It's Always Sunny...

What is comedy? What makes people laugh? Comedy, especially in television, is an extremely hard concept to master. Everybody has a different sense of humor so finding an audience can be very difficult. The show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a special sort of comedy. Being one of the top rated shows on the cable network FX, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (or “It’s always Sunny” for short) branches out to all different types of audiences with it’s offensive, narcissistic sense of humor. By taking on controversial subjects like abortion and gay marriage throughout the series along with just straight-up twisted plot lines, the show finds its unique and bizarre style and takes it to new lengths that satisfy all audience members.

The show is about five characters: Mac, Dennis, Charlie, Sweet Dee, and Frank who all own a subpar bar in Philadelphia. The show consists of these characters trying to one-up each other, take advantage of each other, and screw each other over in any way they find suitable to benefit themselves. Watching these delusional characters work off of each other in the cruelest of ways adds to the laughs - but it’s only half of the fun. Then they bring in serious topics to focus on. For example, the episode shown in class demonstrations how these characters pretend to be handicapped to get girls (or in Sweet Dee’s case, to get guys). This is where the other half of the laughs comes from. All of the characters are so over-the-top offensive that nobody can believe that they exist, which is why they can get away with bringing up edgy topics like disabled people. But the dialogue is so natural and conventional (due to the half-improvisation/half-scripted style of the show) that the viewers can believe that these characters actually do exist. This contradiction explains why the show is so popular today.  People are able to relate to the real life emotions that these characters portray but when people watch these characters act upon these emotions in the most illogical and offensive ways possible, it creates the rambunctious fun that the show is known for.

The story telling and characters are great in the show, but not many people notice the brilliantly simple camera shots and stage lighting that the show offers. As you watch It’s Always Sunny, you can clearly see how there are no use of special camera angles and no use of special lighting. The directors and producers do this purposely. They want the viewers to feel as if they are hanging out with the gang at the bar and going on an absurd adventure with them. This personal aesthetic adds to the comedy to the show and here’s why: Let’s say I told you a story that I thought was hilarious. But after you’ve heard my story, you don’t share the same enthusiasm that I do. My response would probably be, “Oh, you just had to be there to think it was funny.” The producers use this technique in It’s Always Sunny with the personal and natural camera shots and lighting, where it seems as if you’re in the show experiencing everything that these characters are experiencing.

There are many elements to this show that make it a successful comedy. But the reason why I like this show so much is the fact that the actors just have fun with it. The actors on the show, who also write and produce the show, are all friends behind the scenes and share a similar sense of humor. When they are on screen, the viewers can obviously tell that the actors are having fun and not taking their characters too seriously.  This authentic atmosphere that the actors create on the show is unlike any other television show and if they continue to bring forth this energy, they will continue to be successful.

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a hilarious American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005, and moved to FXX beginning with the ninth season. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was created by Rob McElhenney, which he developed with Glenn Howerton, and is executive produced and primarily written by McElhenney, Howerton, and Charlie Day, all of whom star in the show, along with Kaitlin Olson and Danny DeVito. The series follows the exploits of "The Gang", a group of self-centered friends who run Paddy's Pub, a relatively unsuccessful Irish bar in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The series completed airing its tenth season on March 18, 2015, and is renewed for an eleventh and twelfth season, each to consist of 10 episodes.

The comedic series follows "The Gang", a group of five depraved underachievers: twins Dennis Reynolds and Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds; their friends Charlie Kelly, Ronald "Mac" McDonald, and, from season 2 onward, Frank Reynolds, the man who raised Dennis and Dee. The Gang runs the dilapidated Paddy's Pub, an Irish bar in South Philadelphia.  The show runs itself on dry, usually racist, humor.  

Each member of the gang shows varying degrees of dishonesty, egotism, selfishness, greed, pettiness, ignorance, laziness and unethical behavior, and they are often engaged in controversial activities.  The show is hilarious because each situation teaches them absolutely no lessons, and they just go and do stupid activities over and over again.  Episodes usually find them hatching elaborate schemes, conspiring against one another and others for personal gain, vengeance, or simply for the entertainment of watching one another's downfall. It's every man for himself, but in a largely comedic way! They habitually inflict mental, emotional and physical pain. They regularly use blackmail to manipulate one another and others outside of the group.  They never feel any remorse for their actions, and in turn it makes the series funny and cynical.  

