Long before it was customary for streaming shows to jump platforms, fans held out hope that "Happy Endings" would find another home. After ABC axed the series, USA seemed like the next likely place for Season 4. Creator David Caspe admitted to TVLine that it was close, but the network ultimately decided against it. "Happy Endings" faded into the abyss, even though it could have been so much more.
"[T]he show felt like it was built to be a better performer than it was in the end. It maybe wasn't gonna be a Modern Family-sized [hit], but it shouldn't have died the way it died, in our opinion ..." Caspe said. "Happy Endings" ended in a full circle, with Dave and Alex finally amicably parting ways as they always should have. But that was intended to be the start of something, not the end. Now that the characters concluded their arcs, Season 4 would have explored their relationships with other characters.
"I really would like to have seen where Penny ends up and what happens with Dave and Alex," producer Jonathan Groff lamented. "Do they ever get back together? They seem like they're right for each other." Caspe's real-life wife, Casey Wilson, portrays the romantically unlucky Penny, who is always looking for Mr. Right. Being she had the most relatable female experience of the series, Penny deserved the most to be happy, making the cancellation especially painful.
