Bonkers, brutal, & brazen w. savage NSFW comedy, oxymoron name & symphony elegance credits, ragtag icon gang of [A+ cast] degenerate archetypes, metaphorized analysis of hot 2000’s political topics w/o offense to either side, & dark, tragic commentary on alcoholism, groupthink, delusion, & the failure x limited achievability of The American Dream. The Anti-Sitcom. 9.7/10.

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Plot Synopsis: Depraved underachieving might look easy, but for the egocentric Mac, Charlie, Dennis, Frank and Dee, it’s an artform. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” follows ‘The Gang’ the owners of the un-successful Paddy’s Pub; a group of degenerates who loves nothing more than to scheme, conspire, & mostly revel in eachother’s misery. Whether gaming the welfare system, exploiting dumpster babies, pretending to be crippled, pretend policeman-ing, or faking funerals, The Gang never stoops too low in the name of fun.

*Possible spoilers ahead*

CLC’s Best #ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia Episodes: 1. The Nightman Cometh, 2. The Gang Solves The Gas Crisis, 3. Charlie Work, 4. Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games, 5. The Gang Tries Desperately To Win An Award, 6. Waiting For Big Mo, 7. 2020: A Year In Review, 8. The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 6, 9. The High School Reunion: Parts 1-2, 10. Hero Or Hate Crime?, 11. The Gang Goes Jihad, 12. The Gang Gets Extreme: Home Makeover, 13. Mac & Charlie Die: Parts 1-2, 14. Frank Sets Sweet Dee On Fire, 15. Sweet Dee’s Dating A Retarded Person, 16. Dennis And Dee’s Mom Is Dead, 17. Mac Is A Serial Killer, 18. Paddy’s Pub: The Worst Bar in Philadelphia, 19. The Gang Saves The Day, 20. The Gang Exploits The Mortgage Crisis, 21. Being Frank, 22. Dennis And Dee Go On Welfare, 23. Mac And Charlie Write A Movie, 24. Gun Fever Too: Still Hot, 25. Paddy’s Pub: Home Of The Original Kitten Mittens

Season-By-Season Reviews: S1 – 7.6/10 / S2 – 8.7/10 / S3 – 9.4/10 / S4 – 9.7/10 / S5 – 9.6/10 / S6 – 6/10 / S7 – 9.5/10 / S8 – 5/10 / S9 – 8.2/10 / S10 – 8/10 / S11 – 9/10 / S12 – 7.9/10 / S13 – 3.2/10 / S14 – 9.2/10 / S15 – 8.9/10

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Official CLC Review

Bonkers, brash, boundary-pushing, and bedlamatic, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been one of the premiere game-changer comedy TV series since it first premiered back in 2005 – a $15 pilot by comediennes and kids with no prior proven track-record of excellence deciding to give a F U to the established status-quo by going darker and more savage approach. Choosing a no-holds-barred motif of aiming for the loftiest and previously-untouched-on-TV comedic themes – with writing flair and an immaculate collection of whack-o disenfranchised degenerate main characters and the sensational Danny Devito in its arsenal – it quickly built a cult following as a perfect bizarro-comedy – now through 14 seasons and counting (with no end in sight.) One of the premiere series loosening the nuts-and-bolts of TV/comedy and showing the potential demographic-slews available to mature, hard-R entertainment specifically-geared towards 18+-older only, Sunny’s legacy is a strong one. Bonkers, brutal, & brazen w. savage NSFW comedy, oxymoron name & symphony elegance credits, ragtag icon gang of [A+ cast] degenerate archetypes, metaphorized analysis of hot 2000’s political topics w/o offense to either side, & dark, tragic commentary on alcoholism, groupthink, delusion, & the failure x limited achievability of The American Dream. The Anti-Sitcom.

From terrorism to abortion to racism to gun control to molestation to drug abuse to social media to ‘woke’ culture to politics to sexuality to medical conditions to violence to capitalism to climate change to MeToo, tackling controversial, purposely-uncomfortable topics and spinning them for comedic brilliance is the series’ M.O. and ballsily-distinguishing achievement. While the vast majority of series would get tangled in the web of taking on such tricky and heated topics, IASIP’s greatest strength is how masterfully it guides the landmine field without offending anyone regardless of viewpoint on the matter. Through strong comedic writing, it paints both sides of the issues without once getting overly-political or side-leaning, only making you laugh at previously-thought unlaughable topics in sublime showings like ‘Gun Fever Too: Still Hot’ portraying both sides of the gun debate before criss-crossing them so as the people on each side are swayed to the other side by the end of the episode while also learning politicians/media are exploiting them both either way – also given levity by their team of magnificently-blended and developed character work. Fitting hand-in-hand with glove-like snugness is IASIP’s sensational gang of degenerates meticulously fleshed out and developed over the 13 seasons and counting. The way the show balances and finds comedy in the darkest and most tragic of situations in absolutely wild – nowhere more obvious than in the high school reunion [especially the end dance], the one time wherein the gang leaves the solace of their bar and is confronted with the reality erasure of their self-delusions of narcissistic superiority complex and learn they’re just loser archetypes of how The American Dream fails 95% of its citizens (and even then, tragic-ironically, they fail to learn *any* sort of lesson and gaslight themselves into thinking they’re just misunderstood). IASIP weaves a symphony out of chaos and disorder: elements that should not and are ~impossible to make funny and work, made to do so foremost by the magnificence of its characterization.

