Check Glenn Howerton's response on his twitter to "fans" like you complaining about product placement. In short: they do it on purpose to add realism and also get paid for it. Win-win.
I did notice that the "Subway" signs in the window were facing the wrong way. It was readable for the viewer, who is inside the restaurant, rather than people outside like those signs are in real life. Not that big a deal, but I noticed. Overall I thought it was OK, but I hope that's the weakest episode of the season.
I thought the episode was funny, what's with the hate? I don't mind product promotion when it's not overt in the dialog. Them setting a scene in a Subway with Subway signs in the background pisses people off? Shit even if it's written in the story well it can be alright (ie most of the Seinfeld plugs were written in great). Best line "Did you smell her breath? It was like she was nibbling on little pieces of shit!"
Are you people kidding me? Nobody feels fit to mention that the Tranny's husband was the dude from the High Life commercials? Awesome.
I'm just hoping now that we have gotten rid of the Ponderosa's, this show might be able to get funny again. The first two episodes were probably the worst in the entirety of the show.
This season has seemed a bit off-track; is it just me, or does the type of camera they use seem to change every season? While last season everything seemed a bit darker, this season, especially the first episode, seemed too bright. Maybe it has nothing to do with the camera, maybe it's just the lighting. And I don't think this has been mentioned yet - Mac got ripped as hell since last season. It's a little disconcerting. I thought the second episode was a lot funnier than the first. The opening scene, with Dennis play-acting strangling Maureen to death was hilarious. Highlight of the first episode though was a line from Charlie that I've attempted to use in many conversations - "Lotta jelly in those doughnuts!"
They're shooting everything in HD now, which I think is a first for them this season. I disagree that Mac got ripped as hell, if anything he bulked up with some fat. How is that disconcerting? Hypothetically, if he did get ripped as hell, that would be on par with his character. Now Kaitlin Olson being pregnant, that's funny!
The only funny part is how horribly they are hiding it. The awkward leaning in last week's episode was enough to conclude she was knocked up. Also, the conversation about the "implication" of being out on the sea with Dennis was fucking hilarious; ALMOST makes up for the last two episodes.
I'm beginning to wonder if they are purposely making this show suck to endear people more towards The League (which is immediately after). It makes sense right? Always Sunny has a huge fanbase that will watch regardless of a slip in quality. And of course that fanbase is going to watch The League right after, even if they aren't huge fans of it. Now, what happens when the Always Sunny folks no longer want to do the show anymore? FX gets them to put out a crap season to transition that fanbase to The League without losing any viewership. Whatever. I no longer watch Always Sunny because I want to, I do it because it is directly before The League. Fuck this show. I cannot fathom how much the humor has dropped off since last season.
Seriously, I have never heard so much hate spewed at a show on message boards since South Park restarts every season for the past half dozen seasons.
And Entourage. We get it, your favorite show was way better 2-3 seasons ago. Shut the fuck up and let us discuss it without your uneducated, off-topic ramblings.
What is there to discuss about a show like this that isn't plot-driven other than the quality of the episodes? The biting social commentary in the gay marriage episode?
So you're saying that the only thing to talk about ASIP is how much better the old episodes were? As with most comedies on the TV subforum, we usually comment on a favorite moment, subtle joke or meta-humor or just express our opinion of the episode. Constantly witnessing bitchy rants about how a show has lost it's way is tiresome and discouraging to any valuable discussion.
No one is stopping you from discussing the bolded points. But please explain to me how my opinion that the first 3 episodes of this season were terribly unfunny and represented a major drop in the quality of the show is uneducated and off-topic.
Do you really want to continue this? You know I'm right. YES you're allowed to complain, it's your God-given right. YES you're allowed to bitch, moan and shit all over the place. NO it doesn't do you or anyone any favors when EVERY FUCKING THREAD is just complaints about how terrible a given show has gotten. We dealt with it with Californication, South Park (every season), Entourage (3 seasons worth), The Office and now Always Sunny. If it's so shitty, and has been shitty "all season" stop watching it and stop talking about it. Besides, last episode was great.
Do you get this upset when someone says mean things about a movie you liked in the movie review thread?
Dude, don't you get it? Some of us actually still enjoy the show. We still enjoy watching it and discussing it. When that discussion is taken over by people who only want to say "this sucks! it was so much better before!" for every single fucking post, it ruins the discussion. There is room for 'this episode wasn't that great' in a discussion, of course. The problem is when people are 3 episodes into a new season, and claim that every episode thus far has sucked, and that is their only real contribution. "This isn't as good as it used to be." "The past seasons were better." We get it. You don't need to post that after every single episode. It just fucks up the discussion for the rest of us that may find the episodes funny. That is the bottom line. We still like it. We get it. You don't. You think the quality fell off. You think they're sell outs. What I don't understand is this: if it is so shitty and clearly not as good as it used to me, why in the name of Christ are you still watching?
Guess I'll be the first to chime in on last night's episode. I thought it was funny and had some good parts (return of Cricket and his neck wound and voice/Frank giving him lemons instead of the chicken he promised, the waitress coming in for the radio show, and the montage of Charlie teaching Mac the slapshot). The ending was also pretty perfect. That said, I felt that the whole podcast thing was under developed and alot of it just felt tossed together. Maybe that's how they wanted it to seem since it was a podcast that was just thrown together on a whim with no plan, but I expected a little more out of it and they could've made it funnier by using Cricket a little more or screwing with the waitress for more than the 30 seconds that they did (though Frank's offer, her acceptance, and the resulting dish water was a nice touch). Instead of starting off slow with their more serious topics, they should've dove right into the antics.