It's always sunny...

In Philadelphia!

FX is starting to become my favorite network I don't get. I started watching it last year when the Denis Leary produced "Rescue Me" started it's first season and now I'm hooked on the show. The humor in it is something I'm familiar with, as the guys in Engine 62's house sound a lot like the guys I worked with.

Next comes this season's "Over There", about a group of US Army soldiers in Iraq, but the jury is still out on this one as I'm not really happy with the way they're portraying today's American fighting men and women.

But there's a new half-hour sitcom called "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" and the name alone is an anarchism.

It's about four friends from highschool who own a neighborhood bar in South Philadelphia. I've only seen four episodes of this show, but it looks promising. The producers have the look and feel of south Philly down to a T. The actors, the bar, the outside locations all look "South Philly", and the whole show is apparently filmed on location south of Market Street...

But...

A Big BUT, here...

The actors might look the part, but the don't sound "South Philly"... Which in my humble opinion is very important.

"Yo Tommy, what's the skinny?" Said in a mumbled Sly Stallone sort of way...

It's not only the accents either... It's some of the dialog also. one character was talking about having a party in "Fairmount Park"...

Well, Fairmount Park is in Philadelphia, and it's huge. But it's made up of many different parks throughout the city. Columbus Park in South Philly, Cobb's Creek Park in West Philly, Pennypack Park and Pleasant Hill Park in Northeast Philly to name a few. They're all a part of Fairmount Park.

So if a group of guys getting together wouldn't say, "Yo! Let's get a kegger together at Fairmount Park!" It would be; "Yo! Tommy! Me, Joey an' Jimmy an' sum a da otha' guys are gittin' a kegger togetha at Columbus Park on Friday!"

Ok, I might be splitting hairs here. But it's only a minor flaw in seems to be a promising new show. Although at a half-hour it is a little short. I'd much prefer it to be an hour-long show, but that's just my opinion.

But another word on the locations and "sounding" the part in TV shows. Another fairly decent show allegedly takes place in my hometown, and that's "Cold Case".

In that show at least some of the characters "sound" the part. The right accents and area catchphrases thrown in. But the location director or whatever the out-of-touch Hollywood producers think is some locations in Philly are beyond me.

One episode I saw, the detectives responded to a homicide scene that was allegedly at 5th & Catherine Streets in South Philadelphia. They roll up to the scene, and there's single homes, lawns, trees, bushes...

I laughed my ass off.

Where the fuck were they supposed to be again? I know I haven't been to South Philly in a few years, but I would bet my bottom dollar you wouldn't find a blade of grass let alone single homes, trees and lawns for miles of 5th & Catherine St. Unless they were growing out of cracks in the sidewalk.

But, for a good laugh, check out "It's always Sunny In Philadelphia" on FX. It's a new show that has some promise for a change.

Copyright Thomas J Wolfenden