If you’re a fan of the FX sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, you should know that today sees the release of a direct-to-DVD special episode, “A Very Sunny Christmas.” And if you’re not a fan, you really should be. The closest thing I can compare Sunny to is Curb Your Enthusiasm. It features some immoral protagonists and improvised dialog. If you aren’t familiar with Curb, think Arrested Development or The Office but with the cast of Seinfeld dialed up to 100.

I’ll recap it below but if you want a non-spoiler opinion of whether you should buy the DVD, let’s talk about that here. If you’re a fan, like myself, you’re probably going to want it. It is a very funny episode and it’s longer than the usual half-hour sitcom. It comes in at a double length episode time of 45 minutes. I don’t know if I could say it’s the funniest episode they’ve done, but it is very solid. Also, there’s cursing, a quick bit of extreme violence, and a brief moment of nudity (it’s not a hot girl is all I’ll say). The extras are light. About 2 and a half minutes of deleted scenes, a 7 minute behind-the-scenes piece, and a sing-a-long Christmas carol. But the retail price is 20 bucks. Pretty steep. I am glad I have it to watch again and again, but it’s definitely overpriced for how much you get. If you’re only a casual fan, this is a rental.

A spoilerish review (and a bit of a light recap) for you: The episode is of course about Christmas. Mac and Charlie are decorating the bar last minute on Christmas Eve, their tradition because they like to get drunk on Egg Nog, pass out, then throw up everything at the last moment. Dee and Dennis enter and hate the decor because they hate Christmas. Why? Because Frank used to always buy the best presents that they wanted but for himself, to teach them a lesson. Frank is a horrible parent so don’t wrack your brain wondering what lesson could be learned from this.

Frank soon shows up in a new Lamborghini just to rub it in Dennis’ face. Mac and Charlie want to keep to the Christmas spirit so they go to Charlie’s place to dig out Omnibot, one of Mac’s favorite presents from childhood and they come across a videotape of Mac’s family celebrating Christmas back in the 80s. The flashback reveals that Mac misinterpreted what his parents did for Christmas. Mac believes that on Christmas, you go to your neighbors houses and open some presents then when another family gets there you move on to the next house. That’s how you get presents and that’s why there’s none at his house when they’re done. I’ll leave it to you to figure out what his parents were doing, but remember that Mac’s dad is in prison.

Charlie decides to cheer him up by taking him to his mom’s house. She has food and drink and decorations and is very happy to see the boys. Charlie recalls his memories of how great it was on Christmas day when all the Santas came by to “cheer his mom up.” Yes, Santas, plural. Charlie accurately theorizes that these “Santas” may have something else and Charlie is devastated.

They go to see an old classmate who Mac had stolen Omnibot from on Christmas. They have Omnibot walk up and apologize and Mac explains he’s sorry. The guy asks if he really came here to apologize and return the gift 20 years later. Well, no, they hadn’t planned on returning it. Just apologizing and waiting to be thanked. They are met with a slammed door.

While all of this goes on, Dee and Dennis decide to teach Frank a lesson by engaging in a “Christmas Carol” type reckoning and showing Frank what an asshole he is. At first, they show him the past by bringing in his old business partner that Frank screwed over to make his millions. The partner has found Jesus and gets roped in with the promise that he’ll be able to talk to Frank about the Lord after everything’s done. At first Frank thinks it’s a ghost and tries to bash him with golf clubs so Dee and Dennis step in and move to the present. They take him to his old office and decide to hide him during the Christmas party so he’ll overhear people talking badly about him. Frank opts to hide in the leather couch like he likes to do at home. No one there even remembers Frank though. Finally, they take him to a cemetery to show him his future gravesite with a hastily made cardboard tombstone that calls him a jerk. However, Frank doesn’t even want to be buried. He says he’s fine with just being thrown in the trash when he’s dead.

Charlie and Mac hit the mall to buy Mac’s old high school friend a new shirt so he can “get his life together.” There, Charlie sees Santa and zones out. This is the most disturbing part of the show, and it’s very dark, but I admit I was laughing pretty hard. Ultimately, Charlie bites the guy’s neck and has to be dragged away by Mac in the chaos that ensues.

So Christmas seems ruined. Then the gang gets a call that Frank died in a car accident so they go to the hospital to ID his body. But he only has a sprained ankle. He just wanted them to come see him to announce the accident has given him a change of heart. They don’t believe it and leave.

Later, the gang arrives at the bar and it’s completely decorated with presents from Frank to all the gang. He really did change his ways and has given them all what they most wanted and then some. But Frank’s partner reveals that he never really became religious and has just been waiting to screw Frank over. He holds them up at gunpoint and takes everything.

As a last ditch attempt at enjoying Christmas, the gang shows up to sing to Mac’s old high school friend, but it’s 3 in the morning and the neighborhood greats them with glass bottles and yelling.

All in all, a great episode but probably not a great value-added DVD. I laughed a lot, and tried to keep the punchlines and dialog out of my review. Merry Christmas!

photo credit: S.L.M.

Four out of Five Pubs!