Now that I’m in the back half of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, all the seasons are ten episodes apiece, and I am just breezing through them! At peak enjoyment, I might add. I’ve also stumbled across a lot of the phrases that are quoted by the Sunny-fandom on a regular basis and it’s been delightful. My personal favorite was Dennis yelling “sickness be gone!!!” when he thought he was coming down with the flu. Delivery was fantastic.
The gang’s eighth season adventures are all totally ridiculous and it’s amazing that people put up with them in any way. I also like that this season gave each of them their own feature. Nothing stands out to me quite as much as the episode where Frank puts back on his CEO-suit, and Dennis tries to get “under the skin of a man” by impersonating him. The other standouts of the season were “The Maureen Ponderosa Massacre Wedding,” which was essentially the show’s take on a horror film (it really, really worked), and I also really laughed hysterically at “The Gang Dines Out” – that poor waiter.
If anything, the show proves its meta tendencies a lot this season. I mean, they always have a reference at what’s going on in the world, but their episode, “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award” makes it obvious they are poking fun at the fact that they’ve never gotten an Emmy award nomination. But awards don’t matter! They’ve got 15 seasons! Other hilarious events include the gang falling for a pyramid scheme and the appearance of “Country Mac,” but my favorite had to be “The Gang Saves the Day,” which chronicles how they all think they’ll defeat a gas station robber. Hilarious! Also, the season-ending Thanksgiving episode brings together a bunch of the series’ characters to put their differences aside…but we all know that really didn’t work out.
Hot off the heels of season 10, I have to say, as I’ve said before, this show just keeps getting better! I witnessed an incredibly filmed episode in “Charlie Work,” where Charlie tries to get the bar in order in the shortest amount of time possible before a health inspector shows up. It appeared to be filmed in one continuous take and made me very anxious, but it all worked out for him in the end. I was also almost pissing myself during the “The Gang Goes on Family Fight” which was a parody of the game show Family Feud. They were all extremely ridiculous and Dennis just couldn’t hang. Keegan-Michael Key also made an excellent host for the show. In the season finale, I was also a big fan of Dax Shepard’s cameo as Jojo, a man who joins a cult and eats paint chips.
Overall, the situations the gang gets themselves involved in are ludicrous, but the results are nothing short of genius comedy. I also like that even though their debauchery doesn’t follow them nearly in the way that it should, there are still elements that carry over. For instance, Dennis and Mac’s apartment burned to a crisp at the end of the ninth season, so they are living in Dee’s apartment throughout the tenth. Just enough continuity to make it a never-ending story (if we’re lucky!). I can’t wait to see what the last four seasons bless me with.