Musings: Funny TV edition

Season Premiere:

"It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (Thursdays: 10:00 on FX)

• Back for a seventh season, it astounds me that this series consistently finds fresh ways to illustrate how morally bankrupt these characters are. This episode ("Frank's Pretty Woman") isn’t a classic, but it’s pretty damn hilarious.
• Fat Mac! Most of the pre-premiere buzz surrounded Rob McElhenney’s intentional 50 pound weight gain for hilarity’s sake. It’s true. He’s fat and it does make Mac a slightly funnier character, if only because it means he’s going to wear more Tommy Bahama shirts.
• Frank’s crack-addicted love interest/prostitute, Roxy (Alanna Ubach), is a scene stealer. It’s a real shame she (probably) won’t be back.
•  Dee and Roxy’s semi-reenactment of the boutique scene from “Pretty Woman” had me rolling. Ditto on diabetic Fat Mac and anemic, anorexic Dennis arguing over who’s healthier.
• Everybody in this cast shines, but Danny DeVito and Charlie Day will always be this show’s MVPs in my book. They’re wonderful on their own, but put them in scenes together and it’s like magic. Any episode that pairs those two on an adventure will always be worth your time. What other actors can make splitting a box of discarded jeans they found under a bridge sound like a sincere act of friendship?
•  Hoss Bonaventura immediately goes right to the top of my possible Halloween costumes list.
• Best moment: Charlie vomiting torrents of fake blood on his date, all while in denim-clad, twangtastic character as bridge tycoon Hoss, made me laugh harder than I had in a long time. His subsequent explanation of how swallowing blood “capulets” can make you sick one-upped the puking.

Series Premiere:

"Up All Night" (Wednesdays: 9:30 PM on NBC) 

• If there’s anything we could use less of, it’s domestic sitcoms. We get it. Men and women are different. Kids make everything wackier. Eccentric supporting characters may pop up from time to time to make life difficult. "Up All Night" mines very familiar territory, but it could turn into a good show.
• Christina Applegate and Will Arnett have good chemistry as a formerly hard-partying couple transformed into a working mom and stay at home dad respectively. They felt natural together and that goes a long way towards making these types of shows work.
• The writing in the pilot was not particularly sharp, but it wasn’t woefully unfunny. It did what it needed to do as far as establishing these characters and their situation. 
• Arnett is brilliant, but he’s got a terrible record when it comes to longevity and network sitcoms. I hope this works out for him because he probably should be on TV as much as possible.
• As Applegate’s talk show host boss Maya Rudolph is playing a slightly toned-down version of the Oprah impersonation from her "SNL" days. I love her, but it wears a little thin here and she gets way too much screen time. Her role was expanded from the original pilot, presumably to capitalize on the success of "Bridesmaids."
• Part of the reason I’m going to stick with this show for now is because its creator, Emily Spivey, wrote the classic "Parks and Recreation" episode "Eagleton." I'm just ignoring she also wrote for "Mad TV."
• Not a great pilot. Not even a very good pilot. But with the caliber of talent involved, it’s got some potential. Hopefully, NBC will give it time to find its voice. Also, it would be a real shame if this gets cancelled before "Whitney."