lmao just watched it and yeah Jersey Shore is absolutely top-tier the one right after it was one of the worst episodes I've seen so far tho
Sweet Dee Gets Audited is great! 12 might be my favorite overall season of the show. 13 & 14 are the weak links for me
Dee's reaction to this cracks me up every time. "They're really great. The thing is, I didn't make YOU one". And Dennis politely yelling over the ocean "You're ingesting viscus chemicals and they're getting you high....you know what? Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter." After looking back at the episode list, I think this season might be one of the most quotable. Jersey Shore, Anti-Social, Gang Gets Trapped, Chardee MacDennis, Thundergun... Just those alone have some of the most memorable interactions.
Agreed! It feels like their most mainstream season, whereas you won't find anyone quoting much from season 8 (which is still great)
that was definitely not the strongest season but it improved a lot in the back half. every episode from Chardee MacDennis onwards got plenty of laughs out of me
The reveal of the dance at the end of The High School Reunion is the first time this show made me laugh so hard I had to pause it
I saw that coming but the execution was fucking flawless nonetheless I actually did that pause that episode to laugh, but it was when Cricket started screaming "I'VE SINNED I'VE SINNED" when his tunic gets ripped off - my god. Hornsby might be the funniest actor on this show
Get ready for season 8! A lot more grounded than most of season 7, but it is definitely where I draw a hard line of the show changing permanently. Basically starting with season 8, every single season has an episode or 2 that is completely self-referential. Sometimes it works great (The Gang Recycles Their Trash), and other times it can be pretty middling (Frank Falls Out the Window).
I'm definitely heavily anticipating it. 8 is one of the most heavily discussed seasons from everything I've seen online over the years I'm curious if the s7 finale was originally conceived as the series finale though? it felt very... conclusive with a bunch of guest stars/references going back to s1, finding out Mac's name and that last joke with Charlie almost getting with the waitress lol
Ooh, maybe. Definitely would have worked as a series finale. Season 8 was the first season I watched as it aired. Definitely continues the mean streak from season 7 imo, but there are some great episodes.
I've never really thought about that, but it would have made a pretty good finale. I can't remember which season it was, but the promotion videos had the gang getting blasted off into space, and I kind of thought they were insinuating it was the final season....until it went on for another 6 or so lol. Re: S8... I'd say that's the last one that really feels like classic Sunny to me, and then there's a little bit of a creative shift. After that point, the episodes get a little more creative (a lot of "special" episodes and really clever thematic episodes) but overall less quotable and "laugh out loud" funny, in my opinion. There are still TONS of absolutely great episodes from then on but also definitely more duds and a small handful of "filler" episodes. I'll be curious to see if you notice any substantial change in the show just binging it for the first time.
The Gang Dines Out is the best episode of the show s8s also got The Gang Gets Analyzed, Charlie and Dee Find Love, Charlie Rules the World
I agree with your assessment here! Season 9 definitely marks the show switching from character-driven episodes to premise-driven episodes. It allows them to flex some muscles though, and I think that seasons 9 and 12 are two of their best. The other thing the show does is stop adding to its own mythology. The last recurring characters added to the cast that I can think of are the Ponderosas, which happens in the first half of the show! There's a lot of self-referential episodes, lots of sequels, etc. Season 12 finally addresses this with the Mac stuff and with the two lightly serialized episodes at the end, but even those sorta get tossed aside in season 13 to deal with Glenn's barely-departure.
I never really thought of it in that way, but that's totally accurate. They lean much more on what's already been established as running jokes and also like to do callbacks a lot more at this point. Personally, I don't enjoy the episodes that are too self-referential which is generally why I feel like the second half of the show is just a step behind the first (but still amazing). It was really clever when they did "The Gang Recycles Their Trash", but after that the idea felt juuust a bit lazy (Clip Show episode, Frank Falls Out The Window, all of the sequel episodes, etc.)
Such a good episode! Agreed with this. For what it's worth, I have been looking through episode from the last few seasons and the Gugino's Waiter I believe was introduced with The Gang Dines Out in season 8, so that is an example of a newer recurring character. I don't think season 14 is a masterpiece by any means, but it does succeed only having two referential episodes and both of them mix up the formula enough to work. I'm very excited to see what they come up with for season 15! Very excited to for Rob to mix in what he's learned from Mythic Quest.