Television It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

[Solius]

Oh no

 

[Solius]

Ok I finally got round to watching the latest ep.

Wasn't as bad as I expected when people said it was a 'clip show'. Thought it was decent.

 

[VeevaVee]

Ok I finally got round to watching the latest ep.

Wasn't as bad as I expected when people said it was a 'clip show'. Thought it was decent.

It wasn't as bad as I expected when it first started, but was still a cop out episode.

This season feels like a load of one offs, more than any other season I think. Maybe it's just because it's the first time I've had to wait between episodes though.

 

[Ivor Ballokov]

Last nights was rubbish, not even bad for a Sunny episode, just bad.

 

[JSArsenal]

Has the show's budget been cut or something?

A lot of episodes have been in the bar this season or only using one location (interior of a plane or the conference room for that sexual assault seminar)

I feel like we hardly see the extended cast any more either.

 

[VeevaVee]

Has the show's budget been cut or something?

A lot of episodes have been in the bar this season or only using one location (interior of a plane or the conference room for that sexual assault seminar)

I feel like we hardly see the extended cast any more either.

I'm wondering if the two really good episodes were written well before because they stand out by miles in comparison to the others which feel like an afterthought.

 

[robinamicrowave]

Um. I honestly have no idea how to approach this week’s episode. If its aim was to make me uncomfortable then it worked, because sometimes it was just plain hard to watch. Charlie’s a lot of things, but above all he’s a lovable dope - and watching a lovable dope be put through physical torture was quite upsetting. Everything up to the bear trap was by-the-numbers Sunny, everything afterwards was unsettling.

I enjoyed it, though, sort of? Having read some of the criticism already I was expecting a poor episode, but what I got was an episode of Sunny that mostly didn’t feel anything like an episode of Sunny. And that’s all. That’s not a bad thing as such, but one of this show’s main strengths is its comfort-watch quality. You can throw on any episode at any time and have a ball. Not with this one, you can’t.

Not bad, just tonally at odds with the previous 140-odd episodes. Sunny finally has its “My Sister, My Sitter”. If I had to grade this I’d probably give it a B-.

 

[parkthebuslads]

Pretty rough! Sunny has the fan base to spend 3 or so years to film a 6 episode block without really hurting their numbers, something most fans would probably prefer if it meant having the whole cast in each episode. Regardless, the quality has to be better than that.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

"To be continued"? Well, damn.

 

[MikeKing]

"To be continued"? Well, damn.

Means they still have time to turn it around. The episode on its own was weird as feck as a standalone, but you never know if it connects in a way that will make sense and make it like sort of a good double episode. I don't have high hopes but they might surprise us with that one. I hope they do and that its not another 30 minutes of Charlie crawling around in the pub hurting himself

 

[robinamicrowave]

Better episode this week.

Inconsistent and clunky on the gags front, but I can forgive it a lot for being a passionate episode that communicates what it is to be a sports fan. I think combining last week’s episode with this one would have been a smarter move, but I guess the high concept episodes have been ramped up this season to try and compensate for Dennis’ absence, and not only was this better than Charlie’s Home Alone but having so many side characters back really reminded me of how great they are.

I think this season has been pretty solid overall but it’s been the weakest so far, and it’s become clear that the show needs all five characters together to really work. If they’re having scheduling conflicts they should take two years off again, come back when they’re all free and put everything into one final season in 2020/2021. Cut it off before they lose it and leave us wanting more.

 

[Hoof the ball]

Better episode this week.

Inconsistent and clunky on the gags front, but I can forgive it a lot for being a passionate episode that communicates what it is to be a sports fan. I think combining last week’s episode with this one would have been a smarter move, but I guess the high concept episodes have been ramped up this season to try and compensate for Dennis’ absence, and not only was this better than Charlie’s Home Alone but having so many side characters back really reminded me of how great they are.

I think this season has been pretty solid overall but it’s been the weakest so far, and it’s become clear that the show needs all five characters together to really work. If they’re having scheduling conflicts they should take two years off again, come back when they’re all free and put everything into one final season in 2020/2021. Cut it off before they lose it and leave us wanting more.

New writers for this season, also.....

aside from a couple of episodes, this doesn't feel like Sunny and the writing is far too on the nose.

