IHAO on ... Always Sunny in Philedelphia Season 1

I might talk about movies more, but I really do love television.  I love absorbing television shows, just taking an hour or three and absorbing a full disc of a great show like Newsradio or Angel or finding new stuff or stuff that isn’t on DVD like the Finder.  I also love comedy.  I’ve said it before.  So after a lot of foot dragging, I started to watch in earnest Always Sunny in Philedelphia.  It is a show my closest friends love and find hilarious.

I don’t like it.

I don’t think it is bad or anything, it does 100% what it sets out to do.  And I don’t hate all the characters, I actually find Mac to be great in every episode, and Sweet Dee I’m a fan of too so far.  I don’t hate talking about it, I actually find the reliving and sharing with my friends to be infinitely entertaining, as we laugh together about “Charlie was molested” or talking about Mac’s unfortunate relationship problems in regard to Carmen.  No, what I found is that I just don’t like WATCHING the show.

I don’t laugh, I don’t like watching these characters, who are terrible people by design, watching them BE terrible.  That’s the point, and I get it, and it is very well done.  As you can see in the title, I finished the first season, and there are so many points where I was just unhappy watching this show.  Watching Mac and Carmen, and Dennis’ ruthless and ignorant talk.  Watching Charlie trying to chase the waitress.  It was all just painful and unfunny and hurt and I did not like it.

But talking about it?  Hilarious!  I laugh with my friends about it afterwards as we all enjoy the shared memory of what happened.  It is so crazy to me how much I loathe to put on the next episode, but am laughing so hard remembering Charlie’s weird way that attracts black women, or Mac trying to continue to get Dennis’ mom’s number.

I will continue to watch the show, season by season, and update my thoughts as I go along.  But as of now … my feelings are too complicated.  It hurts my head.  I’ll give this season a grade when I can get a little further in, but here are my impressions:

1

•  Mac is my favorite character.  Sweet Dee in a close second currently.
• I am surprised by how much Charlie is the “lead” of the show.  For whatever reason I always thought it was Dennis, but it is clearly Charlie’s show, from A-stories to writing to producing.
• Charlie is way better as a straight-man character than a Kramer-style wacky character.
• Speaking of, Always Sunny = Seinfeld in terms of characters, though what roles they play tend to swap around.
• The scripting is a little odd, but it is mostly good.

I look forward to season 2.  Danny DeVito!