- Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia S 4 E 13 - The Nightman .
- 'The Nightman Cometh' Is It's Always Sunny At Its Best | 25YL
- List Of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Episodes - Wikipedia
- It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
| 'The Nightman Cometh' | ||
|---|---|---|
| It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode | ||
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 13 | |
| Directed by | Matt Shakman | |
| Written by | Charlie Day Glenn Howerton Rob McElhenney | |
| Production code | IP04008 | |
| Original air date | November 20, 2008 | |
| Guest appearance(s) | ||
| Episode chronology | ||
| ||
| It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (season 4) | ||
| List of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episodes |
The Nightman Cometh, Translated Charlie recalled one of the show's most memorable moments — that would be 'The Nightman Cometh,' duh — and how he spoke fluent Mandarin during it. As the rest of The Gang correctly remembered, he definitely did not. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's cast and episode director sat down with GQ for an oral history on how musical episode 'The Nightman Cometh' came to be.
'The Nightman Cometh' is the thirteenth and final episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's fourth season. The episode features a rock opera based on songs written by Charlie Kelly. The episode was later adapted into a short-lived stage musical in 2009.
Plot[edit]
With a spring in his step, Charlie notifies the gang that he's written a musical. Dennis and Mac quiz Charlie over his motivations, but ultimately want to play the parts that Charlie has written for them.
Charlie enlists the help of Artemis to transcribe the script into words and the gang squabble over which parts to play. Initially, Mac is excited to play The Dayman, but Dennis goads him into trading parts. Frank is cast as the troll and Dee is picked to play the princess.
Dee is concerned over the subject matter of her song's lyrics, contending they sound like she molests children with a rusty fork. Charlie also tries in vain to get Frank to say 'boy's soul' rather than 'boy's hole' in his song.
Charlie tracks down The Waitress, giving her a ticket and telling her that he will never bother her again if she attends.
On the night of the show, the gang is excited to perform for an audience. However, some drama ensues when Dee ad-libs a song clarifying that she's not interested in children, much to Charlie's chagrin. Mac gets laughs when he comes on stage as The Nightman, much to his dismay.
The Troll sings to The Nightman that he has to pay the Troll Toll to get the boy's soul, although Frank's pronunciation results in him saying 'hole' instead of 'soul.' Mac hops onto Dennis in bed, who points out that Mac has an erection. Dennis transforms into the Dayman and kills the Troll with a handgun. The Dayman fights the Nightman and pulls his heart out. The remaining cast members then join together for an ensemble reprise of 'Dayman,' which Dennis and Charlie came up with in the earlier episode 'Sweet Dee's Dating a Retarded Person'
Following 'The Dayman' reprise, Charlie swoops down from a sun from above the stage, wearing a yellow outfit, singing 'Marry Me' to The Waitress as a wedding proposal to her. However, Charlie's gambit is all for naught, as she declines his proposal and storms out.
Production[edit]
The Dayman was first introduced on the show as lyrics envisioned by Charlie Kelly after a night of huffing spray paint from a sock in the ninth episode of the third season, 'Sweet Dee's Dating a Retarded Person.'
Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia S 4 E 13 - The Nightman .
'Scott Marder and Rob Rosell wrote the episode and the lyrics: 'Dayman, fighter of the Nightman, champion of the sun / He's a master of karate and friendship for everyone,' Glenn Howerton explained, 'Which are just the worst fucking lyrics ever, which is exactly what we wanted.'[1]
The unexpectedly enthusiastic reception of the Dayman song inspired the cast to devise a musical episode, but one 'organic to the tone of the series.' One of the initial ideas was the musical being an elaborate prank with a rival bar but that concept was eventually abandoned.[1]
'We finally realized: Maybe Charlie writes the musical and our characters are just so fucking vain that we can't stomach the thought of Charlie getting other people to do it,' said Howerton.[1]
'Any time we deal with that kind of subject matter, I like to think it's coming from a more intelligent place,' Charlie Day explained. 'A rape joke is not remotely a funny thing; a man writing a musical that he thinks is about self-empowerment, and not realizing that all his lyrics sound like they're about a child being molested, is a funny thing. The joke is coming from confusion and misunderstanding, which are classic tropes of all comedy.'[1]
Most of the music in the episode was written by Day and composer Cormac Bluestone.[1]
'I said, 'Let me go off and write some of the songs and lyrics,' and I went to the piano,' Day said. 'We'd already had the Dayman song, so I pulled out the 'Troll Toll' and 'Tiny Boy, Little Boy' songs.'[1]
The episode was performed in front of background actors who didn't have any context for the musical so their bemused reactions were genuine.[1]
Director Matt Shakman told the cast, 'Just do it all the way through.'[1]
'I got Artemis Pebdani to act like the stage manager of the event and actually come out and do the speech that you always hear in shows about where the fire exits are,' Shakman said.[1]
'I remember a lot of confused faces as we were performing,' Rob McElhenney recalled. 'People [who weren't familiar with the show] were wondering why it was funny… But I always go back to Glenn and Charlie; if they're still laughing, then I know it's funny.'[1]
Stage adaptation[edit]
Master pdf editor 5 4 38. In September 2009, the cast took their show live. The 'Gang' performed the musical The Nightman Cometh in New York City, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.[2]Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Artemis Pebdani also appeared in the performance as The Waitress and Artemis. Actress Rhea Perlman (wife of Danny DeVito) assumed the role of Gladys.[3]
McElhenney said that Live Nation originally approached the cast about doing the show at 30 cities, but in the end the cast settled on 6.[4] Howerton described the show as 'essentially an expanded version of the actual episode of 'The Nightman Cometh', which was the final episode for season four. There are some added moments, added scenes, added songs, and extended versions of songs that already existed.'[5] Two new songs were included in the performance and a longer running time allowed for greater improvisation by the actors. The performance was also preceded by a preview screening of a season five episode.
