It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Probably my favorite comedy after The Office is FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I developed a meta-appreciation for it this season, when I realized it’s shot at the Herald-Examiner building in downtown Los Angeles, using some of the same sets we used for The Movie.
Last I heard, there was talk of converting the Herald-Examiner building into condos, so who knows what they would do for a third season. If there is a third season.
iTunes has free featurette about the show, focusing on the logistical nightmare of shooting all of Danny DeVito’s scenes for the season in just 20 days. They had to write all ten scripts ahead of time, then found themselves shooting pieces from up to four episodes per day.
In watching the behind-the-scenes footage, I was surprised to see how puny the main cameras are for the show. They’re using Panasonic DVX-100A’s, long a staple of no-budget indie filmmaking. (We used it for b-roll.) It’s pretty ballsy to use it for a real TV show, where you’re spending millions of dollars and recording on a mini-DV tape.
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September 15th, 2006 at 9:39 am
What format did you shoot The Movie on? I thought it was 35.
If so, why use mini DV for b rolls?
September 15th, 2006 at 9:49 am
Waaay waaay off topic, but it looks like your “sister”site artfulwriter has been taken hostage, there’s nothing but arabic text with possibly a phone number and an email address… kinda creepy. (feel free to delete this post, just wanted to point this out to someone in case it’s a fluke on my pc or something more serious…you never know).
September 15th, 2006 at 11:38 am
Yeah, I don’t see why they would use the DVX and shoot in SD, when the new HVX is just as good, only better because it’s an HD camera. They’re obviously not concerned about the upcoming universal transition from SD to HD.
Usually, only reality or travelogue shows are shot with the DVX (referring to TV productions). For example, that show “Breaking Bonaducci” was all shot on DVX’s, and the footage was great. I don’t see how they would be the weapon of choice for a scripted television program.
Hmmmm
September 15th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
UK Office, or US Office?
September 15th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
We shot The Movie on 35, Super-16 and 24p video. (There are three sections to the film, each shot in a different format.)
For the video, we used the SDX900, which is standard def, rather than HD. (The DVX was just for b-roll.) It wasn’t really a cost issue. It was just a better look for what we were doing. HD is so sharp that it can be unflattering, which means extra time to light and tweak and deal with all those pixels.
September 15th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
Both Offices are terrific, but I have to give it to the US for how much deeper it goes with the cast. It’s not just the Steve Carrell show.
September 15th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Funny, I never even heard about that show… “It’s always sunny in Philadelphia”. I might check it out.
September 15th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
Hey john, Which office did you see first?… I really find the UK one more cringe-worthy which inturn makes it funnier… but i saw the UK first…
I’m from Australia too so i think i tend to lean towards british comedy more anyway… you can’t go past some blackadder and father ted… low prduction values, loads of morons – I mean “House” learnt how to deliver one-liners from one of the best…
As for “it’s always sunny in Phili”… what chance does australian TV have of picking that up? … nada
September 15th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
John – so with 3 different formats, what is your final product? I suppose you’ll telecine out the film to standard def digibeta and hook it on to the video which is already SD.
So what will the final projected format be – digibeta or answer print?
September 15th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
I love the UK “The Office”–I’ve borrowed the entire series from my friend, and I’m about to finish watching the final half of the Christmas special. It’s surprisingly sad and touching. When I’m done with this, I’ll probably rent the first season of the US show and give it a chance. I’ve wanted to watch “Philadelphia,” but I missed the first few episodes, and I hate jumping into TV series, so I’ll wait until it’s on DVD or they hold a marathon to start watching it.
September 16th, 2006 at 2:04 pm
Adam –
We telecined to HD-CAM, including up-rezzing the SD footage. We’ll finish to D5, which is what many festivals (like Sundance) prefer.
September 17th, 2006 at 4:57 am
I have to say, after having watched every episode of both series, UK Office is the superior show.
Why?
Well, I just feel the cast were much stronger in most cases in the UK version. Gareth vs Dwight. Honestly, I have not once laughed at the character of Dwight. The worst casting decision in recent memory. That bad. I look at him, I wanna crush him – not laugh, or continue to watch. Gareth, on the other hand, was hilarious. He was skinny. pathetic, weak, and someone I only have to catch a glimpse of to crack up. I’m not suggesting they should have gone for another skinny weed for the character of Dwight – just someone funny. He’s awful.
The character of Jim is just simply…boring. He’s got the everyman look right, a man stuck in a rut on a road to nowhere, but has no charisma whatsoever. Whereas Tim was witty, had a great screen presence, and you genuinely felt for him and his dilemma that is life. Jim can’t pull that off.
Pam? The same as with Jim – just weaker than her UK counterpart. Doesn’t stand out.
When Tim and Dawn finally kiss in the fourteenth episode, you well up, you feel it, you’ve waited for this moment and now it’s happening, you’re glad Dawn left the man she wasn’t destined to be with for the man she is, you’re overjoyed for Tim, a little luck in his life at last. The perfect TV moment.
When Jim and Pam kiss at the end of the twenty-eighth episode, it just feels like…so what? There are only so many shots of Jim and Pam gazing longingly at one another from their desks a person can take over the course of twenty-eight episodes, before it all starts to feel a tad trite. It loses any magic, any spark that may have been there by overdoing it…by boring us to death. You don’t feel the need to shed a tear.
