Grid Effect

Great night of television yesterday. Mad Men managed to deviate from the mainstream even more last night, while still putting on a commercial facade. Pete finally erupted (which I imagine he’s going to eventually do with that gun), Peggy confronted Joan, Betty returned to the private sector and Don extorted a raise out of Roger. We’ll get to that next week. Right now its time to synopsize the most heinously funny sitcom on television.

For those who are unfamiliar with It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (IASIP), the series about four twenty-something slackers running a bar with no ambition and no interest beyond the self (though their efforts are usually counter-productive) premiered in Summer of 2005. Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson, the only recognizable face of the bunch as Cheryl’s sister on Curb) made up the original cast, and Danny Devito was added as the fifth character (Frank) for the second season as Dee’s and Dennis’ father. Basically, he had faith in the cast so he decided to ride their coattails. And they needed some celebrity endorsement so they did the same to him. The merger was mutually beneficial.

Its also a bit of an underdog story, as it was created by the three male leads with a home camera and presented to the head of FX, he offered them a pilot based on the strength of the episode they spent less than $100 creating.

If there is such a thing as an obscure basic cable comedy series, then It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is it. It will probably never be nominated for any major awards or develop anything beyond a cult audience. But if there were an award for pushing the envelope, then there isn’t really even a close second. For the time being, it’s the only series that I feel condemns me to hell for watching, but yet I tune in anyways. Either I’m disconcerned about living in eternal damnation, or the series is really, really funny.

For instance, the season three premiere is entitled, “The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby”. Now, it’s kind of self-explanatory, but it ventures off on three separate paths. The primary story is Mac and Dee attempting to raise the baby they found in the dumpster (At Mac’s insistence but Dee’s sacrifice). The secondary storylines are Dennis exacting revenge against an environmentalist hippy, Sage, who embarrassed him; and Charlie and Frank dumpster diving based on a trip to a landfill where they found an “Ali-Baba Sword”.

To kill the suspense, it all comes to a head when Charlie (who earlier discovered Frank was actually his father and not Dennis and Dee’s, it’s a long story), becomes convinced that the baby they found is actually the love child of Frank and Charlie’s long-time crush. He confronts her with the kid (stolen from Mac and Dee) concealed by one of his dumpster jackets and in a makeshift body carrier, prompting her to call child services, who walk into their bar with Mac and Dee painting the kid because Latino babies are a hotter commodity in advertising than white babies (this after trying to take him to a tanning salon), Charlie and Frank are arguing over the Ali-Baba sword, waiving it frantically above the kid who is then sitting in a carrier on a barstool, and Dennis regaling how he tricked the hippy into chaining himself to a tree, freeing himself to sleep with his girlfriend.

The second episode entitled. “The Gang Gets Invincible”, has a much more succinct plot. Basically Mac, Dennis and Dee (in drag) decide to try out for the Philadelphia Eagles (an NFL team) while Frank and Charlie tailgate for it. When the tryouts are moved from Lincoln Financial Field to a neighboring high school, the two separate parties discover they are in the presence of the McPoyle’s, a rivaling, incestual family from episodes past.

Frank, getting carried away with memories of his horrific Woodstock experience, looks to redeem himself by dropping acid. Not wanting to feel isolated, he slips some in Charlie’s beverage(”Oh, thats-what-all-those-little-pieces-of-paper-were-floating-around-in-my-beer!!!”). The tryout portion is somewhat tame and is essentially a series of the three characters getting their ass kicked. The highlight of it was Dennis likening himself to a Gazelle in an internal monologue while running a passing route. The camerawork was almost artistic in that scene.

Obviously the first episode proved more entertaining than the second, but they both are an offbeat choice to what is usually predictable, mundane humor that we get from the broadcast networks. It’s not for everybody, the five characters are regularly screaming and rarely is there a moment of levity. And if there ever is, its for something even more proposterous that they can all agree on. The series will be airing four more weeks of back-to-back new episodes, then will air one new episode, followed by one repeat from a previous season. I definitely recommend giving it a tumble.

Back later to close out the week with some links.