Charlie Day Also Hates ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s HD Look
Paddy’s Pub is a sight best seen in low resolution.
On an episode of the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Charlie Day told host Ted Danson that he “can’t stand” It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s high-definition set-up, and admitted that he preferred the show’s look before it upgraded to HD in Season Six.
“We got these cheap little cameras, it was called a Panasonic AG-DVX100A, and we shot it ourselves,” Day remembered of the show’s DIY beginnings.
Don't Miss
Always Sunny’s “loose and handheld” style wasn’t polished, but it was more than good enough for what Day and his co-creators Rob Mac and Glenn Howerton were trying to achieve. “We were not attempting to make it look like Cheers; we were not attempting to make it look like Friends,” he explained, citing Curb Your Enthusiasm and the British version of The Office as inspiration for Always Sunny’s “natural, cheap” aesthetic. “At best, maybe it could look like a Waiting for Guffman or something.”
Two decades later, The Gang has mastered their own version of the mockmentary-style sitcom. The only thing that’s changed, much to Day’s chagrin, is the show’s definition. “We still shoot on those cameras,” he said. “(But) we have the HD version, which I can’t stand.”
Fans have long complained about Always Sunny’s 2010 switch to HD, arguing that these higher-resolution cameras have stripped away some of the show’s signature charm. “The show felt more authentic when the cameras were SD and the lighting was dark & dingy,” one fan wrote on the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia subreddit. “The UHD cameras and super brightly-lit sets make it feel phony.”
“It feels very rigid and less fluid than it used to,” another poster commented on a similar thread about Always Sunny’s HD transition.
And now that’s just not in the eye of the beholder, but Day, too.