 

[Hoof the ball]

Just as I thought. From Reddit :-

This gives us 1 out of 9 episodes written by a main writer, which is a huge difference from past seasons! This is, for me, the reason why the natural flow has been so off this season. It lacks the writing of people who can differentiate between whats the spirit of the show and the gimmicks of the show.

 

[Raw]

Just as I thought. From Reddit :-

Which episode was by a main writer?

I do agree that there seems to be a lot of callbacks to previous jokes in the series to try and force the episode to feel like the old episodes, and the characters don't seem like themselves or are trying too hard to be. There are a few episodes I enjoyed and some funny moments but this is definitely the weakest season.

It clearly doesn't work without Dennis, the last episode had Mac act as the Dennis role which was just weird. If they're gonna end it, I'd want the trio of Rob, Glenn and Charlie to be writing the majority of the episodes again. Thankfully Rob and Charlie are writing the last episode of this season so hopefully it's a good one.

 

[Raw]

Season finale. That ending was just...odd. Especially for Always Sunny. Frank was the best part of that episode. And I really hoped Dennis would be in this one but nope.

This season was so weak, I felt like a better end to the season would be the New Wheels episode where they're dancing in the Range Rover at the end. That was the best episode of the series because it actually felt like an Always Sunny episode.

 

[parkthebuslads]

I've watched an awful lot of TV over the years but would struggle to name a more disappointing season than this latest IASIP offering.

By changing things so dramatically and by having so few episodes with a full cast, it came across as if the gang have lost all their love for the show. Ultimately however, regardless of how you feel about their intent or commitment, episodes should mainly be judged on wherever they're actually funny. And they weren't.

 

[Solius]

I've completely forgotten to even watch the last three episodes. Without even watching them and seeing from reactions it's easily the worst season. Hopefully they have Glenn Howerton back for the full season 14 or it risks getting worse.

 

[VeevaVee]

Last one was ok. Just ok. I assume what happened in the Super Bowl there happened in the real one and they tried to be clever with it? If so they did an alright job.

It does need Dennis. He's the strongest actor/presence.

 

[MikeKing]

Season finale. That ending was just...odd. Especially for Always Sunny. Frank was the best part of that episode. And I really hoped Dennis would be in this one but nope.

This season was so weak, I felt like a better end to the season would be the New Wheels episode where they're dancing in the Range Rover at the end. That was the best episode of the series because it actually felt like an Always Sunny episode.

Yes. They wrote the finale of last season with it in mind that Dennis would not be available for this season. Its not inconceivable to think that this season was half done without him, they realised it sucked, got him back for a few weeks and changed the whole approach. It doesn't make sense to me. I would rather they had 9 episodes without him and him coming back in the last one to setup for the possibly last season.

 

[robinamicrowave]

... I genuinely don't know how to react to that finale. For the first fifteen minutes it was a solid enough episode that felt slightly off but was still pretty fun (Frank's face, Cricket showing up), but then that happened, and it was so tonally at odds with everything else this show has done that I was just left in stunned silence for a good minute after the episode finished. Sunny has survived for so long because it's always had a strong grasp of character, but for an episode to be so focused and rooted in character was a seriously risky move.

And boy did they pull this off.

They've tried to mess around with form this season for a number of reasons, which is why it's felt disjointed at points, but that dance sequence was absolutely outstanding. Truly. This might have been the weakest season thus far but fair play to Rob and Charlie for taking risks like this so late in the game. As much as Sunny's not the show it was, the fact that they're still attempting to try new things and put so much effort into these risks... I think that alone deserves a lot of credit.

But that sounds like the sort of defence I'd give the show if that dance routine hadn't worked, but, to be honest, it really, really did. At least for me. For the creators to be taking such huge risks this late in the game deserves credit, as I've said, but the fact that they've managed to pull off something like this so impressively is a huge feat of artistic achievement and it's given me renewed hope for the fourteenth (and hopefully last) season, whenever it arrives.

It hasn't changed the direction of the show like some have suggested (there's plenty of laughs in a storyline where Frank and Mac grow closer, so Charlie feels jealous and insecure), but it has confirmed that Mac's sexuality is no longer a matter the show is going to be that concerned with. Instead of Mac being "the gang's closeted gay guy" or "the gang's gay guy", Mac will just be Mac. As IndieWire have put it: "The actor’s incredibly toned physique, first unveiled in the Season 13 premiere, adds to the beauty of the dance’s composition. The shadows capture his curves in a way that highlights the male body, helping to convey the character’s wants, desires, and sense of self. This is the guy Mac always talked about being without ever actually becoming. After years of 'cultivating mass" he was finally able to “harvest” it once he came out to his friends."

