It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
| It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Dark comedy Blue humor Improvisational |
| Created by | Rob McElhenney |
| Developed by | Rob McElhenney Glenn Howerton |
| Starring | Glenn Howerton Kaitlin Olson Rob McElhenney Charlie Day Danny DeVito (Season 2 – present) |
| Opening theme | "Temptation Sensation" by Heinz Kiessling |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 64 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | FX |
| Release | August 4, 2005 – present |
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. The series was created and developed by Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day, who also star in the show. The TV series follows the exploits of "The Gang", a group of self-centered friends who run Paddy's Pub, a relatively unsuccessful Irish bar in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Synopsis
The series follows "The Gang", a group of five depraved underachievers, siblings Dennis and Deandra "Dee" Reynolds, their friends Charlie Kelly and Mac, and their father, Frank Reynolds, who run Paddy's Pub, a run-down bar in South Philadelphia. They are dishonest, egotistical, selfish, greedy, unethical, lazy, arrogant and antagonistic, and are often embroiled in controversial issues. Episodes usually find them hatching elaborate schemes, conspiring against one another or others for personal gain or the pleasure of watching their downfall. Their tactics often rely on inflicting emotional and sometimes physical pain on individuals both deserving and undeserving. They regularly use blackmail and manipulate one another and others outside of the group.
Their unity is never solid; any of them would quickly dump the others for quick profit or personal gain regardless of the consequences. Almost everything they do results in competition between them. Despite their lack of worldly success, the Gang generally maintain high opinions of themselves and display an often obsessive interest in their own reputations and public images. Despite this high sense of self worth, the gang often have little sense of shame when attempting to get what they want and will often engage in activities which others would find humiliating, disgusting, or even absurd, such as smoking crack cocaine in order to qualify for welfare, seducing a priest, or hiding inside a leather couch in order to spy on someone.
The Gang also display a penchant for substance abuse as all of them drink heavily while several of them have abused other drugs including cocaine (in both powdered and crystalline form), marijuana, hallucinogens, prescription pills, and household products such as glue and spray paint.
Cast and characters
The Gang
- Dennis Reynolds, played by Glenn Howerton
- Deandra Reynolds, played by Kaitlin Olson
- Mac, played by Rob McElhenney
- Charlie Kelly, played by Charlie Day
- Frank Reynolds, played by Danny DeVito
Episodes
| Season | # Eps | First Airdate | Last Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 7 | August 4, 2005 | September 15, 2005 |
| Season 2 | 10 | June 29, 2006 | August 17, 2006 |
| Season 3 | 15 | September 13, 2007 | November 15, 2007 |
| Season 4 | 13 | September 18, 2008 | November 20, 2008 |
| Season 5 | 13 | September 17, 2009 | December 10, 2009 |
| Season 6 | 13 | September 16, 2010 | December 16, 2010 |
Production
The show began as a short film idea written by Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton about a man telling his friend he has cancer, while the friend's only intent is on trying to borrow a cup of sugar. This was then developed into a pilot called It's Always Sunny on TV and was shot on a digital camcorder by Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob McElhenney. This pilot was shopped by the actors around various studios, their pitch being simply showing the DVD of the pilot to executives. After viewing the pilot, FX Network ordered the first season. Although it is often stated publicly that the pilot was shot for $200,[1] the makers of the show have claimed that the cost was much lower because the only costs were videotapes.[1] Danny DeVito, who joined the show in season two, said on The Daily Show (August 3, 2006) and on The Late Show with David Letterman (September 6, 2007) that the cost was only $85. This pilot episode's storyline would become that of the fourth episode of the first season, titled "Charlie Has Cancer".
The first season ran for seven episodes with the season finale airing September 13, 2005. According to McElhenney,[1] word of mouth on the show was that it was good enough for FX to renew it for a second, which ran from June 29 to August 17, 2006. To boost ratings and achieve more mainstream exposure, Danny DeVito joined the cast in the first episode of the second season, playing the father of Dennis (played by Glenn Howerton) and Dee (played by Kaitlin Olson). Reruns of edited first season episodes began airing on FX's parent network, Fox, in 2006.
