[Editor’s Note: With this post, we’d like to introduce our newest contributor to the blog, Junie Ray. Junie will be helping us out with some additional TV coverage, starting with the current season of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ – a show that certainly deserves some extra love thrown its way. So let’s all give Junie a warm welcome for her first post. –JZ]

Let’s start with a recap of the first three episodes of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.’ This popular FX comedy is now entering its sixth season of wrongness. The show is a comedy about a guy who owns a bar in Philadelphia, his daughter, son, and their two friends. But that does nothing to describe the dysfunction that lies therein. If I was doing a Hollywood pitch, I’d tell you to picture the irreverent humor and dislikable characters of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ but set in a Philadelphia bar that has slacker appeal, is less Jewish, and more lower-middle class.

Mac Fights Gay Marriage

Here are the main plotlines for the first episode:

Mac runs into his old girlfriend, Carmen the Tranny, at the gym. She’s now had her manbits removed and is living the Miller High Life married to Nick. Mac sets off to prove that gay marriage is wrong, which he thinks will somehow win back Tranny’s affections.

Charlie has some back problems (probably due to dancing with a keg chained to him in the Season Three dance marathon) and convinces Frank that they should get married so that he can use Frank’s medical benefits.

Dennis and Sweet D decide to meet up with former high school hotties Bill and Maureen Ponderosa. Dennis ends up getting married to Maureen, and Sweet D hooks up with Bill, despite her gag reflex telling her to do otherwise.

Overall, this is a bit of a slow start to the season, as the plot lines need some build up, but it certain has a few funny moments. The high point for me is the physical comedy – Sweet D’s gagging, and Charlie and Frank taking turns cracking each other’s backs.

Dennis Gets Divorced

Episode Two builds on the base started in the first:

Maureen takes over Dennis’s apartment and sets up a craft room to make cat T-shirts. Dennis realizes that he needs to get out of this marriage and enlists help from Charlie’s Uncle Jack. Unfortunately, Maureen gets help from their old attorney whose big hands are too much for Uncle Jack.

Bill Ponderosa buys Sweet D a BMW convertible, leaves his wife, and moves in. Sweet D struggles to ditch Bill and keep the BMW.

This episode is also a bit of a mishmash. I know this show is about unlikeable characters, but while the core group is unlikeable, they are nonetheless compelling. However, the Ponderosas don’t have that, and I found them a bit of a drag.

The Gang Buys a Boat

In Episode Three, things start to warm up on ‘Sunny.’

Mac, Dennis and Charlie buy a house/party/shrimp boat with proceeds from the “Dick Towel.” It’s a fixer-upper, so Mac and Dennis enlist Charlie, Sweet D, and Frank to clean it up.

While the others work, Mac and Dennis discuss using the boat the get women into compromising situations. They manage to find some boating buddies and ladies, but alas, Charlie, D, and Frank have already taken the boat out for a blazing good time.

In this episode, the plot lines work better together and it’s just the gang being their dysfunctional, self-centered selves.

And that’s where we are so far this season. I haven’t gone into the details of the characters and the unique situations they find themselves in, but rest assured now that we’re caught up, I will spend some time in future posts discussing just what makes this show so wrong and yet so right.

Lastly, an introduction. My name is Junie Ray. In former lives, I ran a web site featuring reviews of misanthropic hotspots of Boston, sold men’s shirts and ties to the Harvard elite, and even had a stint as a leg model. I don’t always drink Mexican beer, but when I do, I drink Dos Equis. I was very excited when Josh asked me to contribute blog posts to High-Def Digest, and hope you enjoy my perspective.