Review: 'It's Always Sunny...' is absurd comedy at its best
Posted Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 10:04 AM Central
by Tim Briscoe
There's a reason why "TV on DVD" has become such a hit. It allows you to discover great TV shows you may have otherwise missed. Not only that, but you can experience broadcast TV shows commercial free.
Unless you like experiencing things on the fringe, you probably missed It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The sitcom airs on the FX network. Its third season was just released on DVD. Season four starts on Sept. 18.
The show was created and developed by Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton. They star in the show as Mac and Dennis, respectively. The guys, along with Charlie Day (Charlie Kelly in the show), shot the pilot for a cost of less than $100.
As you'd expect, the show is set in Philadelphia, South Philly to be exact. The three guys run an Irish pub which serves as the center of most of the episodes. Kaitlin Olson plays Dennis' twin sister Dee. Danny DeVito joined the cast in season two as Dennis and Dee's father. He may or may not be Charlie's father as well.
The group really doesn't do much -- at least nothing constructive. They wallow in their dead-end lives. In a way, it reminds me of Seinfeld only more absurd. And that's not an easy thing to do.
The third season puts the crew in some outrageous situations: the crew find a baby in the dumpster and exploit it for personal gain, they declare war on the Korean restaurant down the street, they try out for the Eagles, they masquerade as cops, the guys form a rock band while Dee dates a mentally retarded rapper... Those aren't even half the hijinks these guys get into.
All the shows are funny. Some scenes will have you bursting in laughter, others will just have you shaking your head in silly amusement. The entire cast is great. Charlie is my personal favorite. To continue the Seinfeld analogy, he's the Kramer of IASIP. But then again, they're all pretty much Kramer, including Dee.
What takes this series to the next level is its raunchy nature. There's a fair amount of cursing and suggestive situations. I always do a double take during any of these instances -- how can they get away with this stuff on basic cable? Perhaps it's that taboo nature that helps it transcend your typical, run-of-the-mill (read: boring) sitcom.
The three discs contain all 15 episodes from season three. McElhenney, Day and Howerton provide optional commentary for two of the shows. The third disc also has some featurettes, TV spots and some laugh-out-loud bloopers.