Even with loss to Packers, ‘Philadelphia’ will always be ‘Sunny’

I almost rooted for the Philadelphia Eagles to beat the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday.


My near-support wasn’t because I like Michael Vick’s “redemption” story; I actually thought he deserved to lose for further punishment of his heinous crimes.

And it wasn’t because I still have a bit of a grudge against the Packers for the entire Brett Favre debacle that took place the last three seasons. I’m over it now, especially now that Favre appears to be officially retired.

It’s because I’m in love with a television show set in Philadelphia, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

Unlike some television shows set in specific cities, this one is actually filmed there and is nearly as much a part of it as some of the characters in it. I’ve become a little bit obsessed with Philadelphia while watching six seasons of the show over the past month, much like I became semi-obsessed with New Orleans last year after watching HBO’s “Tremé.”

While the title of the show may suggest it shows the brighter side of the city, in reality it’s about a group of characters who are anything but “Sunny,” as none of them have any redeeming characteristics about them except that they are funny.

The best description I can come up with is to take the main characters of “Seinfeld” and make them a lot meaner, and then put them in South Philadelphia in a “Cheers”-like scenario, as they own and work at Paddy’s Pub, an Irish bar that seemingly doesn’t have any customers and is named by the city’s newspaper as the “Worst Bar in Philadelphia.”

The bar is owned by Frank Reynolds (Danny Devito), his once-son Dennis (Glenn Howerton), and Dennis’ friends Mac (Rob McElhenney) and Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day). Helping them is Dennis’ twin sister, Deandra “Sweet Dee” Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson).

Collectively, they are referred to as “The Gang,” and each half-hour episode focuses on some of their outrageous exploits. Episodes have included ones about holding an intervention to address Frank’s drug and alcohol problem (not because The Gang cares about him, but because they want stuff from him and his problem is prohibiting them from getting it); staging a musical (surprisingly not as bad as it probably should have been); going to a World Series game (when the Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008); and hosting a dance marathon (in which Charlie accidentally offered the bar as the grand-prize).

Although the characters are people nobody would ever claim to know in real life, as they are often vile, crude and disgusting, watching them on this show is always good for some hard laughs. It’s often hard to name which character you like best, because that can sometimes depend on who you laughed at most in the last episode you watched.

Frank Reynolds is literally a troll, especially the way Devito plays him, and Dennis is a “player” who is not nearly as good as he thinks he is. Mac and Sweet Dee have their own hilarious qualities, but it is Charlie who is the star of the show. He’s the “wild card,” much like Cosmo Kramer on “Seinfeld,” and his antics are often baffling. He could be the poster child for why people should learn how to read and write, since he is unable to himself.

Despite my love for the show, I still couldn’t muster up enough support in myself to root for the Eagles. For some reason, I think the characters would understand. Then again, they’d probably be completely indifferent to my feelings and wouldn’t care either way.