It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

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It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Season 2 promotional poster
Genre Sitcom
Creator(s) Rob McElhenney
Starring Glenn Howerton
Kaitlin Olson
Rob McElhenney
Charlie Day
Danny DeVito
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
No. of episodes 17 as of August 17, 2006
Production
Running time 22-23 Minutes
Broadcast
Original channel FX Networks
Original run August 4, 2005 – Present
Links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an FX sitcom created by Rob McElhenney about four friends (played by McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton and Kaitlin Olson) who run an Irish bar, "Paddy's Pub", in Philadelphia. The series deals with a variety of controversial topics, including abortion, gun control, racism, sexism, religion, slavery, sexual harassment in education and gay rights.

The show began as a pilot called "It's Always Sunny on TV" and was shot on a digital camcorder by Day, Howerton and McElhenney. After viewing the pilot, FX Networks executives gave them $400,000[citation needed] to shoot the first season. Although it is often stated publicly that the pilot was shot for $200, the makers of the show have claimed that the cost was much lower because the only costs were videotapes. In an interview on The Daily Show, actor Danny DeVito specified that the cost was only $85 (August 3, 2006).

According to Rob McElhenney, word of mouth on the show was good enough during the first season for FX to renew it for a second, which premiered on June 29, 2006. In the new season Danny DeVito joined the cast, playing the father of Dennis (Howerton) and Dee (Olsen).

The first season finale aired on September 13, 2005. Reruns of edited first season episodes began airing on FX's parent network, FOX, in 2006. In the UK and Ireland, Bravo broadcast the first season in early 2006, with the second season to be broadcast in November 2006 according to the Sun's TV magazine. The show is also shown in Sweden, and in Canada where it airs on Showcase. The first season aired in the Arab world on Showtime Arabia's Paramount Comedy Channel in November 2006.

The show has drawn considerable critical acclaim, including comparisons to Seinfeld[1].

On November 7, 2006, FX announced the show would be returning for a third season to start airing during summer of 2007. [2]

Contents

[edit] Major characters ("The Gang")

  • With the exception of Frank Reynolds, the gang had all attended high school together.
  • The five major characters comprise "the gang" and share, to a certain degree, several personality traits.

[edit] Dennis Reynolds

Dennis (Glenn Howerton) is Dee's twin brother, co-owner of Paddy's, and roommates with Mac. He is confident, vain, and generally successful with women. He and his sister come from a well-to-do family, and he dresses relatively well and drives a Land Rover. Dennis tends to be a bit nostalgic - he nearly cries over the memory of Tim Murphy sleeping with his prom date in high school, and complains to Mac about his love for Mr. Tibbs, a stuffed elephant from his childhood. Before owning the bar, Dennis' dream was to be a veterinarian. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and minored in psychology.

[edit] Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds

Sweet Dee, or Dee (Kaitlin Olson), is Dennis' twin sister and bartender at Paddy's. She is vain like her brother, and reacts strongly to any criticism. She often finds herself in romantic situations with men that she cannot have for a variety of reasons (including their homosexuality, priesthood, marital status, criminal ways, and age). She proclaims to be a compassionate liberal, but many of her actions contradict that. She is disgusted by Charlie's apartment and the elderly. She usually tries to disengage herself from other people's troubles, and is willing to lie for self benefit. In high school, she missed out on her prom and did not have much luck with men because of her severe scoliosis. She used to wear a back brace and attended physical therapy twice a week after school with Matthew Moira ("Rickety Kricket"). Dee gets nervous when she's around a guy that she likes and has a tendency to abuse alcohol in order to calm herself or compensate for her perceived inadequacies. She completed "three quarters" of a psychology major at the University of Pennsylvania, and is an aspiring yet unsuccessful actress.

[edit] Mac

Mac (Rob McElhenney) is a childhood friend of Charlie's and attended St. Vincent's Elementary School with him. Mac is a co-owner of Paddy's, and roommates with Dennis. Mac is the only one of the group who claims to have earnest religious faith, although it has little impact on his ethics. In high school, Mac used to sell weed to the other kids. He worries about his appeal to women and often competes with Dennis for their affection. His estranged father is currently in prison on drug charges, which does little to stop him from recruiting his son into heroin trafficking. He is hot-headed, without shame, and often described by most friends and strangers as an asshole.

[edit] Charlie Kelly

Charlie (Charlie Day) is a childhood friend of Mac (Charlie attended St. Vincent's Elementary School with Mac) and co-owner of Paddy's. At the bar, he is responsible for "Charlie work," the worst and most disgusting jobs at the bar. He is known to be poor and his apartment is often described by friends and strangers as a "shit hole". He agreed to be roommates with Frank on the condition that Frank pay the rent for 6 months. He is often the butt of the group’s jokes even though he has a Napoleon complex and is more than likely dyslexic; up until the episode "The Gang goes Jihad" Charlie had no knowledge of the War on Terror; it is suspected that he has a learning disability. Like the rest of "the Gang", Charlie is incredibly dishonest. The most serious example would be when he lied about having cancer to attact the sympathy of the Waitress, with whom he is obsessed. Still, Charlie retains a kind of sweet-natured innocence that contrasts sharply with the selfishness and amorality of the show's other characters.

