It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – A Very Sunny Christmas (Fox Blu-ray + DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B/B- Extras: C+ Extended Episode: B
I have
said since Season One that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is
one of the best series on TV and that greatness continues here with their new
straight to Blu-ray and DVD holiday special.
The whole cast including Danny DeVito, Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney,
Kaitlin Olsen and Glenn Howerton return for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas with the
same brand of insanity and off center comedy that has made them so memorable.
The story
starts as every episode does; in Philadelphia,
with some odd happening that stirs up a crazy idea. This time around the gang sets out to make
their Christmas wishes come as Charlie and Mac remember the past, Dennis and
Sweet Dee try to make Frank see the error of his ways in a Charles Dickens’
inspired way. Frank has for years pulled
“fake outs” every Christmas on Dee and Dennis; always buying the best Christmas
gifts and keeping them all for himself.
Having
had enough of his ill spirit (not to mention never getting presents) Dennis and
Dee conspire to use an old business partner of Franks that he had wronged years
ago. As always with the crew of Always Sunny things aren’t as simple as
they look; with it being much harder than expected to show Frank the path of
righteousness and Charlie and Mac discover their past Christmases may be worse
than they remember. Not long after
digging through his closet and Charlie returning to his mom’s do they both find
that Christmas was better left alone.
As
previously mentioned, Always Sunny
never disappoints and this “extended episode” is no different. The straight to Blu-ray and DVD special is a
bit more vulgar than the TV episodes, but it all flows rather nicely without
being distracting. The episode never
seems forced or outside of what we have all come to expect with all the same
wonderfulness and none of the commercials.
I don’t
get to say this often, but the technical features of the Blu-ray and DVD are
essentially the same. The Blu-ray is in
no way a true Blu-ray a sit is merely an up-converted HD presentation,
essentially a fake Blu-ray; there is even an extra in which the cast explicitly
send out a disclaimer of this fact. The
picture on the 1.78 X 1 Widescreen Blu-ray is presented in an AVC @ 18 or
Higher MBPS that doesn’t look too much like a Blu-ray as it is gritty and full
of debris just like the TV broadcast.
The colors are slightly dull and blacks fail to outline the image to any
degree. The DVD is just as good if not
only a little worse. The sound is a 5.1
DTS-HD Master Audio that sounds better than the DVD’s Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround (unlike the picture) and has a better range, but far from perfect.
The
extras include Young Charlie and Young Mac Deleted Scenes, Behind the Scenes
Making of Featurette that is quite mundane and a very, very unusual Sunny
Sing-A-Long that in all honesty creeped me out.
The extras aren’t the best, but the deleted scenes make it all worth it.
I
recommend this “extended episode” very much as it is just another great
addition to the Always Sunny catalog
that any fan would enjoy. Now deciding
between buying the Blu-ray and DVD is up to the fan, but my choice is always
the Blu-ray as no matter how slight a difference….it’s always sunny on Blu-ray.
- Michael P. Dougherty II