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Is "The Nightman Cometh" the single greatest Sitcom episode ever produced?

Jethalal

Banned
I started watching IASIP a few days ago and I am hooked. I am on the 13th season.
Lethal Weapon 6 was so dope, dunno why they banned it. That water park one too with AIDS water too. I love this show man.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
No, but it's probably high up. A lot of IASIP episodes probably are. As much as I like Nightman it's kind of memed to death at this point, like when people point think Pickle Rick the peak of Rick & Morty. There's a lot I like more, like the gang getting analysed, CharDee MacDennis, the gang dining out, faking their deaths etc.

dunno why they banned it.

They purged all the blackface episodes when it was cool to do so earlier last year

qwnfh9s6jo851.jpg
 

Jethalal

Banned
No, but it's probably high up. A lot of IASIP episodes probably are. As much as I like Nightman it's kind of memed to death at this point, like when people point think Pickle Rick the peak of Rick & Morty. There's a lot I like more, like the gang getting analysed, CharDee MacDennis, the gang dining out, faking their deaths etc.



They purged all the blackface episodes when it was cool to do so earlier last year

qwnfh9s6jo851.jpg
Nah but their intent is to mock these idiots who have no self awareness. Seemed like a spontaneous decision. Oh well.
 

manfestival

Member
I do think it might be up there among the best. I never watched much of Sunny in Phila. However, I can sing the song and always laugh at Danny Devitos lines. I even quote it from time to time. Then I become sad whenever I make the references. Especially since his lines are REALLY out there without any context lol.
 
No, but it's probably high up. A lot of IASIP episodes probably are. As much as I like Nightman it's kind of memed to death at this point, like when people point think Pickle Rick the peak of Rick & Morty.

It's definitely Charlie's magnum opus IMO. Everything he says when he's directing the rehearsals is just wet your pants funny. Like when he just randomly gets mad at Frank for chewing gum. And telling his stress levels to everyone.

311b832f323ff7c9fdb1160e505152f5.jpg



I find that even funnier than the songs
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Nah but their intent is to mock these idiots who have no self awareness. Seemed like a spontaneous decision. Oh well.

Of course it is, but idiots don't understand that, they just go looking for trouble where there isn't any and networks/service providers get scared - they also scrubbed episodes of Little Britain, Fawlty Towers, and an episode of Golden Girls from 1988. Didn't solve racism sadly.
 


Dennis is one of my absolute favourite characters.


I always hated overtly psycho Dennis. When they transitioned from letting the audience ascertain Dennis was a psychopath through his actions and words rather than

SMASHING YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH A BLUNT INSTRUMENT

Is when it really started to annoy me.

The shushing episode was a great example of this. You could tell Dennis was a psycho but it was done in a clever way



He just can't let it go that someone shushed him. That is comedy
 
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Zato

Banned
I always hated overtly psycho Dennis. When they transitioned from letting the audience ascertain Dennis was a psychopath through his actions and words rather than

SMASHING YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH A BLUNT INSTRUMENT

Is when it started to annoy me.

The shushing episode was a great example of this. You could tell Dennis was a psycho but it was done in a clever way



I understand completely, I suppose it can be seen that as time has went along Dennis is unable to supress that part of him just as well.

Once the damn broke, it stayed open.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
I always hated overtly psycho Dennis. When they transitioned from letting the audience ascertain Dennis was a psychopath through his actions and words rather than

I like that gradually over time he's gone from mild sociopathic sex pest to full-blown psychopath, it's a great "arc" and surely Always Sunny has to end with Dennis just outright murdering somebody. Surely.

The problem is that because it's so good, it keeps getting renewed, so they have no idea when it's going to end and they flipped Dennis' psycho switch too early.
 
I like that gradually over time he's gone from mild sociopathic sex pest to full-blown psychopath, it's a great "arc" and surely Always Sunny has to end with Dennis just outright murdering somebody. Surely.

The problem is that because it's so good, it keeps getting renewed, so they have no idea when it's going to end and they flipped Dennis' psycho switch too early.

But we know Dennis is psycho. Dennis shouting at the camera or some other dude

"MY RAGE KNOWS NO BOUNDS!"'