[edit] Frank Reynolds

Frank (Danny DeVito) is the father of Dennis and Dee, and is introduced in the first episode of the series' second season. After going through an acrimonious divorce and midlife crisis, he initially planned on giving his wealth to charity. He was quickly inspired by the gang's life of lazy debauchery, however, and decided to use his money to live like them. He eventually bought a share of the bar, and currently shares Charlie's sofa-bed with him. At the end of Season 2 it was discovered that Frank is not the father of Dennis and Dee and may in fact be Charlie's father.

[edit] Minor recurring characters

  • The Waitress (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) - Unnamed coffee shop waitress. Charlie is obsessed with her, while she in turn is repulsed by him. Instead, she's attracted to Dennis, which Dennis often uses to exploit Charlie. She later slept with Frank to hurt Dennis. Incidentally, the actors who play the obsessed Charlie and disinterested Waitress are married in real life.
  • Barbara Reynolds (Anne Archer) - Frank's money hungry, high society ex-wife and mother of Dennis and Dee. She is described by Frank as being "a dirty whore." She slept with Mac in "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom" to make Frank jealous.
  • Mrs. Bonnie Kelly (Lynne Marie Stewart) - Charlie's mom. In "Charlie Got Molested", she led the intervention to force Charlie to admit that he was molested as a child (which he in fact wasn't.) In "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom", when Dennis propositions her to get back at Charlie, she tells him "I just don't find you sexually attractive." She may also have had a one night stand with Frank Reynolds, making Frank Charlie's father.
  • The McPoyle Brothers (Nate Mooney and Jimmi Simpson)– Creepy former elementary school classmates of Mac and Charlie. It is hinted that Ryan (Mooney) and Liam (Simpson) have an incestuous relationship with each other and their sister. They are enemies with Charlie since he foiled their plan to become rich through a false lawsuit against the school district.
  • Artemis (Artemis Pebdani) - Friend of Dee's from her acting classes. In the episode "Charlie Has Cancer" Artemis was hired to work at the bar in a move to make it more like the Coyote Ugly Saloon, but rejected when Dennis sees that she is "a little on the pudgy side." Also appeared in "Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody's Ass," now with a fondness for performing in the nude.

[edit] Major Themes

  • The gang is vain. Each character has, at one point or another, displayed extreme forms of pride or shame concerning their physical appearance or sexual appeal. Examples: Dennis fasts for days after being told his face looked fat; Dennis is against Paddy's becoming a gay bar, but relents after gay patrons compliment his looks; Mac becomes upset that other boys in his childhood gym class had been molested while he hadn't; Dee attempts to seduce a priest after being told that she's "too old" to do so. A somewhat recurring gag involves one of the gang being complimented on their appearance and responding with a reassurance-seeking "Really?"
  • The gang is also uninformed. They seem to have little, if any, knowledge of politics. In one episode Dennis ran for comptroller without even knowing what it is. They usually go on pointless capers in the hope that they will result in a self-serving outcome. One of many examples would be when Dennis and Mac "trained" Charlie to take an incredible amount of punishment, in the hopes of winning money from an organized street fight. Another example is during "The Gang goes Jihad" episode in which none of the gang can properly describe the conflict in Israel despite claiming to know its ramifications.
  • The gang is very dishonest. At varying times members have lied about things like having cancer, suffering from disabilities (both physical and mental), being a Vietnam War veteran (Charlie), their sexual orientation and their ethical or religious views, all for the sake of personal gain. In most episodes these character flaws result in unhappy endings for the main characters as well as the innocent bystanders caught in their path.
  • The gang is very competitive. Conflicts that arise from their mutually competitive natures are the basis for many plots. This has ranged from competition over women between the guys, Dee proving she is as strong or competent as the others, who can steal more things, or even who can amass the most religious followers.
  • The gang loves to argue over each other. In almost every episode, the entire gang, or most of the gang, gets into an arguing match in which they try to shout over each other. Notable instances are the fight in Paddy's bathroom between Charlie and Dennis over Charlie faking cancer and the entire gang arguing over who might've been responsible for their potential deaths in "Charlie gets crippled."
  • The gang likes to sing. The group tends to either sing a cappella or with the accompaniment of music. Songs that have been sung during the show are:

