It's At all times Sunny in Philadelphia Season 17 Evaluate: Homage-Heavy Whereas Remaining Its True Crass Self

Because of the devotion of its stars and the unflagging help of FX, there’s completely no signal of It’s At all times Sunny in Philadelphia ending anytime quickly. Certain, the present’s actually now on Season 17 — it’s been the longest-running live-action sitcom in American TV historical past since 2021. But Mac (Rob McElhenney, now credited as Rob Mac), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Candy Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Frank (Danny DeVito) present no indicators of getting their shit collectively anytime quickly, and as soon as once more it’s to tv’s profit.

The eight new episodes start with doubtless the season’s most anticipated installment: The second half of the Abbott Elementary crossover, which we had been warned prematurely can be so much much less family-friendly than the primary half. And, positive sufficient, the title “The Gang F***s Up Abbott Elementary” doesn’t undersell the extent of crassness dropped at the hallowed halls of ABC’s beloved comedy. Quinta Brunson’s Janine particularly will get some moments that make you grateful her publicity to the Gang’s corruptive affect is now over… For now.

From there, the mayhem continues, with at present’s popular culture having a huge impact on the season — truly, between the Abbott crossover, the Golden Bachelor parody, and two episodes that characteristic greater than a little bit little bit of The Bear and Succession DNA, barely half the season may be stated to characterize the present’s long-established home model, in all its easy stripped-down glory.

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Not each massive swing is a house run: The Abbott crossover truly proves to be a little bit awkward on an execution stage, because it tries a little bit too laborious to imitate the opposite present’s mockumentary format, whereas the Succession homage may have truly gone additional in capturing the rhythms of the Emmy-winning HBO drama. Nonetheless, these are all decisions that go a great distance in the direction of avoiding any sense of staleness, a reminder {that a} massive issue on this present’s longevity has been its means to have interaction with the ever-changing world round us.

There’s additionally an episode within the proud custom of Season 9’s “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award” and Season 12’s “Outdated Girl Home: A Scenario Comedy,” bringing a meta perspective to the collection as a complete because the Gang places themselves via a spotlight group expertise. In Season 9, the episode felt like a pointed commentary on Sunny going lengthy uncared for by the Emmys and different awards our bodies, whereas Season 12 took intention on the lazier tropes of the sitcom format; in contrast, “The Gang Will get Prepared For Prime Time” serves largely as a commentary on how these characters, and by extension the collection, are incapable of being something apart from themselves.

The present is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this summer season, and the season’s one main nod to that longevity is available in “Overage Ingesting: A Nationwide Concern,” which finally ends up being a direct sequel to the Season 1 basic “Underage Ingesting: A Nationwide Concern” — full with the return of a number of solid members from the unique 2005 episode, not taking part in youngsters. It’s an episode that largely feels geared in the direction of making everybody concerned really feel insanely previous, together with the viewer.

It’s At all times Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)

What’s most intriguing about Season 17 is the consolation the writers really feel in letting concepts play out over the course of a number of seemingly stand-alone episodes, particularly the Golden Bachelor parody that includes Frank as the brand new contestant. Placing Frank in that function is, as you may count on, on the spot comedy gold, his inherent crassness bulldozing via the Bachelor franchise’s trappings of romance — although in an actual “life is stranger than fiction” twist, Frank’s perspective in the direction of the ladies competing for his love isn’t too totally different from Mel Owens, who will theoretically be the following Golden Bachelor regardless of latest feedback about how he doesn’t need any girls over 60 on the present. (Probably not related to this assessment, however that man simply sounds tremendous.)

As in seasons previous, Sunny won’t ever go for the heartwarming alternative when the egocentric one is feasible. Nonetheless, lest one assume that It’s At all times Sunny is incapable of honest emotion, the season does characteristic a beautiful tribute to actress Lynne Marie Stewart, who handed away earlier this yr after a wealthy profession that included 18 appearances as Charlie’s mother Bonnie. That’s one of many underlying tragedies of lasting this lengthy, in fact — the individuals you lose alongside the way in which.

It may be laborious to critique a present that’s been round for even a third of the time It’s At all times Sunny has — at a sure level, even one of the best comedies can discover a snug groove that is still constantly entertaining whereas additionally not providing the critic something new to discover. So it’s an actual testomony to the present’s writers that this assessment even exists within the first place, and that their properly of invention has but to run dry. The sensible cash is on us not seeing new adventures with the Gang for at the very least one other two years (since that’s the rhythm they appear to have discovered because the pandemic). If the previous is something to go on, it ought to be definitely worth the wait.

The primary two episodes of It’s At all times Sunny in Philadelphia Season 17 premiere Wednesday, July 9 at 9pm ET/PT on FXX, and will likely be streaming subsequent day on Hulu. Try the trailer beneath.