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