It’s Always Satirical
From racism, to drug abuse, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia exploits all kinds of social issues for its comedy. The show’s satirical approach to these issues is a social commentary on American society and serves as a blatantly terrible example of how people should act. The show explores topics like class, race, and morals, as well as critiques the modern ideology of a sitcom.
Each episode of “It’s Always Sunny” takes on a new social stigma, the episodes are titled accordingly. Titles like “The Gang Gets Racist” and “The Gang Goes Jihad” flash on the screen abruptly after the opening scenes and just before the intro credits. The episodes are usually summed up in the opening scenes, one of the main characters walks into the bar and presents an issue, which is almost always a common social issue, and the rest of the gang reacts, usually in a terrible way. From this point, the issue is either resolved in a very ridiculous way or they simply give up and forget about it.
Personally, my favorite example of this is in the sixth season. In “The Gang buys a boat,” the gang pools their money and buy a boat, clearly uneducated and unexperienced with boats, they prod at the spending culture in America. As soon as they come across any extra wealth they choose to spend it immediately on a boat that is in very poor condition. Another issue they tackle in this episode is rape culture, along with the boat comes, as Dennis calls it, “the implication.” The implication, of course, is that these women will have sex with him. According to Dennis, when women come aboard the boat with the guys, they will automatically understand the implication. One can make an assumption from the beginning of how this might pan out.
Along with commenting on American culture, the show makes a significant statement on the traditional American sitcom. This, in itself, is satirical because the show is now the longest running TV series and is the standard for other comedy shows. Again, the commentary starts with the cold open and the episode title. Episodes like “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award” and “How Mac Got Fat,” can make you question the logic sitcoms.
The season nine episode, “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award,” came at a time when the show had been airing for nine years and had amassed a large and devoted fan base. Even with time and popularity on its side, the show still hadn’t won any significant awards. While the episode is about getting an award for the bar, it is very obvious that the cast is commenting on the institution. The episode “How Mac Got Fat” is the culmination of the period in which Mac has been “cumulating mass.” In a later interview with TV Guide, Rob McElhenney (Mac) explains that he "It came when I was watching a very popular sitcom, and I noticed the people were getting better and better looking as the seasons were going on… I always thought that what we were trying to do on Sunny was the deconstruction of the sitcom” (McElhenney). It wasn’t makeup and costumes, however, McElhenney actually gained 52 pounds for the show. This is an ongoing theme in the show and there are many more examples. It’s Always Sunny critiques the modern sitcom by doing the opposite of what is expected from it.
Sure, most of the things that the Gang does are terrible, but in reality, they an archetypal friend group, and can be pretty relatable. In a season four episode, “The Gang Solves the Gas crisis,” The guys decide that Dennis is the “looks”, Mac is the “brains”, and Charlie is the “wildcard”. However, it’s obvious that Mac is not the brains, Dennis is just too narcissistic to give up the looks title. Dennis fits the brains title better, not because he is smart, but because he always thinks he’s right and is determined to be the leader of the group. Mac fits the looks, not because he is good looking, but because he is obsessed with going to the gym and “getting his pump.” And Charlie is just the wildcard, there’s no getting past that. These three characters as well as Dee and Frank are very relatable in all of the terrible (and not-so-terrible) things that they do.
People watch It’s Always Sunny because they can identify with one of the characters, feels better about sometimes being a bad person, and make light of the serious social issues. The show is an important reminder to not take ourselves too seriously.
Original Draft
It’s Always Satirical
From racism, to drug abuse, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia exploits all kinds of social issues for its comedy. The show’s satirical approach to these issues is a social commentary on American society and serves as a blatantly terrible example of how people should act. The show explores topics like class, race, and morals, as well as critiques the modern ideology of a sitcom
Each episode of “It’s Always Sunny” takes on a new social stigma, the episodes are titled accordingly. Titles like “The Gang Gets Racist” and “The Gang Goes Jihad” flash on the screen abruptly after the opening scenes and just before the intro credits. The episodes are usually summed up in the opening scenes, one of the main characters walks into the bar and presents an issue, which is almost always a common social issue, and the rest of the gang reacts. From this point, the issue is either resolved in a very ridiculous way or they simply give up and forget about it.
Personally, my favorite example of this is in the sixth season. In “The Gang buys a boat,” the gang pools their money and buy a boat, clearly uneducated and unexperienced with boats, they prod at the spending culture in America. As soon as they come across any extra wealth they choose to spend it immediately on a boat that is in very poor condition. Another issue they tackle in this episode is rape culture, along with the boat comes, as Dennis calls it, “the implication.” The implication, of course, is that these women will have sex with him. According to Dennis, when women come aboard the boat with the guys, they will automatically understand the implication. One can make an assumption from the beginning of how this might pan out.
Along with commenting on American culture, the show makes a significant statement on the traditional American sitcom. This, in itself, is satirical because the show is now the longest running TV series and is the standard for other comedy shows. Again, the commentary starts with the cold open and the episode title. Episodes like “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award,” “The Gang Sells Out” and “How Mac Got Fat,” can make you question sitcoms.
The season nine episode, “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award,” came at a time when the show had been airing for nine years and had amassed a large and devoted fan base. Even with time and popularity on its side, the show still hadn’t won any significant awards. While the episode is about getting an award for the bar, it is very obvious that the cast is commenting on the institution. The episode “How Mac Got Fat” is the culmination of the period in which Mac has been “cumulating mass.” In a later interview with TV Guide, Rob McElhenney (Mac) explains that he "It came when I was watching a very popular sitcom, and I noticed the people were getting better and better looking as the seasons were going on… I always thought that what we were trying to do on Sunny was the deconstruction of the sitcom” (McElhenney). This is an ongoing theme in the show and there are many more examples. It’s Always Sunny critiques the modern sitcom by doing the opposite of what is expected from it.
Works Cited
Rob McElhenney interview
- http://www.tvguide.com/news/always-sunny-rob-mcelhenney-1036157/?rss=breakingnews
Images
- https://www.buzzfeed.com/hattiesoykan/the-gang-is-pretty-clever?utm_term=.kyA77VRKVD#.goj55WJ0Wj
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