49: It's Always Sunny on St. Paddy's

TV DIARY

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

In honor of this glorious holiday that I definitely know the origins of, Adam and I spent the last three months binging 15 years’ worth of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The show is vaguely Irish, taking place in Philly’s fictional Paddy’s Pub. Except for the most recent season which is explicitly Irish, mostly taking place in Ireland. I love when a show runs for long enough that the creators use a storyline to basically get a paid vacation with their friends. The show is lucky in that it’s run for 15 seasons and is greenlit for at least 3 more. The characters are decidedly unlucky in that they are sociopathic personified trash — or, I guess, lucky if you consider that they’ve survived this long both in their fictional world and in the hearts of us real-world viewers.

Before Adam and I started watching, the show had been recommended to me many times. I’m a sucker for a good sitcom, and I love ensemble comedies. But the one-off episode I watched before committing to the show was one of the gang buys a boat “implication” storylines, and I was abruptly turned off. I hadn’t been briefed on the monstrous narcissist characters we’re meant to loathe as much as we love. Without that context, the show is gross and bad. Fast forward to now, after watching hundreds of hours of these beasts, I get that being gross and bad is The Point. Add this to my bad feminist tally, but I love it. These characters are unabashedly terrible and rarely redeemed. Yet I love (some of) them as much as I hate them. The show is hilarious.

The problem is if the whole ‘you are what you eat' sentiment is true, I’m afraid eventually I’ll assume what I consume. Watching 15 seasons of sociopathy in three months may have been too much all at once. I’m afraid those guys have seeped into my psyche and I too have become a little more gross and bad. Luckily (see, this is still St. Patty’s themed), I have some time before season 16 to do some good deeds and reset my karma. Until then, here are some It’s Always Sunny bits that Adam is really tired of me doing incessantly around the apartment.

1. 🎵 Day Man — ahahAHH! — fighter of the Night Man — ahahAHH! — champion of the sun — ahahAHH! — master of karate and friendship for everyone. 🎵 The best Day Man rendition, in my opinion, is the original Charlie-Dennis duet in Charlie’s apartment. The little dance. The claps. Dennis’ randomly angelic voice. It’s the tits.

2. 🎵 *more of a scat than a sing* Night Man, so sneaky and mean. *end scat* 🎵 I love a good villain. Love afraid-of-the-dark representation. Also, grownups should use the words “sneaky” and “mean” more. Why do we stop describing behavior this way after childhood?

3. “Oh, you bitch!” This is Dee’s signature tag, and it has become our household phrase for every minor inconvenience. You stub your toe? *to table leg* “Oh, you bitch!” Your sliced cheese is moldy and now you’ll have to have a hamburger. *to cheese mold* “Oh, you bitch!” Yes, it’s sexist. (Spoiler! The entire show is.) It’s also very funny to us, so please just shut up and let us have this.

4. CHARLIE VOICE. Remember when I was stuck in the Apparently Kid voice a few months ago? Well, now it’s Charlie Voice which is much worse for my neighbors. He’s shrill. He’s hysterical. He’s GETTING LOUDER.

5. “Cheese and ghouls. Ghouls and cheese.” Instead of using filler words like uhh or umm. Just drop in a “ghouls and cheese.” It’s way more fun.

In conclusion, this show is heinous and hilarious and brilliant. Please don’t judge me for loving it, or do. I don’t endorse literally anything these characters do, but I love watching a good villain at the end of a long day, and this show is full of them. And not in a scary true crime or horror way — in a low-stakes, ridiculous, insulated environment. It’s good, to me.

Adam and I are pivoting hard and now watching Shrinking. Two eps in and I’m loving this new role for Marshall, I mean Jason Segel. Pumped for Ted Lasso and Succession and catching up on Poker Face. I’m also loving Abbott Elementary and just started Cougar Town, which is old news but fun stuff. There is so much good TV out and coming! As you know, I love TV! I want to write TV! I’m pumped I got to write this about TV! We love stories! We love accessible artforms! We love laughing!

Was this an enjoyable post if you haven’t seen this show? Maybe not. Did I enjoy writing it? Yes. And it’s my newsletter, so deal with it!!! Or bitch about it in the comments if you want! I do actually want your feedback. What are you watching these days? Why do you love it? Any recommendations? What bits are you doing from your favorite shows?

Hope you find a leprechaun today who isn’t also a pickpocket,

Ariana 🍀