As a life long resident of the Philadelphia area, I must say that I enjoy the TV series, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Yes it is crude and disgusting and often paints the City in a bad light and is filled with some of the dumbest and most disagreeable characters imaginable. However, regardless of how crude it can get, it is almost always hilarious. In keeping with the season, the gang is back with a Christmas special which arrived this week on Blu-ray. I was anxious to give it a spin.

Show

While A Very Sunny Christmas is not one of their best efforts, it is still very funny and well worth a look for fans of the series. I mean, who else can combine Charles Dickens, claymation characters from old TV specials such as Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and obscure old Phillies references into a coherent and over the top funny tale about the real meaning of Christmas?

The special finds the Mac, Charlie, Dennis and Dee trying to find the Christmas spirit while hanging out Paddy’s Pub. In comes Frank who has a habit of buying himself gifts that Dennis and Dee covet but can’t afford, which this year includes a Lamborghini sports car, just the car you need to navigate the streets of South Philly! They all recall the Christmases of their childhood which are very unlike any Christmas anyone has experienced, with breaking into neighbors homes to steal their gifts, huffing glue and various Santas visiting Mom for some good old Christmas cheer.

Dennis and Dee try to convince Frank’s old business partner to help scare him into being a better father re-enacting Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. Meanwhile Mac and Charlie decide to make up for the theft of a kid’s toy robot over 20 years ago with a trip to the mall that ends with a vicious attack on Santa on Christmas Eve. All is not lost as Frank comes to see the light after being thrown from his Lamborghini and having a vision where he ends up in a claymation feature hosted by the dentist elf from the old Rudolph the Reindeer TV special.

Yes, the story is crude, vicious and often ugly but funny nonetheless. If you are a fan of the show, you will know exactly what I mean. Recommended as a rental only in terms of content.

Video

This is the first Blu-ray disc I have seen that is not in high def. The video is unconverted widescreen standard definition which really shouldn’t have been the subject of a Blu-ray release. The disc even has a brief introduction by the producers explaining that the video presented in not in HD even though it is a Blu-ray disc. The only mention of this fact is on the back of the box where a 1080p upconvert is noted in very small type. The fact that the show is presented in standard def is obvious as soon as the show starts, as it has the fuzzy, noise filled haze which is the hallmark of standard definition video. Besides being in standard def, the upconversion isn’t all that impressive. Why this release was issued on Blu-ray given that it is in standard definition is beyond me. Under these circumstances, the release should have been released on DVD only.

Audio

The audio here was just as much of a disappointment as the video, even with a DTS HD Master Audio track. The mix is rather front heavy with sparse use of the surrounds. Dynamics are substandard with little in the way of any bass in the mix. The overall sound itself can best be described as thin, shallow and shrill. THis is not a disc that you will want to crank up as it will be fatiguing.

Special Features

As one would expect in light of the video treatment of the feature, none of the extras are presented in HD. All are presented in 4×3 standard definition in a 16×9 window. The extras include some deleted scenes, a Sunny Sing Along where the cast sing some Christmas Carols as well as a behind the scenes featurette. I can’t say that there is much here to pique one’s interest.

Final Thoughts

While I enjoyed the show, this release should not have been released on the Blu-ray format given that none of the content is presented in HD. This is one release that should have been limited to DVD only. Accordingly, while I enjoyed the content, I can’t recommend that you purchase this release. If you are a fan of the show, stick to the DVD only. Rated as a rental only in terms of content. As for the Blu-ray, you should skip it in its entirety and go with the DVD.