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“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is an acquired
taste as a comedy but if you do a taste for it the show
can be addicting. As with the TV series lessons aren’t exactly
learned as much as the characters just move on. Frank (Danny
DeVito) loves Christmas so much that he would give everyone
pretty boxes…that were empty or give them things he would
keep for himself. Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Dee (Kaitlin
Olson) decide that it’s time for revenge so they plan their
own “A Christmas Carol” using Frank’s old business partner
as the Ghost of Christmas Past. He’s not dead yet but willing
to go along simply because he’s become born again and wants
to spread the word of the Lord. Mac (rob McElhenney) and
Charlie (Charlie Day) used to steal presents from their
neighbors on Christmas believing it was a holiday tradition
as that’s what their dad told them. To make up for their
bad deeds the duo decide to give back a toy they swiped
from one of their victims in childhood. ***
So it’s dysfunction as usual for the folks in Philly
and we haven’t even discussed the parody of Rankin-Bass
classics like “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” but decorated
with cannibalism, bloody dismemberment and violence. If
you like the series you’ll LOVE this double episode but
I’d suggest digging in with the first season or the season
where DeVito first appeared to discover if this perverted
comedic Christmas special is your cup of tea. ---
Image & Sound:
Ok, here’s the weird bit. “Philly” is shot in standard
definition so WHY Fox thought they should put it out in
Blu-ray is beyond me. On a good day the series doesn’t look
all that great so it’s no surprise that the Blu-ray is a
bit underwhelming looking. Add in a soft presentation, plenty
of artifacts. ***
Audio sounds fine but it doesn’t really benefit from
the 5.1 treatment. ---
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