"Frank Sets Sweet Dee on Fire" is the eighth episode of the third season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Synopsis[]
The gang go to great lengths to be famous: Mac, Charlie, and Frank attempt to become news reporters; Dennis and Dee try becoming club-hoppers.
Recap[]
6:00PM on a Wednesday
Dennis, Dee and Frank argue about the importance of newspapers. Mac barges in and turns on the TV for a news segment he quickly appears in. He gets upset his clip was cut so short so he and Charlie decide to make their own news show. Frank wants in and Dee warns him that people get hurt when he joins in their hijinks.
At Paddy’s Charlie tapes a flashlight to the camcorder and he and Mac decide to air their show on Public Access TV. Frank makes fun of public access so they turn it on to see a dancing guy. They try to turn it off but are temporarily mesmerized.
Dennis and Dee comment that it takes no skill to become famous anymore. Dee decides to attempt to become famous by appearing at clubs and Dennis comments she should accidentally leak some upskirts and nip slips, as he plans on becoming famous just for knowing her.
At a retirement home, Mac interviews an old woman who turns out to be racist. Frank suggests burning the retirement home down for excitement but Charlie suggests they go to Chinatown, where they bicker over what to film. Mac assumes a crowd is cheering on a martial arts display but it turns out to be Wii tennis. A spectator chokes on his gum and Mac punches him in the stomach, dislodging the gum. Mac and Frank are excited until Charlie tells them the camcorder has no tape. They decide to re-enact the heroic event.
Outside a popular night club Dee complains that the line is too long. She is already drunk so she passes out in a pile of garbage. The women in line next to Dennis offer him ecstasy and he dances at the club all night. The next night they go to the same club where Dennis suggests Dee talk down to the bouncer until he lets them in. Dee strongly insults the bouncer so he lets Dennis in and not her. He drops more E and dances with dancing guy from the public access TV show.
Outside the building next to Paddy’s Charlie pumps Mac up to run inside and rescue a box of kittens. Mac deduces they plan on setting the building on fire and refuses to do it. Dee walks up and they enlist her. When she’s inside Frank tosses in a match and she runs out on fire, and throws the box of kittens. Charlie, Mac and Frank refuse to use the footage because she threw the kittens so they decide to re-shoot it. They then watch dancing guy on public access TV again.
The next day they get Dee to rescue the same box of kittens at the bottom of the well. Frank lights it on fire again and Dee throws the box of kittens again. Dennis tells them she needs to be famous before anyone cares about her heroics so he takes her to the clubs where they drop E.
The next day at Paddy’s Mac, Charlie, and Frank are working on a “cat chopping contraption” for their news show when Dennis and Dee arrive hung over. They declare their interest in becoming famous over just as dancing guy comes on TV. They watch it and they all see Dennis and Dee dressed up as babies dancing with the dancing guy.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly
- Glenn Howerton as Dennis Reynolds
- Rob McElhenney as Mac
- Kaitlin Olson as Dee Reynolds
- Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds
Co-Starring[]
- Dick Bakalyan as Carl
- Pedro Lopez as Dancing Guy
- Brittany Paige as Club Girl #1
- Lillian Adams as Irvene
- Bill Seward as Reporter
- Alex Sol as Bouncer
Trivia[]
- After Mac saves a man from choking, Charlie explains that he hadn't put a VHS tape in the camera as he had forgotten to do it prior to taping the flashlight to the camcorder, and he didn't have much tape left. However, in the bar when is seen taping the camera, he finishes with a near-full roll of tape.
- When Charlie and Mac start talking about martial arts battles in Chinatown, they mention a guy with a straw hat shooting lightning bolts out of his hands who fights Kurt Russell. This is a reference to the villain, Lightning, from the movie Big Trouble in Little China.
- In Chinatown, Mac and Charlie talk about "Drifting" and "Tokyo Drifting", this is a reference to the 2006 film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
- The song played in the club is Friend by Maiolatesi DJ
- When Mac and Frank argue with Charlie about taking the tape out of the camera, Rob McElhenney visibly breaks character.
- The footage of Frank setting Dee on fire is re-used in the gang's Gun Shot video from "Paddy's Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens", albeit without the CGI flames.
- The first instance where Charlie and Mac see Diaper Time on Dancing Guy's public access show, they don't recognize Dennis as one of the people dancing in a baby costume.