Their unity is never solid - any of them would quickly dump any one of the others for quick profit or personal gain regardless of the consequences. Everything they do results in contention among themselves and much of the show's dialogue involves the characters arguing or yelling at one another.  A classic scene is all of them bickering at once, it happens at least twice every episode! Despite their lack of success or achievement, 'The Gang' maintain high opinions of themselves and display an obsessive interest in their own reputations and public images. Despite this high sense of self-worth, 'The Gang' has no sense of shame when attempting to get what they want and often engages in activities which others would find humiliating, disgusting, or even preposterous, such as smoking crack cocaine in order to qualify for welfare, seducing a priest, driving while eating cereal, hiding naked inside a leather couch in order to spy on someone, chicken and airline scams, and even huffing glue and eating cat food.  The show gets so ridiculous, and that is what makes it so addicting to come back to and watch! 

If this show has taught me anything, it's to never take life seriously, and that things will get worse before they get better!  Thanks for always making me laugh It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia!

This show is a must watch and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do! 

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Disgusting and Depraved or Ingenious and Hilarious?

     I'll save you some time, this show is one of the best modern comedies. I hesitate to say this, but it is almost like "Seinfeld" in the sense that it is a show about nothing. The series follows "The Gang" four friends (five once season two starts). The Members are Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie  (Charlie Day), Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and Frank (Danny DeVito). Almost every episode can be watches as a standalone without ever seeing the episodes before it. The characters in the show, like "Seinfeld" solve the problems of that episode and move on in the next episode. However unlike "Seinfeld" where the problem is simply not wanting to wear a "puffy shirt" "It's Always Sunny" crosses the line and makes their issues a much more controversial. For example the episode entitled "Mac Fights Gay Marriage" is all about one of the main Characters, Mac (Rob McElhenney), discovers that his one time transgender girlfriend has gotten a sex change operation and is now married to a man. This results in Mac trying to win her back by trying to ruin their marriage because he claims it is a same sex marriage. 

     Although the show is morally inappropriate the jokes that are made and the events of each episode are mostly satirical and hides actual political issues and gives the points for the proponents and the opposition of these issues. For example the second episode of the series "Charlie Wants an Abortion". The members of "The Gang" flip flop their stance on abortion to better suit their needs, but deep down the actual issue is there and discussed.

     If you find your self watching this show just remember to check your moral compass at the door sit back and try not to be offended and you should have an excellent time.

It's Always Interesting in Philadelphia

Having just watched my 100th episode of the strange, hilarious, and disgusting "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," I thought that I'd write a post about it while things were still fresh in my mind. If you've seen It's Always Sunny, you probably know that it is almost exclusively nothing but terrible people doing terrible things; the tagline used to be "it's Seinfeld on crack." If you haven't seen it, here's all you need to know: a group of five people (the "gang") own a bar called Paddy's Pub, which is basically their home base for coming up with awful ideas and just generally being shitty people. I've seen every episode of the show, and I'm proud of it.

Which brings me to tonight. Normally, Sunny has no particular artistic value; the shots aren't interesting or well thought out, character development is basically nonexistent, and the show's main laughs mostly come in the form of shock value or the sheer stupidity/horribleness of the characters. Tonight's episode, however, was a little different. By celebrating their 100th episode in a way that only the cast of Sunny could, each member of the gang was posed with the question of what they would do while in a convenience store that was being robbed.

The episode is split up into five parts; one for the daydream of each character. It's really interesting to dive into the psyche of characters that can tend to seem so one dimensional, and while the episode had plenty of laughs, it was also somewhat thought provoking. Mac's dream is first, and in typical Mac fashion, it involves him karate chopping away at not only the robber, but also an army of ninjas that come out of nowhere. Interestingly enough, he dies in his own dream and eventually rises into Heaven, where he takes the right hand seat next to a very shirtless and very buff God, which is a weird way of reaffirming how twistedlly religious (and possibly gay) Mac really is.

