A/V Club's "Underrated" list...

posted by RICK : 10:10 PM

This week's Onion A/V Club has a feature boasting what they equate to be the most underrated pop-culture players. But there is problem with lists like this, and it is illustrated in the following excerpt:

Underrated sitcom: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Why? This fledgling FX sitcom follows the lives of four self-centered hipsters (Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, and Kaitlin Olson) who run a bar on a cool stretch of South Philadelphia. Though the premise sounds like a cross between Cheers and Friends, It's Always Sunny never resorts to Cheers' comedic ba-dum-pum rhythm, or the gooey sentimentality that plagued Friends. The characters on It's Always Sunny don't learn lessons, or grow closer, or worry about their relationships: they're too busy picking up girls at abortion rallies, or being disgusted by old people in nursing homes, or dating black co-eds to prove they're not racist. In fact, It's Always Sunny is the perfect anti-sitcom, from its laugh-track-free dialogue to its sharply twisted plotlines to its ironically cheery theme music.

The evidence: The fourth episode, "Charlie Has Cancer," cements the show's ability to mine serious issues (like, say, cancer) to genuinely funny ends. Upon learning that Charlie may have cancer, everyone, even Charlie, uses the information to suit their own agendas. The best line in the episode is delivered by Day, with a sarcastic eye-roll: "I found out I might have cancer, so, oooooh, scary."

Now while I don't DISAGREE with the above sentiment, who in their right mind found "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" to be UNDERrated in the first place. It was barely rated, and as a show that premeired with only 7 episodes on a Network that had only once prior attempted original comedy, it was barely on. Frankly, if I hadn't kept talking about it, how many of this blog's readers would even know it existed? Not that I'm some sort of television advocate or missionary or something, but still...

Nothing is worse in pop-culture discussions than saying something that no one knows anything about is "Underrated."

That being said, I do agree with them that "Last Call With Carson Daly" is the most underrated late-night show... with Jimmy Kimmel at a close but memorable second.
(Overrated: Conan... BAM!)

Comments: Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home