DVD: It's Always Sunny in Philedelphia - seasons 1 & 2

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ranks among the likes of 30 Rock as the saviours of the sitcom. Not since Arrested Development has a situation comedy been released with such Dickensian plot threads and not since Seinfeld has there been a situation comedy with such remorseless protagonists. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (to be referred to hereafter as IASIP) is one of my current personal favourites.

Airing on the FX network since 2005, IASIP is centred around four friends who run an Irish pub in the city of Philadelphia. It stars series creators Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day along with actors Glen Howerton and Kaitlin Olson in their four characters unscrupulous attempts to get rich quick, get laid & do as little work as possible along the way. Danny DeVito also joins the cast of regulars after the eighth episode as Howerton and Olson's rich father who has left his wife moved in with Charlie & wants to be part of the gang adding his own brand of insanity to the mix.

So what's the show like you ask? I feel the outrageous plots of the episodes can be ascertained by simply reading the titles of the episodes; "Charlie Wants an Abortion", "the Gang Goes Jihad" & "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom" should give you the impression that this show is somewhat offensive. You would be wrong however, because IASIP is completely offensive. The characters are utter assholes but they're assholes to the extreme point where it becomes funny. So many great comedies have starred characters such as Ralph Kramden, Basil Fawlty & Jerry Seinfeld that people think are hilarious but would never ever want to invite to a dinner party. I think the characters in IASIP could one day stand among them in the history of jerks on TV.

The music in IASIP adds an extra level of surrealism to the experience by being very cheery orchestral tunes reminiscent of 1950s commercials or film strips. It uses alot of strings plucking and up tempo melodies and the worse the scenario on screen is the more cheerful the music accompanying it seems to giving even the character's most disgusting actions a nice juxtaposition.

The DVD itself comes with scenes from the pilot, commentary on select episodes, featurettes and audition reels. Along with the 17 great episodes this DVD set is well worth your consideration. If you like situation comedy, offensive humour or subterfuge then this show is for you.



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