The averages don’t lie. Most shows suffer from cancellation-itis by season 3. Just getting to season 3 is an accomplishment, surpass 3 seasons and your show is undoubtedly a hit.
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is one show that’s been a hit since day one. Now in its fifth season, the Sunny gang, helmed by creator Rob McElhenney, is all set to deliver more uproarious laughs without the pesky confines of political correctness. And, if you had the crazy notion that Sunny would be one of those comedies at risk from slow-death syndrome – think again. The Season 5 Premiere proved that rules could still be broken with a little creativity and the balls to push the limit.
Season 5 Episode 1, “The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis,” deals with just that – the mortgage crisis. Frank (Danny DeVito) decides to take advantage of the depressed real estate market by buying a foreclosed house. Needless to say, Charlie (Charlie Day), Mac (Rob McElhenney) and Dennis (Glenn Howerton) are all onboard for a new Paddy get-rich-quick scheme. Unfortunately, the family that lost the house isn’t quite ready to move out yet. Frank grabs an umbrella and tries to attack the family. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was an indirect reference to Danny DeVito’s role as the Penguin, Oswald Cobblepot, in Batman Returns. Charlie, considering himself the world’s foremost expert on bird law, tries to do battle with the family’s lawyer – literally. Charlie tries to engage in dual with the lawyer, but ends up scared witless under the threat of pistols at high noon.
Meanwhile, Dee (Kaitlin Olson) tries to move out from under the Paddy thumb by becoming a surrogate mother. She’s landed a rich couple willing to pay twenty thousand dollars for her womb. But try as Dee might to shake the Paddy stigma, her desire to over-exploit a situation leads to disaster. Instead of playing the role of the dainty mother-to-be, Sweet Dee goes all out doing belly flops in the couple’s pool, downing Pina Coladas like water, and of course unwillingly inviting her Paddy family over.
Mac and Dennis try their hand at real estate sales, in an attempt to flip Frank’s house. Their good-salesman/bad-salesman routine scares away their first customers. However, the dynamic-duo believes that they have become overnight miracle salesman and head over to Dee’s adopted-family to try and get a better price on Dee’s baby to be. When Frank and Charlie show up on the scene, both salesman and surrogate dreams come to a screeching end.
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is one show that continues to stay fresh, while delivering hard-hitting-topical humor that you can’t help but have fun ingesting. The Season 5 Premiere is a great time to jump aboard the Paddy bandwagon and laugh your socks off.
One of my favorite moments was Sweet Dee’s negotiation for multiple babies.
Yeah, for the last couple years, I find myself worrying at the premiere of every episode that this group will run out of topics to tackle with their always un-PC humor, but every year they pull it off again. This was a great season premiere, with plenty of big moments and quotable lines. Charlie’s law practice venture was fantastic.