Yuks and Yucks
FX comedies test the taste threshold
You thought FX would play it safe when it came to comedy? Don't make me laugh.
The fearless network responsible for the twisted Nip/Tuck, the irreverent Rescue Me and the unnerving The Shield is going, where else, to extremes as it leaps into an even riskier world with back-to-back original comedies on Thursdays (at 10 pm/ET).
Leading off the hour, Starved is, um, hard to swallow and possibly FX's most appallingly offensive series ever. This is a dark and graphic meditation on lonely, tormented New Yorkers whose neuroses are manifested in eating disorders.
You might laugh at the antagonistic mantra of their support group — "It's not OK!" — but otherwise, it's the gag reflex that gets a real workout here. There is pathos, to be sure, but also skill, and it's hard not to admire the sometimes literal guts on display. Still, by the time the second episode reached its apex (nadir?) with a sight gag involving colonics, I was ready to purge myself of this deeply unpleasant show.
Much more conventional, but also wildly un-PC, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia a buddy comedy about three immature pals who operate an Irish bar. The off-color banter, raunchy bad-boy behavior and irresponsible schemes are sporadically amusing.
By FX standards, such as they are, Philadelphia is almost refreshingly unassuming. It doesn't try so hard to shock, so it ends up being much less trying to watch.
