My Weekend Fling: Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I have a low tolerance for awkwardness. There are scenes of Arrested Development where I have to leave the room. I bury my head in my hands for entire sequences of The Office. I want to cry for Liz Lemon every time she speaks on 30 Rock. I have an unending willingness to humiliate myself, but watching other people humiliating themselves makes me nauseous. This is also the moral ground upon which I protest the audition episodes of American Idol (I protest the rest of the season because it sucks). I got about five minutes into the first episode of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia and I realized that if I were going to watch anymore I would need a drink. An entire bottle of white wine and four episodes later I gave up on this show, went to bed, and woke up with a slight headache this morning. (Mom if you’re reading, please do not take this to be the pattern of my weekends.)

I had heard a great deal about this show, and it had all been positive, so I was looking forward to it. I can see why people like this show. It works like a twenty-minute build up to a single punch line; all the plot elements are designed to pull off one joke at the end. And I have to say that the jokes are funny, but the characters are borderline repulsive. Of course it is the premise of the show that the three main characters are “regular guys.” “Regular” must be functioning as a euphemism for selfish, rude, egomaniacal, rash, uncouth, shiftless, and suffering from permanent foot-in-mouth syndrome. It is a slice of life show; a glimpse of what the unexceptional in society think about race, religion, abortion, etc. Maybe one reason I am not inclined to finish watching the seasons of this show that are available to me is that these three guys are too regular. I know guys like them; I happen to be single and am occasionally terrified that these guys are all that is left in the world. If that turns out to be true I am perfectly happy to die alone.

The style of the show increases the feeling of familiarity. It does not have the polished look of most TV shows, but it also does not have the documentary vibe of The Office and Friday Night Lights. The show is filmed in such a way as to make the viewer feel as if they have just walked into the bar the protagonists own. It makes the show distinctive, and indicates an attention to craft I admire. But form cannot induce me to overcome content that makes me cringe.

For those of you out there who don’t know too many assholes in real life, Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia will expose you to what you are missing.

The TV Girl