It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s “The Gang Tries Desperately To Win An Award” is a not so subtle jab at the acclaimed sitcom’s lack of award nominations. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia kicked off as a super low-budget sitcom on FX, though ratings for season 1 were so weak it was almost cancelled. The addition of Danny DeVito in season 2 drew in an audience to the show’s unique brand of dark comedy and it eventually became one of the longest-running live-action sitcoms in TV history.
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia revels in just how mean, selfish and horrible the gang at Paddy’s Pub can be, but the joke is almost always on them. Despite the show being on the air for fifteen years now, the main characters have shown little in the way of growth as human beings, and that’s unlikely to change. It’s unknown how much longer the show will run but while the cast still have fun making It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, it feels safe for at least a couple more seasons.
While It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s particular brand of humor isn’t for everyone, it’s also attracted stellar reviews for its performances. This makes its lack of awards success all the more jarring, which is why It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s season 9 episode “The Gang Tries Desperately To Win An Award” is a huge, meta-commentary on the situation. The episode finds the gang having some existential angst about their lack of recognition from the Restaurant Bar Association’s Best Bar Award, so they set out to change their image.
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s “The Gang Tries Desperately To Win An Award” opens with each member of the team whinging about how much they don’t care about awards - while obviously caring quite a bit. They head to a bar called Suds for research, which is a brightly lit neon nightmare filled with staff straight out of a network sitcom, including a “Will they, won’t they” romance between a bartender and a waitress. The customers laugh at their playful banter while pop songs by Taylor Swift and Carly Rae Jepsen play in the background. Naturally, the gang is revolted by this traditional sitcom setup, but still can’t help but be jealous of their popularity.
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s “The Gang Tries Desperately To Win An Award” is also full of loaded lines about their “bar” reception, like “We know we’re cool, and our customers know we’re cool, but the industry doesn’t get it yet,” or “He’s been to Paddy’s and he says it’s just a bunch of people yelling over each other.” The gang then disastrously tries to bland themselves up, wearing bright clothes, slathering Dee with make-up, and attempting “playful” banter for the benefit of customers. Charlie also writes a surprisingly jaunty, Cheers-style number called “I Like Paddy’s Pub” for their theme song, but even this goes wrong.
In the finale of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s “The Gang Tries Desperately To Win An Award,” Charlie crawls out of the floor after being locked in the basement and is high from sniffing spray cans. He then breaks into a very different song called “Go F*** Yourselves,” in which he details a spider living in his soul before telling the awards people to… well, its in the title. The episode was mostly about It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s lack of Emmy nods outside of Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Comedy Series or a Variety Program for Marc Scizak, though the show would later win a People’s Choice Award; though the gang weren’t invited to this ceremony and only found out about it online.
Next: It’s Always Sunny: “The Gang Broke Dee” Is Dark Even By The Show’s Standards
