The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, September 21, 2011-- 7A TV REVIEW Stars make 'Night' COURTESY OF FX The wine-in-a-can shortage hit the Gang particularly hard. Sunny keeps shining By KELLY ETZ Daily Arts Writer There's just something about "It's Always Sunny in Philadel- phia." It's that over-the-top, noth- ing off limits, how-far-can- ***** they-possibly- go quality. And ItS AIWayS the new season Sunny in really runs with it. Philadelphia It all starts Season Seven at Paddy's Pub Premiere with Charlie (Charlie Day) Thursdays and Dee (Kait- at1 p.m. lin Olson) try- FX ing to adopt a stray junkyard dog for the bar. Enter Mac (Rob McElhenney), or more appropriately "Fat Mac," with a garbage bag full of chimi- changas and an extra 50 pounds or so. That leads to Dennis (Glenn Howerton) lamenting how they've ended up as "the gross crew" All that's left is for Frank (Danny DeVito) to announce that he's going to marry the prostitute Roxy (Alanna Ubach, "Hung") in 24 hours. And "Sunny" is off and running. It's as if each scene attempts to top the one before, and it's work- ing. Each new twist feels almost too outrageous, even for "Sunny," but it manages to all come togeth shocki priaten Now sevent in som season "Sunny ongoin reeme star G Show" TigerV YetD guests stealst Roxy.S ing, an spoofc Robert the fin lying i sings h is the p The it thei memoi tends t then c amoun date (a er in the perfect amount of of blood capsules) while yelling, ngly selfish, crass inappro- "I think I've been poisoned by my sess. constituents!" Oh, Charlie. that "Sunny" has hit the And who knows commitment h season mark, it has added like Rob McElhenny, who gained se throwbacks to previous a very real 50 pounds for the sea- s, a delight for longtime son just for the hell of it. The com- y" fans. There's Dennis's edy generated by "Fat Mac" is a ig love of crack and the feather in McElhenny's cap, and rgence of previous guest thankfully he's lost most of the eoffrey Owens ("The Cosby weight since wrapping filming. ) as the very obviously fake As for the other regulars, DeVi- Woods. to's comic timing is perfect. While it's Alanna Ubach, the other Charlie is vomiting blood on his star for the premiere, who date, Frank's in the front (posing the show as the prostitute as the limo driver) trying to offer She's unflinchingly disgust- her a hard-boiled egg he found id Ubach goes all out. The in "perfect" condition under a of the Richard Gere/Julia bridge. :s romance is hilarious, and As for Olson and Howerton, al scene, with a dead Roxy they'll have more chances to n the hall as Roy Orbison shine in upcoming episodes, but is classic "Pretty Woman," both did throw out some memo- perfect "Sunny" ending. rable lines in the premiere. Most notable are Howerton's assess- ment of Mac ("You look fat as M a et shit") and Olson's admission that she "smoked a little crack on the Big M ac. way over" at Roxy's makeshift funeral. All in all, "Sunny" has proven it's willing to go just about any- series regulars also give where for the sake of a laugh. And r all in the premiere. In a while it's crude, disgusting and -able scene, Charlie pre- filled with characters that lack to be a Texan millionaire, any sense of morality at all, we oughs up an astonishing still love it. Here's to the new sea- it of fake blood all over his son - every glorious, ridiculous, fter swallowing a boatload unseemly moment. Applegate and Arnett's chemistry brings the laughs By SAM CENZHANG For the Daily NBC's foray into Wednesday night comedy begins with "Up All Night." The premise of the show is simple: Chris- tina Applegate *** ("Samantha Who?")hand Up AllNight Will Arnett Pilot ("Arrested Development") Wednesdays are a happy, NBC carefree couple. NBC They have a baby. Hijinx ensue. "Up All Night" is a show that shouldn't fail, considering its impeccable pedigree. Lorne Michaels is the executive pro- ducer, and the showrunner Emily Spivey is a former "Satur- day Night Live" writer who also wrote an episode of "Parks and Recreation." Christina Applegate has comedy chops to spare, and on an unrelated note, she has an Emmy. Basically, if the show can stay out of its own way, it'll be at least a solid half hour every week. The "Up All Night" pilot large- ly lives up to its promise. Arnett and Applegate have a great rap- port, and Maya Rudolph ("Sat- urday Night Live") hamming it up is always fun to see. Spivey is a sharp writer, as her "Parks and Rec" episode, "Eagleton," demon- strated. There weren't too many laugh-out-loud moments, but the incisive and observational stuff is there. Chris and Reagan Brinkley (Arnett and Applegate's charac- ters, respectively) have a lengthy one-up contest over who slept less, and while most of us have never raised a baby, the bit is reso- nant enough. The show also gives, Will Arnett a chance to be a nor- t sh h "Eh ... well, it's cuter than the one I had with Amy Poehler." COURTESY o NBC mal human, or at least one who doesn't ride around on a Segway performing illusions. His reaction mugs are great, and the high point of the pilot is probably his cheese- finding frenzy in a supermarket. There's a lot of embryonic stuff here, and it augurs well for the show. . All that said, "Up All Night" is by no means a can't-miss. The "busy new parents find balance between work, life and adorable baby"premise has the potentialto be cloying, and we see a glimpse of how saccharine this dynamic can be during the end of the epi- sode, when Reagan makes her "I choose work and family" stand. But Spivey doesn't write with too heavy a hand; the hangover scene ("You know who doesn't have a hangover? That baby!") is enough to assuage any doubts about that. Another potential worry is the incongruity between what is a fairly grounded home life for Chris and. Reagan and a workplace environment that seems almost cartoonish. Maya Rudolph is a bit of an "it girl" at the moment, and her success in "Bridesmaids" led NBC to greatly expand her role. While Rudolph is a gifted comic actress who can do full ham and sardonic subtle- ty with equal aplomb, it doesn't seem like the show knows quite what to do with her. Her scenes are very different tonally from the low-key domesticity we get in the Brinkleys' home scenes. To be sure, Rudolph is the funni- est part of the pilot, in the "elicit- ing audible laughs" sense. But it's not entirely clear how the show will mesh her Jack Donaghy-like crazed mentor role with the wry and observational tone of the baby shenanigans. This is some- thing to keep an eye on. Comedy pilots don't have to be transcendent, fully formed piec- es of television. All a pilot needs to do is establish that, hey, the premise has potential and the characters are enjoyable. After that, would it be too much trou- ble to ask you to plop yourself on the couch for another pleasant half hour next week? In the case of "Up All Night," the answer is a resounding "yes." There are laughs, both belly-laughs and "heh, yeah, totally" laughs. It's sentimental, but it also features Arnett and Applegate calling their baby "f***ing beautiful." The pilot is good, and really, that's more than a pilot needs to be. It's an encouraging begin- ning from an excellent cast and crew. Keep this one on the DVR schedule. EMBARK: NASSAU, BAHAMAS ROSEAU, DOMINICA MANAUS, BRAZIL TAKORADI, GHANA CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA PORT LOUIS, MAURITIUS COCHIN, INDIA SINGAPORE. . 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