Studio: Fox
Starring: Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, Danny DeVito
Director: Various
Rated: 14A
Time: 43 mins
Back Cover
Ho, ho, heyoooo! Christmas is upon us and the Paddy’s gang has got the spirit. Well, not really. For them, the holidays have always been a time of trickery, backstabbing, and disappointment. But this year things are going to be different as they are determined to rediscover the joy in Christmas. Join Mac, Charlie, Dennis, Dee and Frank as they embark on a holiday adventure filled with stolen toys, childhood videos, naked elves, and a bloody run-in with Santa Claus that is guaranteed to blast Christmas spirit all over you!
Television Review
Holiday episodes for any series are always problematic. The Christmas Holiday Season has been dramatized on film and TV like no other holiday. So the probability of bringing some new and fresh to the viewers is minimal. Plus it has to bear the cross of characters having to stop and pause about relationships and feelings they normally do not deal with. Hey, that sounds like real life! Recognizing all these burdens show creators often fore go any new takes on the Christmas Holiday Season by jumping aboard the Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol homage train.
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia does that very thing. Full disclosure here – this episode is my first exposure to the show. Not knowing the characters and the world they operate my first blush impression of this episode was not impressed. Doing some research it quickly became apparent that the show has a rabid fan base and received critical backing from some reviewers whose opinions I respect.
If the idea of seeing a sweaty, naked Danny DeVito being birthed out of a leather couch or a mall store Santa Claus being attacked and bloodied or a bloody send up of those motion captured animated Christmas specials or character(s) who constantly yell their dialogue is your cup of tea then, ‘A Very Sunny Christmas,’ will fill your tea pot.
Until I see some regular episodes to obtain some needed context I am going to reserve my final opinion of this episode. Especially for a show where the tone of humor is darkly warped about four egocentric friends run a neighborhood Irish pub in Philadelphia in this summer FX series.
Six seasons and counting so obviously there is an audience for it.
Crave Factor – N/A
Video
The first question is why is this on BluRay? The show is shot in SD so upconversion was applied to put this on BluRay. Why? Any half decent BluRay player will upconvert DVDs on its own. So this decision makes no sense. Rob McElhenney and David Hornsby provide a disclaimer rather than an intro that this was done. Why?
The video approximates that of what you would expect to get if you watched an upconverted DVD of a show shot in SD. Not pretty. Poor black levels and a muddy appearance that gives a lack lustre and flat presentation.
Crave Factor – 5
Audio
More puzzling is the audio which is presented in a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. It sounds like a mono track. Dialogue is harsh. Make that normal dialogue is harsh. Unfortunately the episode features lots of yelling. The fidelity of the yelling is near finger nails dragged across chalkboard quality.
No sense of dimensionality whatever.
Crave Factor – 5
Extras
- Young Charlie & Young Mac Deleted Scenes
- Behind-The-Scenes Making of Featurette
- Sunny Sing-A-Long
Crave Factor – 5
Menu & Packaging
A standard Amray case. No booklet is enclosed.
Crave Factor – 7
Conclusion & Final Thoughts
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia has six seasons worth of viewers. This episode did nothing to entice me to check out any of those seasons. This disc is an embarrassment to Blu-rays. Nay, it is an embarrassment to VHS videotapes.
Overall Crave Factor – Undecided With Negative Leanings
