It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Still Sunny 11 Years Later

Back in... yellow?
 "I don't know whether to be proud or terrified. Perhaps both." - Frank Underwood, House of Cards, S02E11




First of all, happy Blizzard everyone! For me, not so bad. I never lost power, and a full day wherein I can watch television and movies all day without judgement? Not too shabby! Among the shows I had to catch up on was the eleventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, this week putting out a parody of 1980's ski movies. And with Sunny on the road to it's twelfth season, making it the longest running live action sitcom of all time, I really must give credit where credit is due. The show is still entertaining, original, and best of all, hilarious, even after eleven long years.

Almost on par with Breakin' 2
Always Sunny started out the season with a bit of fan service, delivering the long awaited sequel to the hilarious "CharDee MacDennis: The Game of Games," aptly titled "CharDee MacDennis 2: Electric Boogaloo." Here, we watched as The Gang tried to sell their acclaimed game to a large company, represented by The Office's Andy Buckley (David Wallace). The episode was nothing if not fun, we learned the origination of Charlie and Mac's team poster, (a beefcake with thunder as a head, because they're not cats!) we found out Frank had created a plot to win the game once and for all (besides, it was he who gave the "Electric Boogaloo" title to the sequel,) and we learned a bit more of the history of our characters through the ridiculous questions asked (they're mostly opinion based anyway.) All in all, a fantastic twenty minutes of comedy, choc-full of memorable and quote-able moments.

From there, 1102, titled "Frank Falls out the Window," had us revisiting the past ten seasons of Always Sunny, as Frank began to believe it's 2006 again. Dennis and Dee get re-addicted to crack, Charlie re-invites Frank to be his roommate and Gruesome Twosome partner, and for the very Sunny-addicted fan, there's even a snippet of the plot of season ten's "Charlie Work" in the very beginning. This episode was a throwback to the golden age of Sunny, maybe not quite as hilarious as it was in the second and third season, but still a fantastic edition to the show, giving new laughs for newer viewers and old ones for the longtime fans.

And, in this week's "The Gang Hits the Slopes," the strongest of the season thus far, The Gang makes quite possibly the best bad 80's skiing movie of all time, as Dennis and Frank wage war upon Mac and Dee, warring for the integrity (or lack thereof), of "Party Mountain." Meanwhile, Charlie is caught in the middle, still largely unaware of why people love skiing, or winter wonderland vacations in general, so much. Parties are thrown, skiing contests are hosted, breasts are shown, and most of all, ridiculous 80's music is played! Plus, we had the return of perhaps the greatest recurring character in Sunny history: The Duster.

A welcome addition to any show
But what has given Sunny the staying power that it currently has? Why have so many shows, such as the recently concluded The League, faltered when the third or fourth season ended, while Always Sunny stays great? I think the answer is more complex than it seems at face value. To me, Sunny is the Seinfeld of the modern day. Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer were all landmark characters in themselves. The asshole "main character" who is still semi charming and redeeming, the best friend who is both darker and funnier than the lead, the female friend who isn't dating any of the guys and gives as good as she gets, and the wacky weirdo who's always up to some odd scheme. These four character archetypes reinvented the way that sitcoms formed themselves. And, when Sunny started out, it basically had these four characters, only with the Jerry and the George being blended together for Mac and Dennis. That being said, Dee was very much an Elaine and Charlie was very much a Kramer. The first season was quite funny, but it wasn't really until the second season that Sunny became influential in its own right.

With the introduction of Frank Reynolds, Dennis and Dee's father and Charlie's new roommate, another layer of weird was added to Sunny. Suddenly, an older man who is even more disgusting and mean than the younger characters was in the mix, and along with Frank, all of the characters were allowed to become darker. While the Seinfeld four weren't exactly a group of role models, all of them had redeeming qualities, making them (with the exception of maybe George) at least decent folk. Always Sunny broke this mold, really giving us our first hint that the five leads were genuinely bad people. Episodes like "The Gang Exploits a Miracle" and "Dennis and Dee go on Welfare" began to introduce these themes in season two, while after the start of the third season, "The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby," they were solidified. However, it was these genuinely bad qualities that made Sunny such a unique and influential comedy, instead of a run of the mill "young friends in the city" program.

As the years went on, there was certainly a downturn in quality. After six seasons of stellar comedy, seasons seven and eight were noticeably weaker, albeit with some fantastic episodes thrown into the mix at the same time. However, in seasons nine and ten, and thus far with eleven, Sunny is returning to some moments that make us remember the golden ages. Episodes like "Charlie Work," "Mac Day," or "The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award" remind us of why Sunny is one of the greatest shows in comedy history.

With Sunny already renewed for season 12 and no true end in sight, I'll keep watching this show until the bitter end. If it can retain this level of quality, I'll vouch for it continuing as long as McElhenney is enjoying creating it.

Here's to another great season, and the continued deterioration of Rickety Cricket's life!

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