The Los Angeles performance, filmed at The Troubadour, was included as a bonus feature on the season four DVD box set.
Trivia[edit]
The title of Charlie's play is a reference to Eugene O'Neill's classic play The Iceman Cometh. O'Neill's play is described as being about 'dead-end alcoholics who spend every possible moment seeking oblivion in one another's company and trying to con or wheedle free drinks from Harry and the bartenders', which is a good description of the gang.
References[edit]
- ^ abcdefghijWood, Jennifer M. 'The Nightman Cometh: The Oral History of the Greatest 'It's Always Sunny' Episodes Ever'. GQ. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
- ^Matheson, Whitney (August 6, 2009). 'The 'Nightman Cometh' to a city near you'. USA Today. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ^Goldman, Eric (April 20, 2009). 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Live!'. IGN. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ^Tucker, Alyssa (August 4, 2009). 'Rob McElhenney & Glenn Howerton Interview'. Flash Flood Media. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
- ^'Glenn Howerton Talks 'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' And More!'. Icon vs. Icon. September 16, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
External links[edit]
- 'The Nightman Cometh' on IMDb
Director Matt Shakman told the cast, 'Just do it all the way through.'[1]
'I got Artemis Pebdani to act like the stage manager of the event and actually come out and do the speech that you always hear in shows about where the fire exits are,' Shakman said.[1]
'I remember a lot of confused faces as we were performing,' Rob McElhenney recalled. 'People [who weren't familiar with the show] were wondering why it was funny… But I always go back to Glenn and Charlie; if they're still laughing, then I know it's funny.'[1]
Stage adaptation[edit]
Master pdf editor 5 4 38. In September 2009, the cast took their show live. The 'Gang' performed the musical The Nightman Cometh in New York City, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.[2]Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Artemis Pebdani also appeared in the performance as The Waitress and Artemis. Actress Rhea Perlman (wife of Danny DeVito) assumed the role of Gladys.[3]
McElhenney said that Live Nation originally approached the cast about doing the show at 30 cities, but in the end the cast settled on 6.[4] Howerton described the show as 'essentially an expanded version of the actual episode of 'The Nightman Cometh', which was the final episode for season four. There are some added moments, added scenes, added songs, and extended versions of songs that already existed.'[5] Two new songs were included in the performance and a longer running time allowed for greater improvisation by the actors. The performance was also preceded by a preview screening of a season five episode.
The Los Angeles performance, filmed at The Troubadour, was included as a bonus feature on the season four DVD box set.
Trivia[edit]
The title of Charlie's play is a reference to Eugene O'Neill's classic play The Iceman Cometh. O'Neill's play is described as being about 'dead-end alcoholics who spend every possible moment seeking oblivion in one another's company and trying to con or wheedle free drinks from Harry and the bartenders', which is a good description of the gang.
References[edit]
- ^ abcdefghijWood, Jennifer M. 'The Nightman Cometh: The Oral History of the Greatest 'It's Always Sunny' Episodes Ever'. GQ. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
- ^Matheson, Whitney (August 6, 2009). 'The 'Nightman Cometh' to a city near you'. USA Today. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ^Goldman, Eric (April 20, 2009). 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Live!'. IGN. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ^Tucker, Alyssa (August 4, 2009). 'Rob McElhenney & Glenn Howerton Interview'. Flash Flood Media. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
- ^'Glenn Howerton Talks 'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' And More!'. Icon vs. Icon. September 16, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
External links[edit]
- 'The Nightman Cometh' on IMDb
'Dayman (ah-ah-ah)
Fighter of the Nightman (ah-ah-ah)
Champion of the Sun (ah-ah-ah)
You're a Master of Karate
And friendship
For Everyone'
Little did It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia writers Scott Marder and Rob Rosell know when they penned those so-righteously-bad-they-swing-back-to-good lyrics that they would be cementing a spot on the pop culture 'source wall.' Fans of the long-running FX/FXX series were first introduced to Charlie's (Charlie Day) sorta-superhero Dayman in 2007 during season 3's 'Sweet Dee's Dating a Retarded Person' (a title co-star Glenn Howerton admits he would change if he had it to do over). From there, the lyrics evolved into a fully-realized and highly bizarre musical finale to close out the fourth season in 2008 – proving to naysayers that the show was more than just 'shock comedy' and helping cement the series' seat at the 'Best Sitcom in Past 20 Years' table.
