Brotherly Love is Overrated
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" / The TV Whore
Sept. 13, 2007
It’s no secret that us Pajiba folk generally loathe stupidity. That’s why we hold TV comedies like “Arrested Development,” “Weeds,” and “The Office” in high regard, while we heap disdain upon so-called “comedies” like “Two and a Half Men” and “According to Jim.” The comedies we love tend to use smart humor, rather than simply writing jokes for the lowest common denominator, and they often tie in a little bit of drama to act as a counterbalance to the humor, thereby accentuating the funny and causing it to hit just a little deeper. But I don’t think this makes us a group of elitist comedy snobs who poo-poo any and all “stupid” comedy — it just means we’re discerning. A so-called “stupid” comedy can be just as funny as a smart one; it just has to work a little harder because we’re less forgiving of any faults. Take “Entourage,” for example. I think this falls squarely in the stupid comedy category, but few had complaints about its early seasons (at least, I didn’t), because the thing was just so damn funny. But as the show has started to tire a little, the complaints have started rolling in, and I think this is largely tied to the fact that there’s no solid dramatic element to tide us over between the laughs, and thus, we notice when we’re not laughing.
There can be little doubt that “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” falls squarely in the “stupid comedy” camp. I mean, the show has featured characters pretending to be crippled war vets or to have cancer just to get a date, and has had episodes with such classy titles as “Mac Bangs Dennis’ Mom” and “Charlie Got Molested.” The four main characters (five, with Danny DeVito’s addition last season) are all despicable morons who never learn or change, who never get any redemption or real comeuppance. At its basest level, this show is about as stupid as it gets. And yet, through two brief seasons (the first season ran for a paltry seven episodes, the second for ten), it hasn’t mattered because the show has just been so damn funny. As much as I love a show like “Weeds,” I probably laughed louder and harder at any given episode of “Sunny’s” second season then I ever have at an episode of “Weeds.” So I have been anxiously awaiting the show’s expanded third season (15 episodes), which begins tonight on FX at 10 p.m. (with back-to-back episodes).
Right off the bat, it’s quite clear that the third season isn’t turning things down any, in terms of stupidity or offensiveness. I mean, the first episode is called “The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby,” which really tells you all you need to know (although it doesn’t tell you that the episode also features a character learning that their birth might’ve been a mistake because an abortion “didn’t take”). As DeVito has said about this season: “There’s a lot of very, very bizarre stuff going on on the show — it’s really lowering the bar.” Other episodes include such ridiculous plotlines as the gang being held hostage in their own bar and Mac temporarily becoming a part of the Philly mob. Of course, the plots and the characters only matter insofar as they facilitate the show’s ability to make us laugh. Which leads to the important question — can the show sustain the high level of comedic success it reached last year?
Four episodes in, the jury is still out, because things were a bit too uneven. I think the first episode (the aforementioned “Dumpster Baby”) is downright hysterical. The other three episodes are of varying levels of total hilarity, although each still had enough laughs to make it worth watching. (The only real disappointment, on a personal level, was that tonight’s second episode, “The Gang Gets Invincible,” wasn’t able to actually get my boy Donovan McNabb to appear, although they managed to use this to good effect in the episode — and the episode actually has one of my favorite moments of the first four, involving DeVito’s character on an acid trip.) Now, to be fair, y’all may see things differently — I read a review of these four episodes yesterday by a critic I’m generally in-synch with, and he felt that the first episode was one of the worst ever, and that the next three improved vastly on it. So your mileage on any given episode may vary, although it sounds like we both reached the same conclusion, which is that this season may not be able to be as solidly consistent as the last.
I’m guessing that the longer season has actually hurt the show a little, straining the writers to come up with enough good material and, perhaps, forcing them to be a little less discerning in what gets in and what doesn’t. In fact, they seem to be making the McPoyle family (you may remember them from “Charlie Gets Molested” and “Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody’s Ass”) into quasi-staples of the show, as the McPoyles appear in two of the first four episodes. I’ve never liked these characters because they feel too over the top, even in a show that is itself ridiculously over the top. And their bits in both of the third season episodes they appeared in where my least favorite of the quartet of episodes.