The true genius of IASIP is how it takes & presents a series of characters that would be considered the antichrist to any regular sitcom – caricatures of the American Dream and disillusioned, dysfunction, disenfranchised pub owners who spend their days trying to find some sort of scheme to keep them entertained enough to prevent wallowing in the self-pity of the realization they’re doing little to nothing practical and productive to society. There’s macho-masquerading closet homosexual Mac by actor/show-creator Ryan McElhenney: the most strikingly-brilliant caricature of Americans I’ve ever seen on TV from the anti-science/abortion/LGBTQ+ rhetoric [only to later accept the fact that he IS what he used the Bible to fight] to gatekeeping/fake Christianity farcized to body/gender dysmorphia in woozy comedic proportions how much he ‘loves’ Jesus to overcompensation by [over]-perceived physical prowess/badassness and superiority-complexes. Following, there’s the most psychiatrically-fascinating of the bunch: Charlie Kelly, perhaps the darkest of all characters in IASIP being a failed-abortion product of a prostitute mother growing up in a nightmare of [Nightman-personified] child sexual-abuse – only to become a dyslexic, glue-huffing, nightcrawling cat-obsessed rat-basher/janitor whom synergistically empathizes and sees himself in the rats by proletariat exploitation by his best friends as buorgeoise forcing him to do the dirty ‘charlie’ work despite being the majority owner of the bar. The Reynolds twins are absolutely fantastic. Narcissistically-delusioned, inferiority-complexed privileged high-school peaker and suave Ivy League-dropout playboy [+ fandom-theorized erotic serial killer] Dennis masking sociopathic sexual/power-hungry tendencies with ‘Golden God’ fantasy tragically born through librarian student-affair and rejection/cheating and developmental stunt-growth to misogynistically-externalize revenge on women and the world after losing the one girl he cared most about: his prom-date in high school [darn you Tim Murphy], brought to life by a masterpiece performance by Glenn Howerton easily the most technically impressive of the cast and even sitcoms at large, of no surprise by his resumé as a pedigree Juliard acting grad.] Finally, there’s misogynistically bullied-‘Bird’, awkward, unfunny failed-actress craving stardom she will never achieve [+ antithesizing Mac’s superiority complex with an inferiority one] while also playing off toxic masculinity themes by being the constantly-belittled/silenced only woman of the group yet also ironically being a morally-bad herself and her nickname being an ironic one Sweet Dee. These all convalesce into the show’s MVP and ultimate cool-grandpa: Danny Devito’s trollish, chortling, pudgy, nihilistic, obstreperous, frog-kid (asylum-growingup) shenanigan-financier leaving the cold, meaningless world of big business for a simplistic life with buddies doing nothing all day Frank. They complete a once-in-a-lifetime cast of bromance chemistry, group dynamicism, and interplay that carries the entire show – and is absolutely fascinating to watch, a symphony of chaos and disorder that somehow amalgamates beautifully and flawlessly together but wreaks havoc and mayhem on the many unfortunate normal souls to cross their paths.

The arrogance masking ignorance and bro-conversations they have are truly a remarkable and wildly-unique flavor of comedy: for example having full-length discussions of gay sex terminology like bears, twinks, and twunks – right in front of a gay man they’re trying to woo into re-buying their bar [while getting mad at him for interrupting their endless conversation, in his office!]. Even the cameoing side characters are great in their own respects too all victims of The Gang’s degeneracy-shenanigans: priest-turned-junkie Cricket, The (apparently-nameless) Waitress, Old (Black) Man, Hawky, the incest-y McPoyles, catty/bad-dad Ponderosas, Mac and Charlie’ weirdly-complimentary Moms, Ben [The PSTD-Laden] Soldier, the raspy-voiced and loco-wrestler The Maniac, not-so-retard Special K, Jew & hand-obsessed Lawyers, etc. All this is even further pushed by the satirically-elegant twinkling/orchestral main theme in stark contrast to the insane low-brow mischief and situational comedy on schedule for our heroes every progressively-weirder episode and season. The show’s pilot was reportedly ordered for a mere $85 by show creator Ron McElhenney – alone qualifying it as one of the most endorsable underdog stories in TV history parlaying into a 14-season, 150-episode empire with no end in sight. Part of that smashing success – apart from the depraved comedic hoolum gags as addressed above – is the surprising inclusion of cinematically-impressive showings of textbook technique & intellectual flair as well. The all-one-long-shot episode Charlie Work in S10, zombie horror film The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre, all-POV Frank-transportive episode Being Frank, showstopping interpretive dance coming-out sequence in Mac Finds His Pride, murder-mystery arc in Mac Is A Serial Killer, and differential storyline/perspective showcasing The Gang Saves The Day in S9 all make for incredibly-advanced showings of substance in a film that should (and has the right to by its premise) have none.

