FX Comedies: Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day

FX: Finishing up their season with style.
 "I love how they all sit there like choirboys. You know one of them is leaving New York with VD" - Roger Sterling, Mad Men, S04E01



Last Wednesday, Man Seeking Woman and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia aired their season finales. The following Thursday, Archer aired its antepenultimate (yep that's a word) of the sixth season. Sadly, with the end of the winter season looming not-so-far away in the distance, FX/FXX is closing down their comedies. While I've given all three of these shows some shit over the last month or two, it's still sad to see them go. I'll recap Archer in two weeks when the finale airs, but for now lets examine Sunny and Man Seeking Woman.

A perfect mood setter.
Starting with old faithful, It's Always Sunny has now been on for ten seasons, only two away from being the longest live action sitcom of all time. In the tenth installment of the show, it's great to see that despite over 100 episodes having aired, the show is still funny. In fact, three of the episodes this season were elevated to classic status. "The Gang Group Dates," "The Gang Misses the Boat," and "Charlie Work" were all some all-time greats. Only one episode of the season, "Psycho Pete Returns" really fell flat for me. However, whether or not the episodes are good, Sunny has debuted a new way of storytelling. Several of the episodes this season, "Charlie Work" and "Pyscho Pete Returns" included, have been more conceptual than Seinfeldian plot driven.

The Vassal Award Winner makes its return!
As a case study, let's look at "Charlie Work." The entire episode is filmed with what gives us the impression of a single take tracking shot. We see how Charlie, the longtime favorite of the show, goes about essentially saving Paddy's Pub from imminent destruction at the hands of the health inspectors. Accompanied by a drum track as Charlie masterminds the perfect plan to get Paddy's to pass the inspection, the episode gives the impression of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman. However, the real departure is storytelling style is throughout what happens in the episode. Back in the older seasons of Sunny, the show's main source of humor came from conversations. The Gang would debate whether a rat could kill a scorpion or whether or not it was legal to have a hummingbird as a pet. Now though, the show is more high concept. Showing a Birdman-esq plan by Charlie isn't something that season five would have attempted. "Psycho Pete Returns" detailed how people deal with the mentally ill. Of course, it's a very comedic take on it, but nevertheless, the social controversy is heavily touched upon. Other episodes from season ten, such as "The Gang Spies like U.S." and the finale, "Ass-Kickers United: Mac and Charlie Join a Cult," have such movie rips and social commentary.

Though it's certainly not a bad thing, as it is a welcome opportunity for the show to expand its horizons, it's a very interesting progression from the first, probably funnier, seasons of the show. Whether or not the show can carry on the momentum built up across season ten into the next two seasons it's already been renewed for remains to be seen. However, Sunny, even after ten years of programming, remains one of the funniest shows on TV.

Man Seeking Woman's interpretation of religion
Next, we arrive at the awkward younger brother of the other FX comedies: Man Seeking Woman. When I first saw this show, my reaction was simple: What the actual fuck? The show's surrealist approach to dating really didn't mesh with me at first. However, episode five, titled "Sizzurp," actually grabbed my attention. Not only did it include a hilarious intro in which the Greco-Roman God Cupid went to his own intervention and revealed he had a rap mixtape, but it also featured a hilarious plot in which Josh (the show's lead) gets in a relationship with a ridiculously hot girl. The episode examines the social stigma of dating someone hyper-attractive, while at the same time providing laughs along the way. From here, I began to grow into the show a bit more. More episodes, such as "Gavel," "Branzino," and "Teacup" gave me a further appreciation for the show.

A CANADIAN LEADING MAN?!
I suppose it's fair to say that Man Seeking Woman grew into itself. The first batch of episodes confused and weirded me out more than they made me enjoy the show. The interesting thing about the show is that as it progressed, any sense of linear storytelling evaporated. Everything became more of a series of sketches around a central theme. For instance, in "Branzino," Josh starts out by getting admissions letters back from girls, showing how dating is almost like college. He's rejected from all of them except for one, a small liberal arts girl right in the area. Funny idea! Later in that episode, as his relationship is underway, he has to tell his best friend Mike that due to his new girlfriend, they can't spend as much time together as before. He takes Mike to a "Bro Shelter" where bros (not unlike dogs) will be given booze and video games until, if they're not adopted by anyone, they are put down. Again, very very funny idea. However, in the episode's final act, Josh and his girlfriend decide to get surgically conjoined because they're so close. Though a funny idea, the execution was a bit off, making the seudo-sketch fall a bit flat.

It will be interesting to see where Man Seeking Woman goes in its second season. Whether it stays a sketchy show about dating stereotypes or moves on to a longer arc remains to be seen, but as far as the first season goes, it's finally sold me. No, the show is not a stroke of true genius like the inaugural season of Archer, but it acts as a welcome addition to the roster of FX comedy.

Overall, a strong showing for the winter comedy season, especially with the introduction of Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The question is however, will the Spring season consisting of Veep, Silicon Valley, and Louie out-do it?

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