It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Review
Apparently it’s always controversial in Philadelphia.
As a Philadelphia native, I was really hoping to be able to connect with the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but the part I enjoyed most was recognizing the locations in the opening credits.
While the show does try to highlight some of the more important matters of our time, such as abortion rights and underage drinking, I don’t think it tackles the issues in the right way.
The writers try to put Family Guy-type humor in a real-life setting, which doesn’t translate correctly without a talking dog and British baby.
The show is centered on four friends who run an Irish pub in Philadelphia. While everyone has flaws, these people are far from perfect.
In the cold open of the first episode, Dee wants to introduce her friends to the man she met in her theater class. When she brings her friend in, none of the guys tries to hide his surprise that her friend, Terrell, is black. Terrell offers to help promote their bar, and they all eagerly accept his offer. At the promotion event, they realize Terrell is gay and their bar is now known as a gay bar. None of the friends try to hide feelings of disappointment.
In a later episode, Charlie tells Dennis he has cancer, but asks Dennis not to tell their other two friends. Dennis says he feels bad for Charlie but doesn’t have time to talk because the other two are waiting for him to play basketball.
At the end of the episode, we learn not only that Charlie doesn’t have cancer but also that he told Dennis he did so Dennis would set him up with the barista he has a crush on. Charlie is then upset that Dennis told the other friends he had cancer because now he has to pretend it went into remission.
Personally, I don’t find these types of things funny. It took me until the third episode to laugh at one of the jokes because I found it genuinely funny instead of wildly inappropriate.
The third episode discussed the topic of underage drinking.
One night in their bar, the four friends notice a lot of people who definitely don’t look 21. They decide to water-down their drinks and give them a max of two per night. Eventually, these adults become very involved in the lives of the high schoolers who have been frequenting their bar and all end up being asked to prom, where they can finally live out their own high school dreams.
Overall, I’d give Sunny two out of five stars. It does try to stay current and address the important topics of our time, but I just wasn’t entertained.
Everyone praises the show, so I’m hoping the later seasons get better.
There are currently nine seasons of Sunny, and the first eight are available on Netflix.