Dennis and Dee, the two siblings on the show, each had two equally elaborate and weird daydreams. In Dee's, she befriends the gun man (who is actually a woman), shoots every single member of the gang, and then goes into the witness protection program. She eventually fulfills her life goal of becoming an actress and ends up marrying Brad Pitt, showing how even in the most dire moments, Dee is thinking of nobody but herself. Dennis, in his own dream, is shot in the head. He survives (seemingly due to his own extreme ego and creepy self confidence) and is nursed back to life by an extremely busty nurse. It's twisted, but you see some of Dennis' rationale behind why he's a bit of a pervert (to put it lightly).

Skipping over Frank's dream - he runs off and eats all the hot dogs in the store while the cops catch the thief - we get to Charlie's. I knew that Sunny would save the best dream for last, and I was not disappointed whatsoever. Charlie Kelly is the oddest member of the gang, and it only makes sense for his to dream to be a cartoon. It was perfect. Charlie saves the Waitress (his longtime crush) and then ends up running off with her and starting a dream life. In a very Pixar-esque (like, very Pixar-esque) sequence of events, the two get married, have kids, and live out their lives. I kept thinking that the whole thing would end with a deranged twist, some sort of horrible turn of events, but I was wrong. The two grow old together, and eventually the waitress dies. All of this was absolutely beautifully sentimental, showing a Charlie that we rarely see; one who, at his most innocent, wants this girl to fall and love with him.  It almost made me rethink his entire character.

Of course, the episode actually ends with everyone grabbing an armful of marshmallows and running out of the store, but for one shining moment, Sunny proved that it could do more than be the show that's consistently getting snubbed for Emmy's. This show has been around for 100 episodes, and while it may be crass and extremely rude, it knows it's characters as well as any other show (in part because the show's creators and writers, Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerston, play Mac and Dennis, respectfully). That was an eye opener for me, and I believe that this episode will earn some of the attention that It's Always Sunny really deserves.

It's Always Sunny= It's Always Funny!

This week I finally gave to my roommates’ advice and gave the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia a real shot. Before this happened, I had only seen bits and pieces of the show and found what I saw to be very loud and too over the top for my liking, but little did I know that I would become instantly hooked on this series. The show takes place in a bar in South Philly and it is co-owned by the show’s leading characters. The show stars Danny Devito, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson, Rob McElhenney, and Glenn Howerton. The show is based on the crazy activities that go on in their pub and the hilarity that ensues shortly afterwards. Each character possesses a certain negative quality to themselves and combined they create a recipe for disaster. Regardless of their poor individual qualities the viewer often sympathizes with their actions because they are too funny to actually dislike.

What I enjoy the most about this show is its consistency. From seasons 2-6 I cannot think of an episode where I did not find myself laughing hysterically. If you are into a slapstick type of humor willed with many great punch lines and plenty of other comedic elements than this show is definitely for you.

Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia

One of my favorite television shows of all time is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This is a show on FX that is based off of a group of friends that own a bar together in Philadelphia. Outside of that basic plot line the show is not about much other than the characters themselves. When i asked a friend of mine a few years ago about the show and what it is about he explained it by saying "The show is about literally nothing. Its just about all the characters and how horrible they are as people." This description of the show is very accurate. Each episode is titled "The gang ______" They are very short and to the point explanations of each episode. This shows that the show is based around the characters and how they react to given situations as opposed to an actual continuing plot line. The show does not offer much in terms of a continuous plot other than several recurring characters who most of, if not all share one common thing. There lives have gotten considerably worse since there first interaction with the gang and they continue to get worse after every encounter. For example one of the recurring characters is Rickety Cricket. He started off as a priest who was in love with a member of the gang, Dee. In the most recent season, Cricket is shown as a homeless street rat who agrees to wrestle in a tournament against the gang just so he can throw sand in there eyes and beat them up as best he can. One of the reasons why this show is one of my favorites is because of the lack of continuous plot. It is a very character driven show and that is shown all the time. For those who have seen all of the seasons of It's Always Sunny know a lot about the characters themselves and the weird psyche of each character. One can almost geuss what they are going to do next by now. Not to say that they are predictable, but for someone who has seen a few episodes understands each character a little more. I have found that it is these types of character driven show's and films that i am more drawn to. They are a wonderful style of storytelling and what that i hope i can help make happen some day.