Outfest 2012, the 30th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, has announced that it will screen a never-before-broadcast episode of ABC’s hit comedy show “Happy Endings.” The series follows the lives of six friends living in Chicago: married yuppies Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.) and Jane (Eliza Coupe); Alex (Elisha Cuthbert), Jane’s ditzy sister; Dave (Zachary Knighton), a food truck owner who used to be engaged to Alex; Dave’s gay roommate, Max (Adam Pally); and their chronically single friend, Penny (Casey Wilson).
The series first begins with the six friends dealing with their group dynamic drastically changing after the breakup of the couple that first brought them all together, Dave and Alex. This leaves the rest of the group (Max, Brad, Jane, and Penny) in the awkward position of either trying to stay together as friends or having to choose sides. Dave and Alex decide to stay friends, but there are many more complications down the road.
While the initial “complications following Alex and Dave’s breakup” premise was the focal point in the earlier episodes, this premise has mostly been abandoned as the series went on, as the focus became more about the group dynamic of six best friends, in a similar vein of “friends hanging out” ensemble comedies like Friends and How I Met Your Mother. Typically, each episode features two plot lines, in which varying combinations of the six characters find themselves involved.
Following the screening, members of the cast and creating team will take part in a Q&A, including cast members Adam Pally (Max), Casey Wilson (Penny), Stephen Guarino (Derrick), as well as creator and executive producer David Caspe and executive producer Jonathan Groff. The panel and screening will take place on Saturday, July 22 at 1:00pm at the Director’s Guild of America (DGA 1).
Additional panels and special events include “TV Comedy’s Come A Long Way, Baby!,” a discussion with television comedy writers and producers Gary Janetti (“Will & Grace,” “Family Guy”), Dan Bucatinsky (“The Comeback,” “Web Therapy”), Stan Zimmerman (“The Golden Girls,” “Roseanne,” “Gilmore Girls”), Jeffrey Richman (“Modern Family,” “Charlie Lawrence,” “Frasier”); “Queer Internet Superstars,” featuring viral video favorites such as Drew Droege, John Roberts, Nadya Ginsburg and Funky Dineva; this year’s musical Sing-Along “Hairspray”; a special screening celebrating of the 40th anniversary of “Women Make Movies,” the largest distributor of films by independent women directors in the world; “Where’s the Money? – Indie Film Financing: Crowdfunding and Investors;” the 2012 Screenwriting Lab Reading; as well as the free annual Family Fun Day.