With the episode now reaching its tenth anniversary, Day (Charlie), Howerton (Dennis), Rob McElhenney (Mac), Kaitlin Olson (Dee), Danny DeVito (Frank), episode director Matt Shakman, and more sat down with GQ for an oral history on how the episode came to be, what it was like performing live, and why it still endures to this day. Here are a few of the highlights:
● The series has never blinked at going into some dangerous comedy territory during its now 13 season run; but for a show in its fourth season and unsure of its long-term future, doing a musical episode that comedically blurs the line between 'a boy's coming of age story' and story about pedophilia and rape was a major risk – but it's a risk that Day and Olson feel the show handles seriously:
'Any time we deal with that kind of subject matter, I like to think it's coming from a more intelligent place. A rape joke is not remotely a funny thing; a man writing a musical that he thinks is about self-empowerment, and not realizing that all his lyrics sound like they're about a child being molested, is a funny thing. The joke is coming from confusion and misunderstanding, which are classic tropes of all comedy.' – Day
'We look back at some of our past shows and wonder if we'd still be able to do that. I hope the answer is yes, because if you're paying attention, we're pretty good people with fairly liberal views on things. We're making a social commentary.' – Olson
'The Nightman Cometh' Is It's Always Sunny At Its Best | 25YL
● Thankfully, the cast's musical experience made the creative process of shaping the episode a little easier. Well, almost everyone had musical experience:
'I'm not musically inclined in any way, shape, or form. Ccleaner ios 11. But Charlie is an incredible musician, so he and [composer] Cormac Bluestone wrote the majority of the music. In terms of lyrics, we all had a hand in them. But Charlie definitely took the lead.' – McElhenney
● In an episode overflowing with great moments, some of the best were the quieter ones with Gladys (Mae LaBorde) and her continued confusion over what exactly she was playing piano for. Cs5.5 block adobe activation. Day and Shakman fondly remembered what it was like working with the actress, and it's safe to say she was more of an 'improv actor' than they were expecting – and may have been a 'first' for Shakman:
'They would say 'action' and she was just, like, talking. She would tell us that we're all wonderful, beautiful people and she was happy to be there. Which was really charming but also very funny, because she had lines and she wasn't saying them.' – Day
'When you get to be as old as she was, you can do whatever you want… Just getting the lines out was very difficult. I remember being backstage with her, talking about Calvin Coolidge, she just went on for so long. It might've been the longest scene I've ever shot for Sunny.' – Shakman
● An invitation by longtime friend and musician Don McCloskey to perform with him on stage at West Hollywood's Troubadour would lead the cast to take 'The Nightman Cometh' on the road for a mini-tour of six cities: New York, L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and Philadelphia. For DeVito, it was an opportunity to come home and perform where his career first started; for Olson, the shows gave her and the rest of the cast a true understanding of how strong and loyal their fanbase was:
'We played the Beacon Theatre in New York, where I once saw Bob Marley play in the early '70s. Vuescan 9 6 30 – scanner software with advanced features. I lived on 89th Street when I was starting out, so this was my home turf. I invited everybody I could think of to come. Some of my friends came backstage; they were like deer in headlights. They had no idea what was going on.' – DeVito
'It really gave us our first insight into just how many fans we had. Because we were basically being told: Nobody's watching the show but FX likes it, so that's why you're still on the air. We weren't having huge ratings, but we had a big fan base. And those people traveled and packed those theaters.' – Olson
● So why has the episode not only endured but actually grown in pop culture urban legend status? For McElhenney, it's that they were able to do something different that dived a little bit into 'the feels' while still staying true to the heart and spirit of the series: Topaz denoise 6.
'Ultimately, in a show that is so inherently profane—and the characters are so difficult and hard to watch at times—the ending of that particular episode was very sweet. You find out that Charlie's doing the whole thing because he's in love with somebody and he's asking her to marry him. Of course, the Sunny version of that is that the relationship is exceptionally unhealthy and that she says no, but I think his motivation comes from a really sweet place. So that buys us a lot in the episode. Also, like it or hate it, we've always strived to do something that nobody else is doing, and I think some people respond to that. It just feels very specific to us and to the show.' – McElhenney
List Of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Episodes - Wikipedia
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