It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: My Favorites, pt. 3

Top Five time! If for some absurd reason you only see five Always Sunny episodes - six I guess, since one of my five is a two-parter - see these.

5.

Season 5, episode 12. (2009)

After being banned for 10 years from "Flipadelphia" - a local flipcup competition - the gang tries to reignite their old rivalry with another local bar, since upgraded to a proper restaurant. To hone their skills, the guys head to Dennis' old fraternity house at the University of Pennsylvania but find only humiliation and new enemies.

Whenever the Gang gets out into the world or interact with people they knew back in high school, comedy ensues. The world has moved on, but their co-dependence gets only stronger and stranger. Dennis especially, whose insane narcissism makes him hilariously non-functional in any situation not involving Mac, Dee, and Charlie. (And to some extent Frank.)

His objection to his composite picture being defaced is its inaccuracy. Before the full extent of his younger frat brothers' disrespect becomes clear.

This is Dennis getting tased - didn't screencap too clearly.

"SAVAGES! IDIOTS!" Whenever Dennis unravels, it's a good time. There's kind of A Clockwork Orange theme this episode, right down to the Beethoven used here and there.

You could even say it's an exploration of toxic masculinity, and I wouldn't disagree. If so it's the right angle of approach for me to join the conversation.

Charlie's whole thing with Good Will Hunting, and he and Mac's own near-miss at Ultimate Party Bliss, is great, too.

"Oh yeah we poisoned the shit out of them."

4.

Season 11, episode 3. (2016)

Dennis, Dee, Mac, and Charlie go skiing on "Party Mountain," a ski lodge they haven't visited . Frank arrives and announces he's bought the mountain with plans to turn the ski resort into a private club for the rich. Dennis and Charlie square off for the big race, while Mac and Dee get to know Drisco, the holdover from the mountain's old days and onetime rival of Frank's.

Possibly the greatest 80s-movie never made, all in 22 minutes. Who knows if I'd have recognized it as such had it actually come out in the 80s - or the 90s for that matter - but happy to do so now. The 80s movie beats (Frank's model and conception of Snow Palace, Dennis's whole persona, Charlie speeding through all the heroic underdog steps) mixed with the 80s movie deconstructions (the announcer knowing everything about them and providing a running commentary, the sordid underside/ legal reality of the 80s "sex comedy" shenanigans, and - as always - spot-on music selections) are just perfect. Did I mention 80s? (They should have had a sexually frustrated character always getting hit in the nuts, though.)

Dennis' instant, enthusiastic embrace of the villain role is great. Great performance.

As is Charlie's.

 

That's Chainsaw from Summer School as Drisco.

"Never stop partying!"

Also Kevin Farley and Courtney Gains. Everyone is appropriately disillusioning.

"Last night Tatiana taught me all about communism. Cold, hard winters, gross soups. She also taught me a lot about sex. Sweet sex, amazing sex, Jacuzzi sex! So I get it now-- I like the mountain. I understand the rules. And I'm gonna shred."

3.

Season 12, episode 1. (2017)

It's Movie Night with Old Black Man. An accident involving lightning, an electric blanket, and a VCR playing The Wiz results in unconsciousness. When they awake, Old Black Man is gone, and the gang have been transformed into African-Americans. They further discover that when they discuss their situation, it comes out as musical dialogue. They split up to figure out which body-changing plot movie they're in. Charlie, Mac, and Dennis are quickly arrested, while Frank and Dee find Old Black Man and bring him to a nursing home, where they meet Scott Bakula, who claims he's taken the janitorial job to research a role. Frank and Dee don't believe him. ("Don't steal our leap!")  

Eventually deciding the key to return to their usual reality is to fix the VCR (at a shop called "The Wiz") Charlie is shot outside the closed store when trying to show the police on scene the toy train the other cops gave him earlier at the station. Waking from his dream at the end, Old Black Man is ushered out of the apartment, pausing to look in the mirror.

"Man... what are the rules?"

I felt it was worth a bit more plot summary than usual. What a weird little masterpiece this one is: a hybrid body-switching-movie / slice of social commentary, full of the show's signature array of surprising angles on a controversial topic, that also manages to be a legitimate Quantum Leap episode. And all with catchy songs! Charlie Day has mad skills with this stuff. "What are the Rules?" will be in your head for days and might cause some embarrassment if you belt it out in public (or around the homestead), as will "Charlie's Song" which presents Charlie's actual backstory in the context of a 10 year old black child in pitch perfect cabaret. And of course there's this:

I overuse "greatest moment in TV history". Nevertheless, into that melee I nominate the above. ("Oh 'Bakula'!" says Frank. "I thought you were saying 'Blacula', like 'black vampire.'")

"I really really really really really wanna go home!"

Chad L. Coleman was an unexpected recurring character pick-up for the show.

My write-up here might suggest it makes light of its subject matter. It doesn't. To quote Glenn Howerton on a different episode, "Any time we deal with that kind of subject matter, I like to think it’s coming from a more intelligent place. A rape joke is not remotely a funny thing; a man writing a musical that he thinks is about self-empowerment, and not realizing that all his lyrics sound like they’re about a child being molested, is a funny thing. The joke is coming from confusion and misunderstanding, which are classic tropes of all comedy."

It's not a stretch to say most of the comedy on the show comes from the audience being in on the joke of the Gang's eternal confusion and misunderstanding, not just re: being black in America, but in all things. They are idiot savants forever convinced they've got it all figured out. This, too, adds a caustic edge to the comedy of this episode, not to mention its Quantum Leap send-up: even when they think they're helping, they're blundering.

2.