But this is all nitpicking. As I say, while I may not have laughed as consistently throughout each episode, there were more than enough laughs to keep me coming back. I know many of you are already watching the show and to you I say, keep on keeping on. Those of you who haven’t seen it, try it out. Although, to be fair, “Sunny” isn’t for everyone. You need to not just have a good sense of humor, but you need the ability to laugh at really dark and offensive comedy. And from prior comment threads, we know that this is not a category within which all Pajiba readers reside — I mean, if you get offended when we use the word “retard” or suggest that Rosie will do anything for a cupcake, how are you going to be able to laugh at the notion of putting a white baby in a sun-tanning booth, “just to get a base,” so that it can look Latino? If you know that you’re the type with easily offended sensibilities, you’d only be wasting your time with this show. But if you like stupid, offensive and twisted, little fits the bill better than “Sunny.”
Seth Freilich is Pajiba’s television editor. He would like to point out that, for a show that usually gets Philly and Pennsylvania things relatively right, the writers blew it when they had a minister refer to the “State of Pennsylvania.” PA’s a Commonwealth, bitches.
Crucify Your Enthusiasm | | Pajiba Love 09/13/07
Comments
Damned straight it's a Commonwealth...and we have the ass backward liquor laws to prove it.
I just bought the first/second seasons of this show based on the pants wetting that occured while viewing the one and only episode I've seen. Well, that and it's set in my beloved Philly, so I would have bought it anyway.
Posted by: Julie at September 13, 2007 12:36 PM
One of the best shows on television right now, in my opinion (mainly because I'm too cheap to get HBO or Showtime). Everything about this show just seems to click right, from the gang providing underaged kids with booze and then going to prom, to going to an abortion rally to pick up women. Yes, those are both disgustingly horrid premises that, if they occured in reality, wold get all 4 characters arrested. But, that's the beauty; it's so unbelievable, it has to be funny.
Posted by: jonr at September 13, 2007 12:47 PM
I just went through the first two seasons on DVD after catching a few episodes on TV last year and online this past summer. While it's not as consistently funny as, say, "Arrested Development," it's still a pretty damn brilliant bit of comedy, especially in season two (though I would argue that that season has its own little inconsistencies, but they detract little from the overall madness of the show). So, I'm very much looking forward to tonight's season premiere and the following few weeks of season three goodness, inconsistencies or not.
I am glad to hear we'll get more of the McPoyles, though. Their bits in seasons 1 and 2 were among the most memorable, second only to the bits with Dennis and Charley and a video camera in "The Gang Runs for Office" and "The Gang Goes Jihad."
Posted by: Armando at September 13, 2007 12:51 PM
Damnit, my original comment got sent to the "junk file", I guess because I posted a Youtube link. Oh well. Go to Youtube and find the "Always Sunny Beat-Box" ad. Great stuff, totally worth a look (saw it last night during Rescue Me). Maybe you could imbed it, Seth?
Oh, and since my original comment got lost, I am really looking forward to this hour of TV.
Posted by: Cody at September 13, 2007 1:06 PM
One of my favorite moments is when Charlie goes America on everybody's asses and sings that ridiculous patriotic pump-up song in the bar. "Rock flag and eagle!"
Posted by: Geetch at September 13, 2007 1:10 PM
Ah-HA! I live in Massachusetts, another commonwealth. Ahoy, fellow commonwealth...er.
Posted by: Abazur at September 13, 2007 1:18 PM
I have to say, while I agree the comedy is geared for the LCD, its the funniest thing on TV (much funnier then Entourage, and I'm a huge fan of that show).
Sunny takes the structure of Seinfeld (for some of the episodes at least, Mac bangs Dennis' Mom for example) and the over the top nature of South Park (dick jokes and the like) and ties them together into a nice ball of funny.
I hope that this review doesn't drive new potential viewers from this jem. Again, high brow folks might poo poo (pun intended) this show but it does something that I wish every other show (and America in general) would do. Stop being so freakin' politically correct all the time and learn to laugh at society's problems.
Posted by: Justin at September 13, 2007 1:25 PM
I have to say, while I agree the comedy is geared for the LCD, its the funniest thing on TV (much funnier then Entourage, and I'm a huge fan of that show).
Sunny takes the structure of Seinfeld (for some of the episodes at least, Mac bangs Dennis' Mom for example) and the over the top nature of South Park (dick jokes and the like) and ties them together into a nice ball of funny.
I hope that this review doesn't drive new potential viewers from this jem. Again, high brow folks might poo poo (pun intended) this show but it does something that I wish every other show (and America in general) would do. Stop being so freakin' politically correct all the time and learn to laugh at society's problems.
Posted by: Justin at September 13, 2007 1:26 PM
Yeah, this show is very wrong in every way. But if you find that kind of stuff funny, then it's freakin' hillarious. Usually shows where the characters irredemably humiliate themselves are difficult for me to watch (which is why I can't do reality shows), but because these four are such assholes It's never a problem for me. This truly is one of the funniest shows on TV right now.