It doesn't elicit any reaction other than cringe

It just feels way too cheap for the level of comedic brilliance these guys used to have
 
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BlvckFox

Gold Member
Oh most definitely, OP. I don’t think there has ever been any type of character building on any level comparable to this one in a sitcom. The first season is actually one of my favorites. It’s a glimpse into the Gang before they truly descend into complete madness. I will say though, as someone has already mentioned, Dennis overtly being a psycho was kind of annoying. I always loved the..implication which even when subtle was always so god damn pronounced. Dennis should be the blueprint for character development.
 
classic dennis



See, this is peak psychopathic Dennis

Did he once yell or tell the audience

"LOOK AT HOW ANGRY I AM! I MUST BE REALLY MESSED UP! RAAAAAAR"

No, it was just great writing and great acting by Glenn.

And you could fully see Dennis going to rape her later
 
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AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
But we know Dennis is psycho. Dennis shouting at the camera

"MY RAGE KNOWS NO BOUNDS!"'

It doesn't elicit any reaction other than cringe

It just feels way too cheap for the level of comedic brilliance these guys used to have

I'd say that's a weird argument to make in a thread where you say their most on-the-nose episode is the best, Nightman is literally "that" one episode that even non-fans know and it's about them singing and dancing, there's not much subtlety to it. That's exactly why I don't rate it as much as some other episodes like The Gang Gets Analysed where it's literally them just sat in an office for the entire episode, but they manage to find a lot of different ways to make it hilarious.

But, hey, they're all great, even the worst Always Sunny is better than most other TV.
 
I'd say that's a weird argument to make in a thread where you say their most on-the-nose episode is the best, Nightman is literally "that" one episode that even non-fans know and it's about them singing and dancing, there's not much subtlety to it. That's exactly why I don't rate it as much as some other episodes like The Gang Gets Analysed where it's literally them just sat in an office for the entire episode, but they manage to find a lot of different ways to make it hilarious.

But, hey, they're all great, even the worst Always Sunny is better than most other TV.

There is SO MUCH subtetly/out of the blue funny things in this episode, the majority of which is in the rehearsal scenes, not the performance

The peformance has really funny things too like when Dennis randomly pulls a gun and says "you know what it is, bitch"

And Frank being called Antonio, that's fucking funny

Mac saying "laughs are cheap, I'm doing for GASPS"

Charlie saying to Waitress "I dropped like a 100 bill here, is this one of your walking places?"

Dennis eating because he's very uncomfortable

The gang asking who's face he's shoving the musical into and who is he doing it versus. Like what hahahaha

I could go on and on and on without even referencing Dayman
 
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AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
There is SO MUCH subtetly/out of the blue funny things in this episode, the majority of which is in the rehearsal scenes, not the performance

Ehh, no more than most other episodes of the show - there's a reason Nightman in particular is so revered and it's not the rehearsal scenes, there's a reason you opened the thread with 4 clips of them singing and dancing. Something like the Analysis episode has nothing like that and it's all brilliant regardless. Same with Pickle Rick in Rick & Morty, no-one praises that episode for the jokes in-between Rick screaming "I'm pickle Rick!" even though there's some real gold in there. Community paintball episodes are another example.
 
Ehh, no more than most other episodes of the show - there's a reason Nightman in particular is so revered and it's not the rehearsal scenes, there's a reason you opened the thread with 4 clips of them singing and dancing. Something like the Analysis episode has nothing like that and it's all brilliant regardless. Same with Pickle Rick in Rick & Morty, no-one praises that episode for the jokes in-between Rick screaming "I'm pickle Rick!" even though there's some real gold in there. Community paintball episodes are another example.

I only posted the singing/dancing clips because that was what YouTube had

If YouTube had the really clever stuff from the episode, I would have. But it doesn't

Just to be clear ;)
 
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yes. My fav episode and also

implication GIF

What do you guys think is more clever? Implication Dennis or

maxresdefault.jpg


JFC

It's like 2 completely separate groups of people are writing this stuff

The first group has a really good grip on comedy, the second is ROAARARARRARAROROROR = funny!!111!!!11!!!!1!!

I had no idea Dennis came from the Buffy EU

So trash

And don't get me started on what they did to Rickety Cricket
 
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Another good example of psycho Dennis inkeeping with his character. He used to manipulate people with his dominance stemming from an extremely misplaced confidence/arrogance




And here's an example of lazy writing psycho Dennis, basically being as obnoxious as Frank in a different way.




In the old days he didn't scream someone off screen, he completely belittled the person's character in a way that they were so ashamed/appalled they had to leave. And Dennis was usually left laughing at what he'd accomplished. Not left a screaming banshee COMPLETELY displaced from reality. And needing to spell it out to the audience that he's is unhinged

YES. WE ALL FUCKING KNOW DENNIS IS UNHINGED. THERE IS NO NEED TO BEAT OUR HEADS IN WITH THAT FACT. WE AREN'T STUPID.