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episodes
Season 1
# Title Airdate Production #
101 "The Gang Gets Racist" August 4, 2005 1P01001
102 "Charlie Wants an Abortion" August 11, 2005 1P01003
103 "Underage Drinking: A National Concern" August 16, 2005 1P01006
104 "Charlie Has Cancer" August 23, 2005 1P01004
105 "Gun Fever" August 30, 2005 1P01005
106 "The Gang Finds A Dead Guy" September 6, 2005 1P01007
107 "Charlie Got Molested" September 13, 2005 1P01002
Season 2
# Title Airdate Production #
201 "Charlie Gets Crippled" June 29, 2006 1P02001R
202 "The Gang Goes Jihad" June 29, 2006 1P02002R
203 "Dennis and Dee Go On Welfare" July 6, 2006 1P02004R
204 "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom" July 6, 2006 1P02005R
205 "Hundred Dollar Baby" July 13, 2006 1P02007
206 "The Gang Gives Back" July 20, 2006 1P02003
207 "The Gang Exploits A Miracle" July 27, 2006 1P02009
208 "The Gang Runs for Office" August 3, 2006 1P02006
209 "Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody's Ass" August 10, 2006 1P02008
210 "Dennis and Dee Get A New Dad" August 17, 2006 1P02010

[edit] Availability

  • All episodes are available for download on the iTunes Store.
  • It's rumored from Kaitlin Olson's MySpace that DVDs of Season 1 and 2 should be available in the Spring of 2007. [3]

[edit] Notable Guest Stars

  • Autumn Reeser of The O.C. fame, guest appears in Episode 102: "Charlie Wants An Abortion" as Megan, a Pro-Life activist that Mac meets at a pro-life rally outside of an abortion clinic.
  • Brittany Daniel, the television and movie actress, guest appears in Episode 104: "Charlie Has Cancer" as Carmen, the transexual that Mac is attracted to.
  • Michael Rosenbaum of Smallville fame, guest appears in Episode 105: "Gun Fever" as Colin, a gun-loving, 80's stereotype, thief that steals from the neighboring bars in Philadelphia by manipulating their female bartenders.
  • Dennis Haskins of Saved by the Bell fame, guest appears in Episode 107: "Charlie Gets Molested" as Coach Murray, a coach being prosecuted by the McPoyle brothers, who falsely claimed that they were molested by him. The idea came to them a year earlier from a heavily inebriated Charlie.
  • David Hornsby, accomplished television actor and brother of Bruce Hornsby, guest appears in Episode 207: "The Gang Exploits A Miracle" as the priest Matthew Moira (Rickety Krickety). David Hornsby also wrote Episode 208: "The Gang Runs For Office".
  • Stephen Collins of 7th Heaven fame, guest appears in Episode 210: "Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad" as Dennis' and Dee's biological father.

[edit] Trivia

  • The series does not have a soundtrack of its own. The show's theme is a piece of production music called "Temptation Sensation" by Heinz Kiessling, controlled by Extreme Music LLC. All other music on the show is also generic library music.
  • During the show's first season, it was aired in an hour-long block alongside another FX show "Starved". Favorable coverage for "Starved" led to it being slanted as the lead-off show of the block. Its quick failure to achieve high ratings resulted in the two episodes switching time slots, with "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" taking the lead-off position. The cancellation of "Starved" led to FX airing two new episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia a week as part of an hour-long block with the start of the show's second season.
  • Charlie's "war hero" costume in the episode "Charlie Gets Crippled" is based on famed Vietnam war protester and writer Ron Kovic.
  • Charlie Day is married to Mary Elizabeth Ellis, who plays "The Waitress" on the show.
  • Each episode ends with the RCH production logo, with the actors in hoodies with a sound clip played backwards.
    • In Season 1, when this is played forwards it says "You are stupid for playing this forward." At the end of the first-season finale "Charlie Gets Molested", the message had an echo.
    • In Season 2, when this is played forwards, it says "Is it brown? Is it brown? Is it brown? Good work. Is it brown? Is it brown? Is it brown? Good work."
  • There have so far been only 3 episode titles without "The Gang" or a character’s name in it (103, 105, 205). Dennis' name has appeared 3 times, Dee's name has appeared 2 times, Mac's name has appeared once, while Charlie has appeared in 5 titles. "The Gang" has been in 6.
  • The original title for "$100 Baby" was scheduled to be "Sweet Dee Takes Steroids", but was changed as a play on words to the movie, "Million Dollar Baby".
  • For the episode "Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad", the webpage created on MySpace for Frank actually exists. He only has one friend, Tom.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Semi-lovable losers in the City of Brotherly Love", Salon
  2. ^ http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-fxrenewsitsalwayssunny,0,6450620.story?coll=zap-news-headlines retrieved December 6, 2006
  3. ^ http://www.myspace.com/kaitlinolson retrieved December 2006

[edit] External links

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