It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia – The Complete Season 5 (2009/Fox Blu-ray Set)
Picture:
B- Sound: B Extras: B+ Episodes: A
If Dexter is the best suspense/drama
series on television, It’s Always Sunny
in Philadelphia reigns as king of comedy series. Now available on Blu-ray is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season
Five in all its glory (hole) and greatness.
The characters on Always Sunny are
hands down the most immoral, ruthless, crazy band of people on television
today. I said it in the earlier reviews
of this series, but the best I can describe the series is that the characters
have bad ideas that turn out much worse than could ever be imagined.
In Season Five we get another heavy 12
episode dose of Mac, Charlie, Dennis, Frank and Sweet Dee that never seems like
enough. This season the crew of Paddy’s
Pub decides to tackle many of the countries biggest problems, as well as many
issues of their own (I use the term ISSUES strongly). From the gas crisis to the mortgage crisis,
these ‘wild cards’ never shy away from the solving the large ones, but as
previously mentioned it is the bad idea gone (more) wrong that makes the series
so overwhelmingly hilarious and endearing.
You can’t help, but love the cast and their chemistry is astounding.
The
talent of the cast coupled with some excellently hilarious writing makes the
series addicting beginning to end. Always Sunny is raw, thunderous, angry
and intense as it blasts onto your television set to fully immerse the viewer,
dragging them along for the ride. The
debauchery and insanity that exists on the set of Always Sunny is unrivaled as it goes against political correctness
and viciously showcases grade ‘A’ narcissism.
The characters are self absorbed that will stop at nothing to get one up
on each other; making them ‘real life’ Looney Tunes that survive unforeseeable
circumstances.
There is
no way to be disappointed by this series as it is creative, entertaining and
always funny. Viewers will find
themselves quoting the series at every turn; so engrossing that it instantly
becomes part of your quotable repertoire.
I would like to pick out the few shining moments of this ‘sunny’ series,
but the truth of the matter is it is all too good. Kitten mittens, road trips, green man, Gail
the Snail and the Philadelphia Phillies are only a few of the things the gang
gets mixed up in this season.
They are
absurd. They are over the top. And apparently one of them is afraid of
pears. Always Sunny is a wonderful series that just keeps getting better.
Like the
characters and series itself the picture quality remains gritty in its 1.78 X 1
Widescreen presentation, which is no surprise as Seasons 1-5 were shot only in
standard definition video. Like the Christmas Special that was previously
released on Blu-ray this upconverted 1080p/AVC encoded presentation is
disappointing, but for those of us who were aware of the situation ahead of
time were not surprised. The Blu-ray
lacks depth, color and blacks as overall it appears soft and at times blurry. The Christmas
Special had a ‘funny’ little disclaimer on the back that essentially said
‘don’t expect this to be High Def,’ but no such disclaimer exists here, which
will catch many off guard. The sound is
a bit better than the video as its 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio captures the fast
paced debauchery quite well. As most of
the series is dialogue it mainly comes from the front, but surrounds are well
utilized for music and panning effects.
The
extras on this set are awesome as they are both fun and informative. The set contains Audio Commentary Tracks on
half of the episodes (that’s 6) that are all out insane. The commentaries feature the cast (with the
help of ‘guest star’ celebrity Psychologist Dr. Drew) as they explore the
workings of episodes and deliver plenty of hilarity and insight. From the commentary tracks you can feel the
love that the cast not only has for the series, but also each other. Other extras include a Blooper Reel
(hilarious), Deleted and Extended Scenes (hilarious), Kitten Mittens Endless
Loop (meeeeow hilarious), The Gang’s Dating Profile (fake dating site videos;
hilarious), a 23,793 still photo Schwep Dream sequence that chronicles
production of Season 5 in less than 5 minutes (awesome) and finally FX animated
series Archer: Episode 1 (awesome). Overall, purely fun and insightful
extras…wonderful.
This is a
funny, inventive comedy that does not hold back and that is what makes it
memorable and great. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (mark my words) will go down
as one of the greatest comedies on TV of all time. The cast of Danny DeVito, Rob McElhenney,
Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson and their perfectly picked
supporting cast are mind blowing performers that give their all and radiate
passion. That passion that they show for
their craft makes fans want more and express their undying devotion. If you have not partaken in Always Sunny now is the time and (trust
me) you will be scrambling for more.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