Mac will still be childish, he'll still be after Dennis' affection, and he'll still be too easily capable of flying off the handle of someone ticks him off, but he'll just do it as himself now, instead of the impression he's been putting out there for the last 5-6 seasons (let's fact it, Mac wasn't always supposed to be gay). So yeah, I'll remember season 13 as a season that tried a lot of new things that didn't always work, and tried to compensate for Glenn Howerton's absence but didn't always hit the right notes, but pushed Sunny in a new direction for the final time before it comes to what should be its end.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Meh. Maybe they should've ended the show after last season.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

I haven't seen the last one yet, but overall it's been a bit meh. It felt rushed and hashed together. There were 3 very strong episodes, but the rest just felt like they had to force the rest out to fill the quota.

I'd have preferred they'd have taken a longer hiatus to do it properly than to hash together what they ended up with. But the 3 strong episodes prove they still have great ideas. They just need everyone together and on board. If Howerton is going to keep a distance from the show, then it probably needs to end, but it'd be a shame if Season 13 is the last one and they go out like that. It would be great if they could do one more season with everyone all in, go out on a high.

 

[Oldyella]

I loved that last episode. Appreciate it was so different tone wise people may not have and that's fair enough, but 13 seasons in that was ballsy as hell. Reading the work that went into it makes it even more impressive.

The season overall was hit and miss, but I still enjoyed it and look forward to the next. Even hit and miss it's one of the best comedies around.

 

[Charlie Foley]

Raining today

 

[MikeKing]

I loved that last episode. Appreciate it was so different tone wise people may not have and that's fair enough, but 13 seasons in that was ballsy as hell. Reading the work that went into it makes it even more impressive.

The season overall was hit and miss, but I still enjoyed it and look forward to the next. Even hit and miss it's one of the best comedies around.

I did actually love that episode too. They have Mac do some crazy stuff once in a while like when he got fat or when he did those karate action scenes. A lot of training, and going through with something like that gives the show a natural unpredictability. Love frank

 

[Shane88]

They don't know how long they've got left on TV so they're gonna get real weird with it.

 

[Oldyella]

They don't know how long they've got left on TV so they're gonna get real weird with it.

Hips and nips. Gotta keep it sexy.

 

[squiggle]

I’ve just seen it. That was genuinely beautiful, like the last episode of Detectorists.

And holy Hell does Rob McElhenney have some physical commitment to his role.

 

[sullydnl]

Great end to a mixed season.

 

[VeevaVee]

The dance was awesome but I'm left thinking 'what the feck am I watching here?' because it wasn't Mac. The rest of the episode was alright. As mentioned, Cricket and Frank's face were the highlights, although there wasn't much in the way of comedy.

Overall, feel like the whole season was soulless. One really good episode and another decent one that I can remember. The rest just didn't really feel like Sunny.

You know when something just isn't the same anymore? It seems like that's how they feel and it's reflected in the show.

 

[Zen]

Mac was clearly closeted from Season 1....bit odd to read above that someone didn't think it wasn't always the case. Whether it was supposed to come to the forefront so much is another case, or whether they were just play with him closeted....but that's what happens when you go on for longer than you probably truly expect.

Thought the dance was a master stroke too, beautiful watch, love the fact that him getting superfit was just kind of a smokescreen mostly for that, it may not have been Mac for some.....but Mac wasn't Mac anyway, thus what the dance was representing, accepting himself in the world, instead of pushing it away.

Season as a whole was okay - but then it had that, which will probably one of highly praised moments of the whole series.

 

[sullydnl]

It always seemed like this season would have to be different due to Howerton's scheduling issues and it seems like the show (rightly imo) decided to embrace that idea of change. At times I felt this season was less funny than previous ones but it was impressively intelligent throughout.

Including a 5 minute joke-less dance sequence in a 30 minute comedy and actually have it work is pretty remarkable for a sitcom in its 13th season. That willingness to try new things is what will keep the show going and has rightly seen it get a lot of praise over the last few days. If it makes Always Sunny a different show then that's fine.

 

[robinamicrowave]

Mac was clearly closeted from Season 1

Would love to know why you think this! I've always got time for theories like this.