On August 18, 2007, a preview episode from a third season episode "Mac is a Serial Killer" appeared on the group's MySpace page. The third season ran from September 13, 2007 to November 15, 2007. On March 5, 2008, FX renewed It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia for a fourth season.[2] On July 15, 2008, it was reported that FX has ordered 39 additional episodes of the series which means that the show will run until at least a seventh season. All remaining seasons will consist of 13 episodes. All five main cast members were secured for the entire scheduled run.[3] The fifth season ran from September 17, 2009 to December 10, 2009.[4] On May 31, 2010, Comedy Central began airing reruns of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.[5]
First-run seasons of Sunny will continue to air on FX. In addition to the five seasons already produced, Comedy Central has also acquired the rights to seasons six and seven which premiere in the fall of 2010 and 2011 respectively.[6]
The title of most episodes is presented as a punchline tying in with the gag in the cold open. For example, in one cold open, Dee protests that whenever Frank hangs out with The Gang, someone gets hurt. Frank disagrees and asks "I'm just palling around with the guys, how's anyone going to get hurt?" Immediately the title card appears, reading "Frank Sets Sweet Dee on Fire". In the first season, the title of the show would show up before the title of the episode. Starting in season two, the title appears as the theme song starts, directly before the credits roll. The title is almost always a complete sentence describing the plot of the episode. Episode titles almost always are a sentence incorporating one or more of the main characters name or their collective appellation of "The Gang". For example episodes have included "Charlie Gets Molested", "Dennis and Mac: Manhunters" and "The Gang Gets Whacked".
Music
 |
The theme song is a piece of production music called "Temptation Sensation" by German composer Heinz Kiessling. Additionally, Kiessling's work ("On Your Bike" and "Blue Blood") can also be heard during various scene transitions throughout the show, along with other composers and pieces such as Christopher Movick ("Off Broadway"), Joe Brook ("Moonbeam Kiss") and Karl Grell ("Honey Bunch"). Many of the tracks heard in the series have been taken from Cafe Romantique, an album of easy listening production music collected by Extreme Music, the production music library unit of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Independent record label, Fervor Records has also contributed music to the show. Songs from The Jack Gray Orchestra's album, Easy Listening Symph-O-Nette ("Take A Letter Miss Jones", "Golly Gee Whiz", and "Not a Care in the World") and the John Costello III release Giants of Jazz ("Birdcage", "Cotton Club" and "Quintessential") are heard in several episodes. The soundtrack, featuring most of the music heard on the show was released on September 1, 2010.[7]
Throughout the series, music is featured from artists including: The Doors, Biz Markie, Joe Esposito, Stacy Q, Rick Astley, Extreme, Ray Parker, Jr., Yello, Rick Derringer, Soul Asylum, Whitesnake, Steve Winwood, Seal, Styx and Boyz II Men.
In September 2009, the cast of the show took their show live. The "gang" performed the musical The Nightman Cometh in Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.[8] Show co-creator Rob McElhenney said that Live Nation originally approached the cast about doing the show at 30 cities, but in the end the cast settled on 6.[9] Co-Create Glenn Howerton described the show as "is essentially an expanded version of the actual episode of “The Nightman Cometh” which was the season closer for season four. There are some added moments, added scenes, added songs and extended versions of songs that already existed. "[10] The show sold out each venue that it played and helped launch the success of the show.[10] The show received excellent reviews from internet blogs, though few reputable reviews are available online.
Reception
Early seasons received mixed reviews. Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the first season negatively, commenting "it is smug enough to think it's breaking ground, but not smart enough to know it isn't."[11] Brian Lowry of Variety gave the first season a positive review, saying it was "invariably clever and occasionally a laugh-out-loud riot, all while lampooning taboo topics."[12] Later seasons of the show have received favorable ratings on review aggregator Metacritic, receiving 70/100, 78/100 and 85/100 for seasons 4, 5 & 6 respectively. The show has become a cult hit with fans and is often compared in style to Seinfeld - particularly due to the self-centered nature of its main characters, to the point FX attached the tagline, "It's Seinfeld on crack".[13]
References
- ^ a b c Goldman, Eric. "IGN: ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' Premiere". Tv.ign.com. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ^ "'Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Gets Another Season". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
- ^ "'FX Shows Love for It's Always Sunny". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
- ^ "FX Networks". FX Networks. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ^ "'It's Always Sunny' in Philadelphia". Comedy Central.
- ^ "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Comedy Central May 31". monstersandcritics.com. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
- ^ http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/08/26/sunny-in-philadelphia-soundtrack/
- ^ http://paddyspub.blogs.fxnetworks.com/2009/08/06/the-nightman-cometh-to-a-city-near-you/
- ^ http://www.flashfloodmedia.net/2009/08/04/rob-mcelhenney-glenn-howerton-interview/
- ^ a b http://www.iconvsicon.com/2009/09/16/glenn-howerton-interview-2009/
- ^ "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". ew.com. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (July 31, 2005). "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". variety.com. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ [1]
External links
