Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
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Curious
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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: August 10, 2006
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody’s Ass” (Season 2, Episode 9) [Stream on Netflix]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: The first few seasons of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia were some of the funniest, rottenest, most black-hearted comedy episodes of the 2000s. the show was the perfect comedy for the waning years of the Bush era, when America was restless and kind of disgusted with itself. It also featured a quartet of comedic talent who hadn’t gotten the chance to shine elsewhere, including the great Kaitlin Olson and Charlie day, who get an excellent showcase in “Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody’s Ass.” Which isn’t to say the episode’s other subplot isn’t great, as Dennis and Mac get enamored of the idea of the land of the free and making Paddy’s bar a place where nobody’s wants or desires will get infringed upon. In other words, a lawless land, one that ends up, in typical Sunny fashion, with a Deer Hunter-style game of Russian Roulette presided over by Frank (Danny DeVito). And that’s not even getting into the bathrobe-clad McPoyle siblings and their gross incestuous groping.
But the best stuff involves Dee and Charlie trying to get into activism. Like most things Dee does, it has something to do with her acting career. Like most things Charlie does, it involves him latching onto the latest thing that catches his attention. In this case, what starts as his anti-smoking crusade against Dennis and the bar ends up with a frustrated Charlie ranting impotently about his efforts at American heroism being treaded on by, among other things, those disgusting McPoyle’s.
Don’t you even THINK about treading on him.
