'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,' which recently finished its' 15th season, is now the longest running American sitcom in pure seasons (but is still dwarfed in episode count by several other sitcoms). The show is Seinfeldian in its brand of comedy even to the point that in their ingenious flashback episode, the gang recalls themselves in the iconic 'Master of Your Domain' episode of Seinfeld. The principle mantra in the Seinfeld writers room was, "No hugging, no feelings," and it's evident that the 'It's Always Sunny' writers room has a similar approach.
The lead characters are not likeable and they are not suppose to be. Fortunately for the viewers, the cast is charismatic and committed. 'It's Always Sunny...' is a series without the straight man, even though every character has had episodes in which they've adopted this role in some fashion. Much like Seinfeld, 'the series often reflects the worst of the American cultural psyche. Any morally bankrupt thought or idea that has graced one's mind at their lowest, but knew better than to act on, the characters in this show have boasted or acted out in an unapologetic fashion.
One of the creators, Rob McElhenny, who also plays Mac and is one the one of the five leads, along with his writers, which also include his costars Charlie Day (Charli) and Glenn Howerton (Dennis), utilize these awful people to greatest degree. The scripts are crisp, well structured, and rife with conflict and dark humor. As the series goes on, the cast and writers become more and more confident in the taboo topics they cover as well as more comfortable deviating from their own formula. The stagy camera placement, low quality film, and dated aspect ratio the show had in its' early days evolves into that of something with genuine artistic and cinematic merit The last season had the gang going to Ireland which boasted the likes of breathtaking Ultra-HD landscape panoramic as well as areal drone shots.
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' is a well written no-holds-barred disturbing piece of Americana. If there were any true moral to the show, it would end with the main characters in jail ala Seinfeld only for the jail to collapse on them. But of course, it would be characteristically un-'Sunny' for it to end with any kind of lasting punishment for these characters
Series 3.5/5 STARS
If you'd like to check out 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' call up the Brown Deer Public Library and one of our reference staff will put in on hold for you, or you can find it here.
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