Turn back the clock and hit the beach with some of our favorite classic Hollywood stars.
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Title: The Gang Reignites the Rivalry (10 Dec 2009)
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| Episode cast overview: | |||
| Charlie Day | ... | Charlie Kelly | |
| Glenn Howerton | ... | Dennis Reynolds | |
| Rob McElhenney | ... | Mac | |
| Kaitlin Olson | ... | Dee Reynolds | |
| Danny DeVito | ... | Frank Reynolds | |
| Marshall Allman | ... | Bezzy | |
| Noah Bean | ... | Art Sloan | |
| Cody Kasch | ... | Cheesefoot | |
| Audra Griffis | ... | Stephanie | |
| Eve Mauro | ... | Gwen | |
Mac, Dennis, and Charlie seek revenge on another bar after their 10-year ban in a local flip-cup tournament is lifted, but find they need serious practice. Dee discovers new skills, and Frank wears tight pants.
I've started watching Seinfeld again recently, mainly because I missed most of it the first time around thanks to BBC2 buying it and then burying it in midnight slots on weekdays in what appeared to be an attempt to do with US comedy what the US Government did with the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones. Anyway, that show comes to mind because it is famous for breaking new ground and not being about anything other than the day-to-day lives of a small group of rather self-centred and selfish New Yorkers. This concept has given rise to a lot of offspring which are more extreme in nature (Curb being one obvious relation) but none is more imaginative than Always Sunny, which really does take it to extremes.
I keep waiting for this show to lose its sharpness or for enough of the jokes to fall flat so that the plots are exposed as silly and puerile rather than a framework for hilarity, but it is yet to happen. Season 5 continues to do what it has done since the first episode of the second season and delivers laugh after amoral laugh. The characters are now so well established that there is a risk that seeing them be impatient with one another, or seeing them being shockingly selfish or indifferent to the suffering of others would become a bit stale but again this has not yet happened. A massive part of this is that the writing is great from the big picture down to the specific lines. This season not all the scenarios/plots work but the majority of them do; the "great depression" episode tires to comment on the bailouts but doesn't totally manage it, while the World Series episode feels a bit too similar to the Football try-out episode from a previous season in theme, and the wrestling one is not particularly strong but even these deliver the laughs. The dialogue is mostly brilliant and fits the characters really well, which in turn is strengthened by the delivery.
The lead five continue to be roundly brilliant and their delivery is spot-on whether it be Howerton's smug self-centeredness, Day's grungy idiocy, Olson's faded and unappreciated beauty, McElhenney's jealous jock or DeVito's wildly erratic father figure. The plots are starting to push their characters to the extremes of who they are perhaps but the delivery still makes it work and as before this season is littered with examples of how good their comic timing and delivery is. The supporting cast do their thing but ultimately the show is all about the lead five actors, anything else is just a bonus.
I'm still not sure why FX UK appears to have no faith in this show and why I have to make the effort to get it in from abroad just to be able to see it, but when it is as good as this I have no qualms about doing it. Season 5 is not the best season but it is still great, producing laugh after amoral laugh in well written and well delivered episodes.