Critiquing the Arts Class Review--"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is a show about people so vain, venal and vile that, when an episode ends, you find yourself thanking the heavens that it's only a TV show. They backstab and bitch, wave guns at each other (sometimes) and smoke crack (well, one time). And it's funny.

"Sunny" centers around Mac, Dennis and Charlie, three guys who own a bar in a certain Pennsylvania town, along with Dennis's sister, Sweet Dee, and the always entertaining Danny DeVito, who plays Dee and Dennis's dad. They're superficial and self-centered in the same manner of the characters on "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm", but even nastier. Other than "South Park", there's no other show capable of pulling so many laughs from such downright mean material.

Most of the plots that showcase the kind of sick humor "Sunny" is so good at can't be described in this blog. In fact, some of the episode titles are probably unprintable here. But a constant is the bickering of the "friends" who screw over each other in ways that are usually horrifying and hilarious at the same time.

And while the characters are morally loathsome, the actors manage to make them likable in a strange sort of way. Charlie, the George Costanza of "Sunny", would be nothing but obnoxious on a lesser show, but actor Charlie Day makes his annoying, sleazy, ignorant character very entertaining. In a recent episode, he gets to show off his singing skills, belting out a love song about the "night man" who sneaks into his room while he sleeps with an earnestness that would be hard for any actor to pull off. Even the hyperactive DeVito can't match Charlie's demented energy, but the two play off each other perfectly, with DeVito's character Frank using his gift for manipulation to put the dimwitted Charlie into all sorts of undesirable situations for Frank's benefit.

"Sunny" mines humor from the things we're taught not to laugh at at a very young age. Abortion. Mental retardation. Untimely death. Drug addiction. Just about everything is fair game, and fortunately, it's done well enough that it manages to be clever, at times almost brilliant, in its tastelessness. Sure, it's mean-spirited when Frank tells his own daughter he can help her become a local politician (so he can pull strings from behind the scenes), but only if she can "trick people" into thinking she's smart and pretty. And it's a little cruel to make a running joke out of Charlie's dyslexia, but it pays off for moments like when he shows Mac the lyric sheet to the aforementioned "Night Man" and there's nothing on the paper but some scribbles of stick figures, a backwards crescent moon and what looks like some sort of beetle. It's pretty funny, as far as learning disabilities go. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" needs to be seen once, if only to be believed. Also, this is as a good a point as any for me to say that if you ever wanted to see Danny DeVito on acid firing a pistol, watching this show may be your only chance.