Season 7, episodes 12 and 13. (2011)

The Gang attends its ten year high school reunion. Dennis learns he was not as popular as he thought he was. Dee for the first time gets accepted into the popular clique. It doesn't last. Mac and Charlie find that they are treated the same as they were in high school. 

They initiate Frank (who has snuck in by swiping the nametag "Nikki Potnick") and Dee into their high school psycho troupe "The Freight Train." ("Our conductor's insane / our cargo is pain / Freight Train! / FREIGHT TRAIN!") They put everything on Plan B, a staged musical number to George Michael's "Freedom" to win back the crowd.

It appears to work at first.

As with most things with the Gang, though, the success is only in their heads. The song cuts out and we see what's actually been happening:

Having successfully alienated every last member of their graduating class, Charlie stumbles upon the Waitress at the end, who's off the wagon and vows to bang the first guy who says hi to her. Before Charlie can say anything, Smitty (Jason Sudeikis) swoops in (as predicted earlier by Mac), and he and the Waitress leave together.

"Yep... definitely just like high school."

Another one where I thought an extended plot summary was called for. This is the last episode of season 7, making it almost a halfway point for the series altogether. I wonder if they'll end things with a 20 (or 25) year reunion? I hope not - nothing could top this. (Actually, the last episode should, IMO, reveal who works the bar all the time when they're off doing all this stuff, or how they got it in the first place.) But they've made some enjoyable sequels to their other classic episodes ("Chardee Macdennis," "Lethal Weapon", etc.) so who knows? 

"I'm so excited to show these douche bags my new back. No brace, fools! 'Baby got back! Oh-oh, baby got back!'"
"Sir Mix-a-Lot was not talking about women whose backs have recovered from horrific spinal disorder."

First onscreen appearance of 'the aluminum monster,' the back brace (and nickname) she had to wear until she was 20.

As mentioned before, anytime Dennis loses it is a good time. Particularly when reality does not bend to his insane visions of himself. ("The golden god is not taking questions!" "And swarm they will. And sad you'll be! What sad games we play...")

"I was speeding through the steps - I have a system."

It's great to see some of the familiar faces from the series (Judy Greer, Cricket, the Waitress, Smitty) in this context, as well as a brand new one, the coolest kid in high school, Adriano Calvanese (Sasha Roiz) which almost sounds like one of Charlie's illiterate attempts at "Z Cavaricci." Not really, I guess, but Z Cavaricci was the pinnacle of guido/ new jack swing chic when I was in high school, and I chuckle throughout this two-parter thinking of Adriano as the embodiment of it. 

This speaks to a bit of a timeline problem for the show The actors themselves were all born in the 70s, like me; nostalgia and certain media-cues and sensibilities of this demographic informs much of the humor of the show. I tend to think of them all as the same age as me for that reason (although they're a few years younger). This episode came out in 2011, so a ten year high school reunion would be 2001, later than a high school graduation would've been for most 70s kids. Okay, so the Gang wasn't born in the 70s. But in "The Gang Reignites the Rivalry," which came out in 2009, they refer simultaneously to being banned from the Flipadelphia competition 10 years ago, so 1999. Okay, so they participated in the competition still in high school. But did they own a bar in high school? ("We were the bar to beat," implying both ownership and enough time to establish a reputation.) I suppose this too is a possibility, since we've never learned how they got the bar, unless this has been revealed in the last season, which I haven't seen. (If so, call me a jackass in the comments, I won't mind.) 

In the same episode, Charlie refers to Dennis's college days as "like fifteen years ago," so 1994. Taking into account Charlie's slippery relationship with facts, of course, this is hardly eyewitness testimony. So that would imply an even earlier high school graduation date. But I'm not 100% on their actually saying "ten year high school reunion" anytime in this episode, so maybe it's a fifteen or even twenty year reunion.

That solves the timeline problems (mostly created in my head) neatly enough, and the Gang's back to being born in the 70s. I hope we've all survived this diversion intact. Time for the top spot:

1.

Season 4, episode 13. (2008)

Charlie writes a musical, but it quickly spirals beyond his control.

After two lengthy plot summaries, something succinct for the top spot. This episode is so wonderful. Like so many of the show's best episodes, I'm still amazed they pulled it off. 

The songs are one musical highlight after another. It expands the title song (first heard in "Sweet Dee Is Dating a Retard") into a triumphant, absurd reprise for ensemble. My voice isn't what it used to be, and I can't hit that "aaa-AAAH-AAAAH!" bit everytime but it never stops me from trying. It's even better as the encore of the musical they toured with, available to watch on You Tube and on the Season 4 Special Features. Such crazy high energy. That whole extended musical is worth watching.

As for the regular old episode version, this (start-to-finish) is arguably Charlie's finest arc of the whole series. 

He spends most of the episode pretending he wrote the musical for the hell of it, though the Gang knows better, but it's really an elaborate proposal to the Waitress. She of course suspects as much but, lured by Charlie's promise to her to leave her alone forever if she attends the performance, attends anyway. 

Where this happens.

Again, the extended musical version of that is great, as everyone in the crowd is yelling at her to say yes and she stays in character. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Ahh, poor Charlie. But man.

"No, Antonio, I was transformed by the strong, musky power of true love."

I love that the troll is named Antonio.

I didn't realize this until I started typing these notes up, but "The Nightman Cometh" was the last thing (literally) I ever watched with Klum. An excuse to put him in the Labels! He was visiting, and he didn't know the show, so I threw this one on the last night he was in town. I hate the occasion, but I'm happy this is the official entry in the books. Suitably askew. Miss you, brother.

YOU'RE A MASTER OF KARATE 

AND FRIENDSHIP FOR EVERYONE!

~