Putting the Hump in Humpday: "Literacy is Sexy and so is Charlie Day" edition

In 2005, my good friends Scooter & Todd insisted I watch FX's Thursday night show, 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia', which centers around four friends in their late 20s who run an Irish dive bar, "Paddy's Pub," in South Philly. They've never steered me wrong, so I made sure to catch the very next episode. It was so absurdly funny that I bought the DVDs of the first 2 seasons when they came out. The show was created & is written by the 3 main male characters, which means that not only are they humpable because they're hilarious, but also because they're literate, and literacy is sexy. At least that's what the posters at my local library say.

Truth be told, both "my boo"* and I have raging crushes on the hotness that is Charlie Day, who plays Charlie Kelly. His frequent outbursts and one-liners slay me at least 10 times an episode. This is what the official IASIP Wikipedia page has to say about his character on the show:

Charlie is Mac's childhood friend and a co-owner of Paddy's. He is a volatile loser who displays little ability to cope with day-to-day problems. In addition, he lives in filth and frequently abuses inhalants. His apartment is often referred to by friends and acquaintances as a "shit hole." Throughout the show, Charlie shows signs of several learning disabilities, including dyslexia, and is often accused of being illiterate by other characters. All of the most tedious and disgusting tasks at the bar are called "Charlie Work", even when he is temporarily spared from performing them. He tends to squander the little money he earns from the bar on "bad investments." He has an extremely short fuse and is prone to Al Pacino-styled outbursts.

Mac and Dennis frequently manipulate him into tests of his fortitude, and consider him to be almost impossible to injure. Charlie has no success in dating, and harbors an unrequited crush on a cafe waitress. Despite his apparent lack of intelligence, Charlie is the most skilled musician in the group, even going so far as to imply that he is a savant, and is surprisingly adept at concocting elaborate plans to achieve his desires. He has a passion for dressing up in costumes and assuming other personas, even when there is no clear reason to continue. He spent the majority of his life without a father figure until the final episode of season two, when he finds out his father is actually Frank Reynolds. In the season three premiere Charlie's mother Bonnie reveals that Charlie was born after a botched attempt at an abortion in a back alley three months earlier.

Now that you have some insight into his character, you definitely need to see him in action (double-click on either play arrow if you have trouble with any of the following videos):

The perfect example of a Charlie Kelly outburst, in less than 30 seconds.


Still skeptical? Watch this clip from last season, which had me in tears (the good kind). Their song has become a cult classic in it's own right:


"Day Man, uh-ah-ahh! Fighter of the Night Man, uh-ah-ahh! Champion of the sun! You're a master of karate and friendship for everyone!"

If you search for "Day Man" on youtube, you'll find many videos of bands doing their own cover versions. I suspect their song delivery might have been inspired (and rightly so) by THIS classic Queen performance.


If all of that STILL hasn't piqued your interest (what's it gonna take?), it should be noted that Danny DeVito stars in the show, and that adorable little limoncello-loving bundle of fun should be reason enough for you to tune in:


In a move of marketing genius, he later capitalized on this drunken appearance and created his own limoncello.


FX is currently airing season 4 on Thursday nights at 10 (Eastern), and is the funniest/most twisted show on TV. The writing will offend everyone, and in my mind that is a good thing. Anything that can make you think and make you laugh at the same time usually creates a dialogue, and what's better than a good conversation? Okay, besides getting Charlie Day drunk on Danny DeVito's limoncello and then making out (with Charlie, not Danny).


*We feel about each other just like AC feels about DB!

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Click HERE to read previous Humpday posts.