It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 5 - FX - Thur 10 pm est

[Emperor]

Premieres tonight and it is an hour. 

 

This is possibly the funniest (and wrongest) show on TV.

 

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is headed into its fifth season and based on the first few episodes, it seems the gang of Paddy’s Pub hasn’t run out of ridiculous schemes to fill their time with.

 

It’s Always Sunny is an FX comedy series that follows a group of greedy, morally bankrupt friends who run a pub in Philadelphia. They drink too much and spend most of their time trying to find a way to improve their quality of life, even if it means stepping on other people or each other to achieve their goals. Each episode involves the characters working either together or apart on some silly scheme that they’re convinced is going to land them in fortune and/or fame. As some of them are related and they’ve all been friends for a while, there’s a lot of history among this group, which often adds to the hilarity of the show.

 

Season 2 brings Dennis, Sweet Dee, Charlie Kelly, Mac, and Frank back together for another series of pathetic attempts at fortune and glory. Among them are a road trip that goes wrong, a spot in an M. Night Shyamalan movie, a possible surrogate baby for Dee, and an intervention for Frank. 24 fans will also appreciate a hilarious guest-starring role by Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays the creepy, stoner cousin that Dee and Dennis refer to as “The Snail.” She’s so ridiculous that she’s almost unrecognizable from the uptight Chloe we’ve all come to know and love on 24.

 

It’s Always Sunny is kind of like The Simpsons in that no matter what crazy shenanigans the gang gets themselves into in any given episode, things are always reset to normal for the most part by the next episode. Their constant failure is for the best though as the series relies largely on the characters’ desperation and their willingness to do anything to get ahead. Their indifference towards right and wrong is what makes the series so funny, if you have a dark sense of humor. If the thought of seeing morally reprehensible characters ignore the rules of decent social conduct in their attempts to get some money or one up each other isn’t your cup of tea, It’s Always Sunny probably isn’t for you. If you like that sort of thing, this is definitely a series anyone can jump into even if they haven’t seen the earlier seasons. And if you’re a regular fan of the show, I think you’ll be pleased with the start of the fifth season as it’s mostly more of the same of what we’ve come to expect from the series.

[Krakalakachkn]

I am incredibly excited about this premiere.  Can't wait to see what shenanigans the gang do  this season

[Emperor]

I can't believe I missed this!

 

The IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA live stage show came to Philly last night and it was as if rock gods had come to the Tower Theater.

 

 

Based on the season four finale 'The Nightman Cometh' is a not-so-great attempt by bar owner/janitor Charlie (Charlie Day) to put on a musical as long as his gang (Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito) don't change the source material enough to fit their own "talents". As the ALWAYS SUNNY crew never fails to disappoint, the show happily touches on sodomy, cat eyes, sabotage rape, and child molestation.

 

The Tower Theater had on display several posters of the 'characters' as if they were in attendance to put on the show.

 

 

Fans treated the performance in a Rocky Horroresque fashion dressing up as their favorite characters - be it the Princess, Dayman, Nightman, or the Troll - to take to the streets singing songs from the musical. The six cities were the show is playing were immediately sold-out, Philly fans enjoying that twice over as an extra show was added for hometown fans who couldn't lay hands on tickets the first time around.

 

Admittedly, I'm not much of a musical fan. I've been 'dragged' to my fair share of Broadway shows - while having a decent time at most that weren't starring Molly Ringwald (I'll never get that two hours back from Cabaret...NEVER!) The Nightman Cometh is a standout, not just because you are watching a 45-minute live version of a television show but because how unique the premise is. As a standalone play one only has to watch the characters interact with each other to feel the amazing energy between the gang. In layman's terms? The show kicked ass. In fan terms? It was an episode of ALWAYS SUNNY played atop a gorgeous hooker on a mound of cocaine with a cherry on top. With new songs and expanded songs filling out the extra time the show is not simply a rehash of the episode - but a whole new experience for the cast and audience.

 

 

 

I got a chance to talk with ALWAYS SUNNY's creator and star Rob McElhenney (Mac) and actor/writer Glenn Howerton (Dennis), who both seemed very humbled about the success of both the show and bringing Nightman Cometh to the stage. "It's so humbling. Such an amazing honor..." said Rob. "I have ninety family members coming to both shows, I have a huge Irish-Catholic family. So to be able to perform like this in front of all my family and friends is an honor."

 

The show started when the group of actors were asked to perform with a musician at a local show in L.A., with the gang performing some of the numbers from The Nightman Cometh. That grew to ticket provider Live Nation knowing they would have a hit on their hands with not just the Sunny cast performing just songs but the entire episode. Glenn relates, "They wanted us to do like 50 cities but we just don't have time to do that. We (Glenn, Rob, and Charlie) spend all of our time writing, shooting, and editing the show. So we just figured on a short tour and it has been so extremely positive."

 

"Performing live is my favorite thing to do," Glenn continued. "It's just a matter of finding time. Because Rob, Charlie, and I write, produce, and act on the show it's a full eleven months out of the year that we are working. If we are going to have any sort of break, we need to have some time off to stay fresh so we can come up with new ideas."

 

The cast loves seeing the audience's reaction to what they are doing onstage. Rob notes, "It's great because not only do we work in television - but in single camera television. We have no audience, so we never get to see or feel what the fan base is. You see everyone here not only singing the songs, but knowing the actual (dialogue)."

 

"Some woman came running down to the stage screaming 'I want to bang you Dennis!'" Glenn is happy to note.

 

I asked how the reaction has been to the show, not just in Philly but wherever the show has played. "Whenever we come to Philly, it's a big deal. Because when we come to Philly, everyone knows who we are - everyone's so happy to have us here and we are so happy to be here. But it was nice to see that - in Boston and in New York - we had such an amazing reception. We are getting a lot of love everywhere we are going."

 

On what they can do to best these live performances? The very humble McElhenney simply states, "We don't try to top ourselves. It's a huge mistake. If you try to top what you've done in the past, you're fucked. My feeling is, 'let's go out and do something moment to moment that we think is funny.' Hopefully that works out. If it doesn't, it doesn't."

 

Hopefully that doesn't rule out some sort of ALWAYS SUNNY feature film.

 

My big question of the night was about Rhea Perlman, star of Cheers and wife of Danny DeVito - and would the Emmy winner ever do a guest appearance on the show. "When we did Nightman in L.A. Rhea played Gladys (the piano player in the play)," Rob stated. As for a future television role? "We've considered it and talked about it.

 

 

 

[Krakalakachkn]

So, overall, I didn't think this was the best season.  I think my favorite was last season, so many great episodes.

 

I really enjoyed Waitress gets married, Mac and Dennis Break Up, and the World Series Defense, but there were some episodes I didn't enjoy (season premiere and Frank gets an Intervention).

 

The Season Finale was pretty good, and it was funny, but I thought it flowed awkwardly.

 

I have to say, I enjoyed Mac more this season, Dee less, Charlie more, and Dennis less.  Frank was on and off, his skinny jeans were hysterical, but he really played more of a disgusting slob this season than in previous ones.  Whenever he was on-screen I had a desire to shower - or at least wash my hands.

 

Any other thoughts?

 

Anyone want a milk steak with jellybeans?

[Emperor]

There were so many strong parts of each episode though.  Dick Towel and shotgun drinking spring to mind... so funny.  Flipcup was funny.  Salting the snail was great.  I agree this wasn't the strongest season but still love the show.