Hybrid cars populate the parking lot at the set of ABC's comedy "Happy Endings," driven by cast members on screen and off. The characters Brad and Jane, played by Damon Wayans Jr. and Eliza Coupe, drive a Prius, something Prius-driving executive producer Jonathan Groff felt was appropriate. "Jane, of all the characters, is the most likely to be involved in a non-profit and be conscious about that kind of stuff," he explains, and as it happens, Coupe has a Prius in her own garage, and Wayans says he's going to buy one. Co-star Casey Wilson just got hers two weeks ago. "I love it," she raves. Adam Pally's wife drives one too, while he drives a clean-diesel hybrid. "We both try to do our part. We don't run the air conditioning all the time and we turn off the pool, things like that." Coupe, whose aunt is a chair of the Humane Society, is a big supporter of animal causes, Elisha Cuthbert recycles and buys carbon offsets to make up for the energy she uses driving and flying, Wayans is conscientious about turning lights off and Zachary Knighton is planning to add solar panels to his new home, "and see if we can get off the grid."

 

Groff acknowledges the usual waste on a set, like the "enormous amount of truck idling that you can try to avoid," and the huge paper usage for scripts and updates, which the production tries to diminish by printing on both sides and limiting drafts. The office has a water cooler and practices recycling. "We're trying to lead by example. But there's stuff that we'd like to do more about and should do more about. It dovetails with trying to stay on budget, too. You kill two birds with one stone. It's a win-win."

 

The cast and producers gathered at an event celebrating the show at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, where they shared tidbits about the upcoming season. Cuthbert's Alex will move in with her friend Penny (Wilson), sport a neck brace, battle the flu, and acquire a pet snake. "I get to do more physical comedy, which is what I love to do. I'm a big goof," she (pictured right) says. Knighton, who plays her ex-fiancé Dave, "finds out that he may or may not be 1/16 Navajo so he's going to be chasing those dreams. The writers have discovered it's funniest when Dave becomes obsessed with something so we're going to run with that." He loves that Dave is "earnest and well-meaning. He means what he says, whether it's a little misguided is another story."

 

Knighton, who owns a steak sandwich food truck on the show, remained in food mode on his hiatus, playing a chef in an independent film called "Satellite of Love," shot in Austin, Texas, and focusing on friends who gather for a weekend reunion "like 'The Big Chill' but younger. There's a lot of history, some bad, some good," says Knighton (pictured left), who worked in his restaurateur friend's kitchen for a couple of weeks to prepare for the role.

 

"I love that she's so optimistic, that she falls down and gets right back up and dusts herself off and is very hopeful and funny at the same time," Wilson (pictured right) says of Penny, whose mother is being played by guest star Megan Mullally. "She's so funny. She killed it," raves the actress, equally thrilled that she got to work with Barbra Streisand on "My Mother's Curse" during her hiatus. "I had a scene with her and I kept very still and quiet, because I wanted to let her work and just watch, and she came up to me and she was so friendly," says Wilson, who plays a receptionist in the movie. She also wrote and stars in an independent comedy called "*ss Backwards."

 

Wayans (pictured left) reveals that members of his famous family of comics might show up this season, including a return appearance from his father Damon Sr., who played his dad in a season one episode. There will be more playful and romantic scenes with TV wife Coupe who as Jane will "borrow a child" to see what parenting is like. An ice hockey starting center growing up, Coupe relates to her character's competitiveness. "Jane has a really good heart. She tries to hold everything and everyone together and I like that she gets so lost in it. If she would just take care of herself, maybe take a beat, it would work itself out," she says. On Sept. 30, she'll appear in the romantic comedy "What's Your Number?" as "the opposite of Jane: a total sl*t. We allude to the fact that she gets it on with everyone."

 

Pally's Max, a gay character, is looking for a job and hookups. "There's romance on the horizon but I wouldn't say anything sticks," he says. "Max is unhinged, kind of like everybody's id," says Pally (pictured right). "He never thinks twice about what he's doing and I love that." Pally acted in the ensemble comedy "The To-Do List" during his series hiatus, playing Rachel Bilson's boyfriend. "He's a Trustafarian — that's someone who has a huge trust fund but lives the Rastafarian lifestyle," explains Pally. At the top of his own to-do list? "I need to get some sleep!"

 

The first season of "Happy Endings" will be released on DVD Sept. 20, ahead of the Sept. 28 season-two premiere on ABC.

 

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Tune in: Nat Geo Wild will run a Labor Day marathon of new "Deadly 60" episodes on Sept. 5 between 8 and 11 p.m., and premiere "Crimes Against Nature" the following night in the same timeslot. The miniseries follows a team from the Environmental Investigation Agency as they expose such eco-crimes as the slaughter of whales and dolphins in Japan, the illegal ivory trade between Africa and China, and the dark side of the timber industry in Southeast Asia.

 

 

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