Posted by: katy at September 13, 2007 1:37 PM
I would call Sunny a dumb comedy made by smart people. The characters are dumb and despicable, but the performances are inspired and the writing is Seinfeldian in its tightness and cleverness, especially the second season.
Just watched Mac Bangs Dennis and Dee's Mom with the commentary on last night. Highly recommended, especially for the hilarious casting revelation during the restaurant scene.
Posted by: Matthew Tobey at September 13, 2007 1:44 PM
Damn, I love this show. It crosses the line so many times you can't even keep count. I think what I love about this show is that it's about as un-PC as you can possibly get. People in this country have become a bunch of pussified whiners and complainers. Seriously, you can't even call somebody a retard without people getting upset. What's this world coming to?!
Posted by: RAT at September 13, 2007 1:46 PM
I think I like Sunny for the same reason I detested Friends.
Posted by: Noodles at September 13, 2007 1:47 PM
I often park in the "Expectant Mother" parking space, stick out my beer gut, and waddle into the store. This show made me realize that, although its reprehensible, it's funny. I guess that makes it okay . . .
Posted by: Kitty X at September 13, 2007 3:38 PM
The people who rail against me and what I say need not watch this show. I've always wanted to say this...so here goes. ::clears throat::
See how funny a dumpster baby can be??!!
Posted by: PissBoy at September 13, 2007 3:54 PM
My favorite was when Charlie and Mac found out Dennis' grandpa was a Nazi officer. I laughed my ass off when Charlie answered the door wearing the hat and eating a banana.
And I liked Friends, too. So there.
Posted by: LL at September 13, 2007 4:10 PM
Thanks Seth for finally explaining why the show is funny. I've heard about it but to be honest this is about the only forum it comes up and I'm too lazy to go research it myself. I'll have to start picking up the DVDs because it definitely sounds like my kind of show.
Speaking of, the shout out to Vic Mackey on this week's episode of "Weeds" was one of the greatest lines ever for that show. Being huge fans of The Shield we were dying.
Posted by: Rob at September 13, 2007 4:34 PM
Always Sunny Beat-Box
Is she always that crazy hot? Cool.
Posted by: Meander at September 13, 2007 5:47 PM
My husband and I love the promos for the show, and everytime we see them, we always say, "Man! We GOT to watch that show!" And then we never do.
From the sound of this, though, we GOT to watch this show!
Posted by: Ariel at September 13, 2007 10:35 PM
I just watched the first two episodes on FX tonight, as well as the mini-episode on myspace, and I have to say that I had forgotten how funny this show was while in between seasons. I started watching it last season, and so far both episodes of this season have been just as hysterical. If you haven't gotten to catch this show, I highly recommend you do. I laughed like a mental patient.
Posted by: CJ at September 13, 2007 11:40 PM
I just watched the first two episodes on FX tonight, as well as the mini-episode on myspace, and I have to say that I had forgotten how funny this show was while in between seasons. I started watching it last season, and so far both episodes of this season have been just as hysterical. If you haven't gotten to catch this show, I highly recommend you do. I laughed like a mental patient.
Posted by: CJ at September 13, 2007 11:40 PM
Sorry about the double post. My computer sucks ass.
Posted by: CJ at September 13, 2007 11:41 PM
"Is she always that crazy hot? Cool."
EXACTLY what I thought, Meander. As soon as she popped up in that video, I thought, "Holy shit. Wow." She is pretty damn sexy in that clip.
Posted by: Cody at September 14, 2007 12:13 AM
I am such a big fan of the show. It's like postmodern Seinfeld right down to three guys and a girl (and now Danny DeVito to Jerry Stiller I guess). Tonight's shows were pretty decent. The Invincible was clever with the McDonalds/McNabb bit and the whole New Kids on the Block mentions. I do agree that the McPoyles are definitely better in small doses but I still can only look forward to the rest of the season.
Posted by: Miranda at September 14, 2007 1:14 AM
First the return of Curb Your Enthusiam, and now this. Two shows worth watching in one week. Thank God for small favors.
Posted by: JP at September 14, 2007 1:47 AM
Sunny is what Seinfeld wishes it could have been, maybe, had it not been on NBC. The characters are immoral, unapologetic, they learn nothing and there aren't any "very special" episodes. I LOVE IT.
"Dumpster Baby" started out kind of slow, as if they were getting their bearings then it picked-up halfway through.