Kelly? The less said about her the better. Totally over-the-top. Just because you write an episode, doesn’t mean you ought to include your character to such an extent.
Ryan? Same as with Kelly. This guy Novak isn’t an actor. Sort it out. Realise. Please. You’ve got the screen presence of a coathanger.
Kevin, Meredith, Toby, Oscar, Stanley and Creed are all great in their parts, underplaying to a tee. Angela’s hot, but again, a little OTT and unrealistic. Jan hotter, but seems nervous everytime she’s on screen. Doesn’t have that unblinking authority Jennifer emits greatly in the UK series.
The main attraction is, of course, Steve Carell’s Michael. He’s brilliant. Brent’s equal in every department. Upon hearing of his casting, I spat blood, couldn’t see why, I just never thought he could pull it off. But he does. He’s created an altogether individual monster. I’ll watch every episode of US Office they decide to make just for Michael. In many ways, he’re more pathetic than Brent, lives more disastrous an existence. I feel for him more than I did Brent. He’s far more lonely. I welled up at the end of Halloween episode, fading out on him handing out candies to young trick-or-treaters. That was a great moment. A little depth. He was content there. Briefly.
That said, I dearly, dearly hope the creative powers-that-be behind the US series see sense and end it with the upcoming series. It is, remember, a show primarily based in a office. No matter how great the characters or writers on-board, its inevitable repetitiveness will kick in. It already has.
Fourteen episode were good enough for the UK show. Fifty-three should be plenty good enough for the US version to tell its tale and wrap up nicely.
September 17th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Tommy –
Couldn’t disagree more. No offense to the UK cast, but I’ll take the Americans. Beyond the big roles, look at Phyllis and Meredith. Creed.
As a thought experiment, get rid of the bosses. The American version could keep going, while the British version would be done. (And was.)
September 17th, 2006 at 10:46 am
You two have made me very curious. I think I’ll go rent the first season of the American version–is it worth buying, just in case Blockbuster doesn’t have it?
September 17th, 2006 at 11:21 am
Yeeeahhh, maybe. Suppose that’s why I favour the UK version – because the US one has had to change it up so much. Understandably. You don’t do six episode seasons over there, so it had to be constructed, re-worked to allow more prominent characters to cater for the longer season. But I liked it being mostly about Brent. Personally, I’d have preferred a few Michael-filled, six-to-ten-episode seasons from HBO. That would’ve been ideal.
September 17th, 2006 at 11:34 am
Michael -
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great, great show. Best American comedy out there. So I highly recommend purchasing it. Actually, season one’s “Health Care” episode is worth $20 alone. Probably the best one so far.
September 17th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
I think “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is the best show on TV. It’s just a brilliant mix of great, unpredictable writing and brilliant actors. It’s amazing that they’ve written every episode so far without any previous writing experience. That’s probably why they keep making such fucked up decisions, because they don’t know any better. Charlie is one of the funniest TV characters I’ve ever come across.
I didn’t like the US Office at first because I am a loyal fan of the UK version. The Office special is as good as it gets, and I felt like everyone else should quit after the final moment with the paints and the note. I watched an episode of season two (US) and started to dig it. Now I’m hooked. I’m starting to prefer it to the UK version, but I doubt they’ll ever top the ending of the special.
September 17th, 2006 at 10:47 pm
Though it is a real tv show, it is on basic cable and their budgets are significantly tighter than network shows. So, the cameras make sense. Oh, and the Brittish OFFICE is too droll for me; whereas, the American Office routinely makes me cackle with knowing glee.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:25 am
I LOVE this show as well. I have a hard time finding it on TV (it’s on showcase, I think on Wed) but it is by far one of the funniest shows on television, along with The Office, a show I tried hard, and really wanted, to hate because of my love and devotion for the UK original, but I can’t help but really enjoy.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:33 am
The U.S. Office is one my favorite all-time sitcoms. I don’t know how it so consistently makes me laugh and makes me emotional like every episode. (and I saw the U.K. Office first, but never much cared for it)
I’ve only seen one episode of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and I’m sorry to say I didn’t like it at all. It seemed to me like it was just being outlandish for its own sake, without really putting too much thought into it. Like that other show “The War at Home”. But I was really interested to hear the story BEHIND the show, how they filmed it themselves with their friends and showed it around that way.
September 19th, 2006 at 10:31 am
Glad to see someone besides me thinks so re: “Always Sunny”! A friend of a friend is the creator, and I got an advanced copy of their first five second-season scripts before they started shooting. Amazingly enough, the only real tweaking that happened between then and air was to make it all a bit MORE offensive. Which is awesome. I spec’d it, so I am secretly hoping it takes off and that script sitting in my “Documents” bin gets some read-time. Yay obscure television!
September 21st, 2006 at 5:23 pm
I recently whittled down my TiVo Season Passes to “The Office”, “My Name is Earl”, “The Daily Show”, “South Park”, “The Simpsons”, “Robot Chicken” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. Guess I’m a snarky kinda guy. Thanks for giving “Philadelphia” a shout – it’s a hidden gem (“Seinfeld” on crack?).
September 22nd, 2006 at 6:48 pm
I finally had a chance to check this show out on Showcase the other night (episode Mac Bangs Dennis’ Mom. I was amazed at the look of the film for being shot on a $4000 prosumer camera. Show is flat out hilarious.
June 24th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Does anyone know where I could get a copy of some of the show’s scripts?