Gilligan’s Island, Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – Brilliant Interchangeable Nothing

Gilligan’s Island, Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – Brilliant Interchangeable Nothing

            Seinfeld is often called the show about nothing.  Depending on how you define nothing, Seinfeld is about nothing or common, everyday interactions which are so routine they feel like nothing of any note.  Perhaps the fact that Seinfeld existed in the realm of everyday routine made it relatable to many people, and the fact that at its absolute core, comedy, is universal.  A viewer didn’t have to live in New York, have been to New York, or even heard of New York in order to understand the humor and the characters.  One could take Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, and George and put them in virtual any city or setting and the basics of the show could continue without any meaningful change or interruption, which at its core, is what makes Seinfeld timeless and a classic years from now.

          

  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is often described as Seinfeld on crack, which is not a terribly inaccurate characterization.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia engages with taboo topics more frequently, bluntly, and provocatively than Seinfeld, but at its core it is still about nothing extraordinary.  One can easily imagine the Always Sunny cast having the same interactions in another city or another setting.  The characters are responding to interactions people have every day and then taking them to illogical extremes.  Their responses to every day interactions and slights are so extreme they are absurd.  At its heart It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is pointing out the absurdity in everyday life by taking them to illogical extremes.  Seinfeld also pointed out the absurdity in everyday life as well by their characters caring so much about the implications of everyday interactions which, in the grand scheme of life, are meaningless. 

            But the original show about ‘nothing’ is Gilligan’s Island.  While set on a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean and ostensibly about the adventures of the castaways trying to get off the tropical island, Gilligan’s Island was really about everyday routine tasks and errands.  The everyday routine tasks of their castaways were not fundamentally different than the tasks performed by anyone else around the United States or the world every day, with the exception that the everyday tasks on Gilligan’s Island occurred on a tropical island.  The setting was exotic, but not central to the story.  The fact that these everyday tasks were happening on a tropical island only serves to point out the absurdity.  The castaways’ conflicts with each other over food on the island and who would do essentially chores on the island are the same conflicts that occur between family members and between friends.  If the Gilligan’s Island castaways had been in New York, the basic conflicts of the show would be virtually the same.  The castaways conversations sitting around their table in the morning and having their day interrupted by news on the radio of something inconsequential happening in the United States that didn’t affect them could easily have been Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer sitting in the coffee shop and overhearing a conversation from another customer that didn’t affect them at all and then having that comment absurdly influence their actions in the same way a stock report could influence how Mr. Howl treated the other castaways.  Seinfeld could have taken place on the same tropical island as Gilligan’s Island.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia could easily take place on a tropical island without a significant change to the characters.  In fact the absurdity of the tropical island would lend well to the absurd illogical extensions the Always Sunny characters go down.

            Gilligan’s Island is a timeless classic along with Seinfeld and most likely It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, albeit on a cult level.  Each show achieves this by pointing out the absurdity in the everyday life and routine and turning that absurdity into comedy.