Posted by: BarbadoSlim at September 14, 2007 8:05 AM
The whole bit when Frank tells Charlie "your mother was a giant whore," made me laugh so hard, I nearly wet myself.
Christ, this show is wrong. WRAWNG!
Posted by: Gus at September 14, 2007 9:43 AM
what the fuck was that?
that was probably the WORST review I've read on this site so far. what the hell happened seth? you actually took time to disclaim everything? AFTER saying the writers were STRAINED!?!? ITS BEEN 4 FUCKING EPISODES, CHRIST. nice.
Posted by: MAx at September 14, 2007 9:51 AM
"...get yo' ass on the bus...if I say it ONE mo' time, if I SAY IT one MO' time...ONE MO' TIME...SPRINT TO THE BUS!!!!"
Posted by: BarbadoSlim at September 14, 2007 10:31 AM
My fave episode was the one where they try to go on welfare and Dee and Dennis become crack addicts. I never laughed so hard in my life. Or the one where they pretend to be handicapped. It is definitely not PC. But just like Seth said, if you aren't offended by that stuff you will love it. And Kitty X, I have parked in the expectant mother spot too. I'm like, who's going to question me? And I have a little beer gut too...hee. And this show does make me feel better about that...
Posted by: lyricalcatt at September 14, 2007 2:02 PM
One crack rock please.
Posted by: Andrea at September 14, 2007 3:12 PM
...one rock. of crack. please. how much would you reccomend for a first time user? :)
Seriously, anyone who hasn't seen this show do yourselves a favor and get the DVD. Like the poster above, I watched the mini-ep a couple weeks ago, "Mac is a serial killer," and it made me realize all over again how great this show is. The writing and performances are just spot on. The best way to describe it is, like, Curb Your Enthusiasm, albeit with 30-somethings and the character-espicability level ramped up to 11. The characters of Sunny have a leg up on Larry David in that regard, in that they really are malicious people, constantly trying to fuck each other over despite nominally being "friends," and completely without redeeming value. At least we can relate to Larry some of the time, though we'd rather not admit it. (Curb, by the way, also featured the girl who plays Dee as Larry's sister in law).
Posted by: Matt B at September 14, 2007 6:01 PM
Inconsistencies my ass! Last night's hour was one of the best hours of comedy I've seen in a long time. Come on, Seth!
The whole acid trip bit with Frank hallucinating about Artemis in the toilet and then GREEN MAN was, well...I'm pissing my pants just thinking about it.
"Just to get a base..."
Posted by: Armando at September 14, 2007 7:15 PM
Where on earth are these expectant mother parking spots? I have needed this so many times, and could currently use one again. Do I need to move?
Posted by: katy at September 14, 2007 10:12 PM
"That was the guy from the Cosby Show!"
"Alvin! Alvin!"
"That was not the guy who played...you know what? SPRRRINTS! *whistle* SPRINTS!!!!"
This was my first time ever seeing this show. Why I had not done so before is frankly inexcusable.
Posted by: Vermillion at September 15, 2007 2:06 AM
You have to hand it to DeVito for going another round on this show. He seems to be having a great time with the character. He does the despicable huming being thing really well (Matilda, Taxi, Throw Momma...) Very inspired performance.
Posted by: JP at September 16, 2007 12:38 AM
I watched around 5 hours of this show yesterday, the last 2 DVDs plus the new episodes. I love this show now.
Dennis seems to have the redeamable qualities of any character on any show. I really liked when he got stuck at the top of a fence and egged while trying switch sides during an abortion protest. Which he was at to meet to meet girls.
Also, I want these guys to coach my basketball team
Posted by: Brian at September 17, 2007 3:32 PM
The gang gets invincible was hilarious! The whole joke about the cosby show and the acid trip with the green man. I might have peed myself a little laughing so hard. This show is a gem that not enough people know about.
Posted by: Muertemaria at September 17, 2007 9:07 PM
Hmmmm...really? My friends love this show. Apparently Seth and all of you do too. Am I really the only one who doesn't like this show? Sure it'll provide me the occasional laugh, but hardly enough to justify an entire half hour. The jokes and plotlines feel recycled and the acting is poor. The only redeeming factor is Charlie, who though I still don't find that funny, I imagine would be with better writing.
So is it just me?
Posted by: BG at September 20, 2007 6:39 AM
I just watched the first two episodes on FX tonight, as well as the mini-episode on myspace
Is this "Mac is a serial killer?" Where can I find this viseo
Posted by: Brian at September 23, 2007 6:20 PM