The Bright Sunny Life of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia

                                The Bright Sunny Life of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia
 

            A dysfunctional tv show is something that in prior years would make a viewer uncomfortable and anxious but as the years have passed so has society’s outlook on dysfunction.  One thing has remained constant and that’s the gang. In my opinion, “the gang” is a simplistic representation of societal problems on modern America.  In prior seasons, the show would take on relevant problems in our society and simply try and solve or adapt to the problem in their own hilariously, menacingly, narcissistic, and downright atrocious ways.

            Its Always Sunny’s unique style is an attribute that is usually unseen in comedies of this particular genre.  The character development in the past 8 seasons has been seen as irrelevant, the characters are constant in their behaviors from season one through season eight. In season nine all of the abuse and animosity is taking its toll on the character’s temperaments. For example in the season premier “The Gang Broke Dee” you finally see the result of a lifetime of verbal abuse on Deeandra Reynolds. She finally snaps and slumps into a depression, in her state of self-loathing she finds herself finally able to perform on stage for the first time.  Little does Dee know it was all an elaborate joke to mess with her head and deteriorate her self esteem as an actress, comedian, or on stage performer. The punch line of the episode remains constant with the show’s cruelty. Deeandra’s progression as a person and character is seen in a very tangible way. Another clear example of character progression is in the episode “Flowers for Charlie”. We find the show’s wildcard in an experiment where Charlie is given medication to increase his capacity for knowledge and increase his I.Q. Now if you don’t know the show Charlie is the bars foolhardy, idiotic, illiterate, childish janitor who secretly contains a heart of gold. Charlie thinks his I.Q. rising at a rather alarming rate to where after a day, believes himself to be a genius that is far more intelligent than his cohorts. His arrogance begins to surge to the point to where he is almost terminating any and all of his former relationships so that he may follow “his new and more substantial interests with my new friends who are better suited for those interests, so as you can see, Frank (his roommate/father/best friend) is feeling a little bit marginalized”.  Later in the episode he is finally presented to a board of doctors where Charlie rambles on about his great invention that will “change everything”, little do we know that his invention is complete tomfoolery, his invention was the ability for a cat to talk to a “spyder”.  Charlie is then informed that the pill he was given was actually just a sugar pill and his intelligence was just a placebo effect and as a result of his fake intelligence his arrogance skyrocketed. 

            

These episodes all have a similar characteristic that is “inevitable change, something that is shown in the simple long awaited changes in the characters.  For instance Mac is finally acknowledged as a homosexual as seen in the episode “Mac Day.” My favorite of all the closure focused episodes was the episode “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award” which, while was all about the bar winning the best bar award, was obviously directed at certain award organizations such as The Peoples Choice Awards, The Golden Globes or The Emmys. It’s Always Sunny has never had any lines or restriction and made comedy at other’s expense, so due to that the show has not really gotten a great deal of attention. This episode was a nice subtle yet obvious way to show that they get it and that it would have meant a lot to win an award.  In my opinion, this show is more than deserving to receive an award, and as a fan will be quite despaired at the terminus of this tremendously absurdly comically amusing show. It had a tremendous run, nine seasons is a lot for any show, especially one that didn’t think they would get past the first. This crude, vulgar and obscene show grasped the heart of thousands and will be sorely missed as they go on in my personal echoes of comedy greatness. It’s been a long sunny ride and you shall be missed.



Critic Replicated: http://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/review/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-season-nine