I really fucking hate what they did to Dennis or why the writers FELT THE NEED TO SPELL IT OUT TO THE AUDIENCE THAT YES, DENNIS IS INDEED A PSYCHOPATH

We already fucking know this. We don't need Dennis yelling at the top of his voice to figure this out
 
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Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
I like that gradually over time he's gone from mild sociopathic sex pest to full-blown psychopath, it's a great "arc" and surely Always Sunny has to end with Dennis just outright murdering somebody. Surely.

The problem is that because it's so good, it keeps getting renewed, so they have no idea when it's going to end and they flipped Dennis' psycho switch too early.

This is where I’m at with it.

The joke is that spending years and years with these people broke him. There’s a whole episode where he talks about how he used to be the “cool laidback” one and tries to recapture that but fails miserably because of the other four.

His psychotic behavior has given us great episodes like the “five star man” bit, the suburbs, and the entire “Time’s Up” episode which is an all time classic.
 
I like that gradually over time he's gone from mild sociopathic sex pest to full-blown psychopath, it's a great "arc" and surely Always Sunny has to end with Dennis just outright murdering somebody. Surely.

The problem is that because it's so good, it keeps getting renewed, so they have no idea when it's going to end and they flipped Dennis' psycho switch too early.

It's never good writing to take someone from a 3 dimensional character to a 1 dimensional character

They just become boring, predictable and unbelievable

Do you really prefer 1 dimensional Dennis?

They could have handled Dennis' decent so much better
 
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This is where I’m at with it.

The joke is that spending years and years with these people broke him. There’s a whole episode where he talks about how he used to be the “cool laidback” one and tries to recapture that but fails miserably because of the other four.

Dennis always had an extreme irrational confidence and belittled every other member of the gang unceremoniously, because he thinks he's better than everyone, always.

Why would he suddenly start doubting himself? Where's the arc that plants the seeds for this?

That's right. There isn't one. He gets more and more overconfident with every episode. Now they try and retcon his character by making himself unsure of himself in one later episode which does not align with a single second of Dennis' character on the show?

Don't you see how that's terribly lazy writing because running out of ideas?
 
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I'm not even surprised because everyone in this thread is all

"Hehe Dennis say angry words and stuff pls give him Oscar. Such good comedy when someone rages hehe lol"

That's essentially the level of insight im getting here
 
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Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
Dennis always had an extreme irrational confidence and belittled every other member of the gang unceremoniously, because he thinks he's better than everyone, always.

Why would he suddenly start doubting himself? Where's the arc that plants the seeds for this?

That's right. There isn't one. He gets more and more overconfident with every episode. Now they try and retcon his character by making himself unsure of himself in one later episode which does not align with a single second of Dennis' character on the show?

Don't you see how that's terribly lazy writing because running out of ideas?

Not really no when we're talking about a non-serial comedy that has been on the air for 14 seasons and Dennis's character specifically left in doubt at the end of season 12. If Season 10 is where they really went off the rails with Dennis then that's pretty good all things considered.
 
The best thing they could do is have a Dennis redemption arc, where it seems like he's really remorseful for all the shit stuff he's done, but secretly building some scheme that's worse than anything he's ever done before

Like some sort of rape dungeon
 
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Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
The best thing they could do is have a Dennis redemption arc, where it seems like he's really remorseful for all the shit stuff he's done, but secretly building some scheme that's worse than anything he's ever done before

That's a pretty good idea especially now that Glenn Howerton isn't constantly thinking about leaving the show plus the several season renewal
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
It's never good writing to take someone from a 3 dimensional character to a 1 dimensional character

They just become boring, predictable and unbelievable

Do you really prefer 1 dimensional Dennis?

They could have handled Dennis' decent so much better

You're replying to the same posts twice now days apart, let it go, we get it, shouty Dennis bad. Always Sunny always had loud and over-the-top moments, it's just that the show as a whole isn't as good any more - it's long past its golden age of about seasons 4-8, yet Dennis is still one of the best things about it anyway. That's more to do with Glenn being the best actor on the show than anything.
 
You're replying to the same posts twice now days apart, let it go, we get it, shouty Dennis bad. Always Sunny always had loud and over-the-top moments, it's just that the show as a whole isn't as good any more - it's long past its golden age of about seasons 4-8, yet Dennis is still one of the best things about it anyway. That's more to do with Glenn being the best actor on the show than anything.

No, I replied at the same time. But I'm happy with everything you've said here.

And I'm sure you'll agree that the absolute peak season was Season 5 :sneaky:
 
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