 

[Zen]

Would love to know why you think this! I've always got time for theories like this.

Not too hard. But it's endless from here on.....pretty sure Charlie dropping the "Well Macs gay" was about season 3? At which point it was just an endless waiting game and a belief for Sunny fans that the show was trolling the fanbase by never officially outing him.

 

[MJJ]

Not too hard. But it's endless from here on.....pretty sure Charlie dropping the "Well Macs gay" was about season 3? At which point it was just an endless waiting game and a belief for Sunny fans that the show was trolling the fanbase by never officially outing him.

Charlie looks so young.

 

[robinamicrowave]

Not too hard. But it's endless from here on.....pretty sure Charlie dropping the "Well Macs gay" was about season 3? At which point it was just an endless waiting game and a belief for Sunny fans that the show was trolling the fanbase by never officially outing him.

Huh... that scene hasn't aged well, has it? :|

Also, Charlie does say that Mac's gay in season 4, but it's after he mistakes Mac and the Waitress' plan to avoid Dennis and Charlie for Mac's desire to have sex with Dennis. It's the conversation they have over the walkie-talkies. I think the show only developed the running joke that Mac was gay after "Mac Fights Gay Marriage". Before that I'd argue he was predominantly written as straight.

 

[MikeKing]

Huh... that scene hasn't aged well, has it? :|

Also, Charlie does say that Mac's gay in season 4, but it's after he mistakes Mac and the Waitress' plan to avoid Dennis and Charlie for Mac's desire to have sex with Dennis. It's the conversation they have over the walkie-talkies. I think the show only developed the running joke that Mac was gay after "Mac Fights Gay Marriage". Before that I'd argue he was predominantly written as straight.

No, I think it does age well. Why do you think it hasn't aged well? To me its still funny, and pretty timeless, to me anyways. But on your other point, I completely agree. Up until season 4 or something like that he was completely straight, then they started to play with the idea after that and it was first when CountryMac came to Philly and Charlie said it out loud that it became official and the jokes after became more saturated.

 

[Zen]

That scenes from the unaired pilot. But well, if you go from the biggest production moment it's ever done to anything that far back....yeah, it's gonna look nasty ha.

Either way, like I said, in terms of them holding back outing him officially, it's had been an ongoing joke for some for a long time. In fact I just looked up when Mac Fights Gay Marriage was and got to a review of it from it's airing....which has this

"Mac's burgeoning homosexuality and his relationship with Carmen "the ******," first addressed in season one's "Charlie Has Cancer" (where he meets her) and again in "Mac is a Serial Killer" (where he bangs her) is one of his best storylines and I'm happy to see it revisited here. I'd really love to see the show really push the envelope and take the idea to what seems to be its natural conclusion, that the workout-obsessed, virulently right-wing Mac is as gay as a puffin."

It was already clear at this point. Season 6, and I agree. Due mostly to the second part of that paragraph, he was overly masculinity obsessed from the start.

 

[robinamicrowave]

No, I think it does age well. Why do you think it hasn't aged well? To me its still funny, and pretty timeless, to me anyways. But on your other point, I completely agree. Up until season 4 or something like that he was completely straight, then they started to play with the idea after that and it was first when CountryMac came to Philly and Charlie said it out loud that it became official and the jokes after became more saturated.

I think we're learning that it's not as simple as 'dick = dude, vagina = woman' anymore, that it's always been more complicated for lots of people even if we haven't always been aware. I think The Gang Solves the Bathroom is proof that a person being transgender / transsexual isn't really a source of comedy these days.

 

[MikeKing]

I think we're learning that it's not as simple as 'dick = dude, vagina = woman' anymore, that it's always been more complicated for lots of people even if we haven't always been aware. I think The Gang Solves the Bathroom is proof that a person being transgender / transsexual isn't really a source of comedy these days.

That is not the premiss of the comedy tho, its only the setting, and no matter how you look at it it is still relevant and I think its rather innocent. The comedy still works because it is about how Mac ignores the facts laid before him, not because of being woke or in the outdated manner; repulsed, but simply because he is so concerned with his own self-image that it doesn't even register, because of his insecurity. I think that is funny, and he doesn't need to be gay for it to be funny really.

That being said. His character development is natural, but just because it makes sense that he is actually gay doesn't mean they wrote it like that from the beginning.