “Scrubs” and how those characters changed and got stronger as the show progressed.

Zachary Knighton plays Dave, Elisha Cuthbert is Alex, along with Eliza Coupe (Jane,) Adam Pally (Max,) Casey Wilson (Penny,) and Damon Wayans Jr. as Brad make up the ensemble cast and they are all pretty good in their roles. I really liked the non-typical Adam Pally who plays a gay man who isn’t a “gay husband” to his female friend, the very talented Casey Wilson. In fact, the funny sub-plot of episode two involves Pally finding a “gay husband” for his female friend who yearns to go shopping instead of watch football.

Some of the humor by creator and writer David Caspe is too obvious but a lot had me laughing aloud. Like the odd-ball and also very funny  "Mr. Sunshine" I’m going to continue to watch until it doesn’t make me laugh anymore. Hopefully, that will be a long time beyond the thirteen episodes that ABC has ordered up for this show.

 “Happy Endings” is currently on ABC’s strong mid-evening Wednesday night lineup of sitcoms.  It will move to a 10:00pm time slot in the near future which is a good idea given the sometimes challenging and adult-themed material.

Will this show and these six become as beloved and successful as "Friends?"  Perhaps not - but if they can continue to evolve as characters then I'm not willing to bet against them.