There is perhaps no better example on TV of the power of editing: here a separate character in the series entirely by how brilliantly and cleverly utilized every episode: sharp cuts often transition into sarcastic/sardonic black-comedic jokes made at the expense of the gang through every episode’s title-card, as well as in multiple other ways as the show’s defining stylistic characteristic. The behind-the-scenes crew and cast’s technical prowess is worthy of even more critical acclaim: most famously visibly in the masterpiece episode Charlie Work, they are able to break cinematic records with a 10-minute continuous long take [almost half a damn episode without one-cut, just because of the skill of team in one of the greatest displays of television ever accomplished]. The fan-favorite episode The Nightman Cometh – apart from being a tragically-dark play about Charlie’s past growing up in child abuse by his Uncle Jack (Nightman) – also socially commentates on the gang’s dynamic with clear parallels to George O’Neill’s 1939 Play in name The Iceman Cometh focusing on alcoholics in existential crisis drowning their sorrows away in their own saloon (sound familiar?) and Maxim Gorky’s 1901 play The Lower Depths about justifying painful truths by masking them in delusional lies just like The Gang does every day.

The symphony of hyperintelligent themes and discourse on topics from Global Warming To Existential Crisis Of Showbiz To Tech/Social Media To LGBTQ Rights To Gender Identity To Government To Hate Speech To Cancel Culture To Suburbs Vs. City Life To Abortion To What Makes Art To Capitalism, Etc. – cleverly disguised as chaos and lowbrow bro-comedy, yet packing more depth hidden beneath the scenes than your favorite prestige HBO drama. Finally, best of all: there shockingly isn’t even a decline in quality as seasons roll – even 13 Seasons in, the show is just as funny as it was in S1-2, a testament to the writing and comedic staff actively avoiding a trap almost every other show of public interest falls into in a reciprocal curve of quality and season-count. It’s a downright pleasure to tune in every week and see how the gang consistently finds new ways to screw up every conceivable situation or real-world problem they (pretentiously)-think they can actually solve but end up leaving a trail of bedlam, comedic degeneracy, & ruined lives behind them in their wake. Films the show directly spoofs include heavyweights like Citizen Kane, Lethal Weapon, Million Dollar Baby, Invincible, Coyote Ugly, Ski School, Die Hard, Serpico, E.T., Indiana Jones, Pretty Woman, Flowers For Algernon, Waiting For Godot, The Da Vinci Code, & One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Better, the druglike somnambulence The Gang coaxes you into as a viewer [making the ludicrous, malicious, purgatoric hell-like reality they’ve created for themselves and (absolutely) deserve] is often proved how objectively insane it truly is with the eyes of outsider characters – often, whose lives become [somehow, comedically] ruined or f*cked up simply from interaction with the crew.

Flaws in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia include a shrill pitch for much of the early seasons, a mixed introduction to an icon of the show, and the sheer preponderance of lowbrow/juvenile gross-out comedy. The additive frequency of characters like Charlie, Mac, and Dee’s voices is enough to burst your eardrums – especially in the 10x more chaotic early seasons that got progressively ~domesticated and matured in tone [literally and figuratively] later on. Frank’s entrance in S2 is handled awfully: of course, he continually devolves the more time he spends with The Gang likely purposely, but he’s played and characterized way too stiffly and seriously early on (the length of his hair growing in tandem with his charm on temporal progression). Finally, though it’s ~the point and a way at hinting at larger, complex sociopolitical issues through a lens everyone can grasp, the comedy sometimes becomes too lowbrow and borderline-unwatchably disgusting/weird. There is no better example of this than The McPoyles – whom we intensely detest with every fiber of our being here at CLC, perfectly emblematic of the ~only real problem with the series.. making for skips on rewatches (being mostly clustered in the earliest seasons) but not overly-soiling an otherwise masterpiece series amongst the greatest in television and comedy history. Still, the remarkable [& dramatically unprecedented] run of IASIP proves any nitpick gripes are Nightcrawler’d into oblivion by the sheer magnitude of laughs and genius the show hits – and has for ~20+ years.

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Conclusion

Overall, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of the Greatest TV Comedies Of All-Time – one whose dark, meta, analytical concept 100% antitypifies everything its genre is, subverting every rule while also never [ever] sacrificing the laughs. Ever-relevant in the ‘woke’ era of post-2010’s entertainment corporatism, IASIP’s ability to bravely and boldly tackle the most contentious and off-limits controversial of topics from abortion to gun control underlines the magisterial prowess of its god-tier writer’s room – one whose conjunction with a once-a-lifetime cast weaves a beautifully dada-absurdist machine of dysfunction, psychological damage, and ubersavage black-comedy on The American Dream [Gone Wrong]. From the closet-homosexual, muscle-overcompensating Bible-freak Mac satirizing American fake-Christians to narcissistically-delusioned Ivy League-dropout playboy Dennis to failed-actress and bullied-woman Sweet Dee to the wildly-dark failed-abortion/child-abused backstory of rat-bashing janitor Charlie to the show’s MVP: ultimate cool-grandpa and high-life rejecting financier of these group shenanigans Frank, the character canvas is near-perfect as The Gang somehow simultaneously achieve nothing in a purgatoric self-created hell of a perpetually-downspiraling bar-trapped existence and f*ck up random bypassers’ and the city of Philadelphia’s lives with their absurd [and – foremost – drop-dead hilarious from an objective outside perspective] shenanigans. Whereas other shows get flack for the characters being consistent and unwavering/changing over time, in IASIP’s case, it works perfectly into its characters/premise and only gets funnier over time, aging like fine wine alongside everchanging sociopolitical and temporal commentary on the topic du jour and laying the foundation for how [impossible to imagine if you go back to the beginning ep. of unknowns directed on a $25 budget] it’s outlasted the biggest TV sitcoms in history. Sunny also technically works as a workplace comedy at one of the coolest workplaces one could image: a bar, and somehow succeeds at entertaining for 14+ seasons and entirely-different world/cultural outviews without having their characters really grow or change in any particular way. To the naked eye, IASIP seems like gross, low-IQ dysfunctional savage chaos – but it’s weaved into a symphony coating the objective mayhem into one of the smartest and most allegrically-complex/tragic TV shows ever made. Bonkers, brutal, & brazen w. savage NSFW comedy, oxymoron name & symphony elegance credits, ragtag icon gang of [A+ cast] degenerate archetypes, metaphorized analysis of hot 2000’s political topics w/o offense to either side, & dark, tragic commentary on alcoholism, groupthink, delusion, & the failure x limited achievability of The American Dream. The Anti-Sitcom.’ you don’t have to teeter on politically-correct comedic topics to get a laugh, but can expand the boundaries of schticks if accompanied by the writing prowess to do so. The cast is absolutely irreplaceable and have grown their characters over 14 years into a beautiful machine of dysfunction, psychological damage, and savage black-comedy on The American Dream [Gone Wrong]. From the closet-homosexual, muscle-overcompensating Bible-freak Mac satirizing American fake-Christians to narcissistically-delusioned Ivy League-dropout playboy Dennis to failed-actress and bullied-woman Sweet Dee to the wildly-dark failed-abortion/child-abused backstory of rat-bashing janitor Charlie to the show’s MVP: ultimate cool-grandpa and high-life rejecting financier of these group shenanigans Frank, the character canvas is near-perfect as The Gang somehow simultaneously achieve nothing in a purgatoric self-created hell of a perpetually-downspiraling bar-trapped existence and f*ck up random bypassers’ and the city of Philadelphia’s lives with their absurd [and – foremost – drop-dead hilarious from an objective outside perspective] shenanigans. Whereas other shows get flack for the characters being consistent and unwavering/changing over time, in IASIP’s case, it works perfectly into its characters/premise and only gets funnier over time, aging like fine wine alongside everchanging sociopolitical and temporal commentary on the topic du jour and laying the foundation for how [impossible to imagine if you go back to the beginning ep. of unknowns directed on a $25 budget] it’s outlasted the biggest TV sitcoms in history. Sunny also technically works as a workplace comedy at one of the coolest workplaces one could image: a bar, and somehow succeeds at entertaining for 14+ seasons and entirely-different world/cultural outviews without having their characters really grow or change in any particular way. To the naked eye, IASIP seems like gross, low-IQ dysfunctional savage chaos – but it’s weaved into a symphony coating the objective mayhem into one of the smartest and most allegrically-complex/tragic TV shows ever made. Bonkers, brutal, & brazen w. savage NSFW comedy, oxymoron name & symphony elegance credits, ragtag icon gang of [A+ cast] degenerate archetypes, metaphorized analysis of hot 2000’s political topics w/o offense to either side, & dark, tragic commentary on alcoholism, groupthink, delusion, & the failure x limited achievability of The American Dream. The Anti-Sitcom.

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