The Gang Gets Racist

"The Gang Gets Racist" is the first episode of the first season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Synopsis
Charlie and Mac try to prove that they are not racist after Charlie's crush overhears Charlie saying something offensive about African Americans. Meanwhile, Dee hires a black man from her acting class to boost business for Paddy's Pub—and ends up turning the pub into a gay bar.

Recap
12:45 A.M. - On a Thursday

Dee brings a friend from her acting class, Terrell, to Paddy's Pub as Charlie, Mac and Dennis are closing for the night. Over a number of drinks, Terrell describes his successes as a party promoter; often packing in hundreds of college students to his events. The next day, Charlie, Mac and Dennis discuss hiring Terrell as a promoter for Paddy's Pub at the local Coffee shop. While discussing it, The Waitress overhears Charlie repeating a racially charged quote that Terrell said the previous night.

Concerned with their non-diverse group of friends and recent accusations of racism, Charlie and Mac go to a nearby college campus at Temple University, to hopefully meet some new black friends. Mac fails, while Charlie fits in, and receives a phone number from one of the students, Janell, who shows interest in Charlie. Despite this, Charlie displays little mutual interest - believing that he and Mac should focus on befriending black men. Mac convinces Charlie to keep the phone number by proving that he is obsessed with The Waitress. Nevertheless, Charlie sees an opportunity to prove to the Waitress that he is not a racist. Charlie calls Janell and organizes a date, and takes her to the coffee shop, to try and prove to The Waitress that he is not racist. The Waitress informs Janell of Charlie's motivations, and Janell punches Charlie in the eye.

Terrell shows up at the bar with a crowd of people, bringing about Paddy's most successful night, ever. When they discover that Terrell has essentially transformed Paddy's into a gay bar, Dee and Mac begin to object with the new direction. Dennis and Charlie decide to have a vote to decide whether or not to continue with the new direction, ignoring Dee's vote because she is not actually an owner of the pub. Charlie and Dennis outvote Mac, because of the large profits, and because Dennis enjoys the attention he begins receiving from the new crowd, a little too much. In order to get the bar back to normal, Mac and Dee hatch a plan to change Charlie and Dennis' minds.

After closing hours, Mac tricks Dennis into continuously showing him the proper method of taking a tequila shot, getting Dennis to the point of being "blackout drunk"; Dee leaves to go find a few of her acting buddies. Dennis wakes up naked, next to a blonde man, and a black man coming out of his bathroom, and is appalled by the situation. Dennis storms back to the bar and informs the rest of the gang that he wants Paddy's to return to the way it was. While Dennis and Mac soon inform Terrell of their decision, Charlie remains defiant. During the discussion, Dee appears with Janell, who is revealed to be Terrell's sister.

Charlie insults Janell, and Mac makes an incredibly racist statement on accident, causing everyone in the room to become incredibly awkward. The episode ends with Mac and Dee counting the $114 they earned on a Saturday night - suggesting the bar is back to its normal and unsuccessful ways. While Mac thanks Dee for tricking Dennis into changing his mind, Dee informs him that she could not get in touch with her acting friends, and thus, Dennis' homosexual experiment was not staged.



Alliances

 * Charlie and Mac - They team up to meet black friends at a nearby college campus.
 * Mac and Dee - They form an alliance to convince Charlie and Dennis to revert the bar from a gay bar, by manipulating Dennis into sleeping with another man.

Starring

 * Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly
 * Glenn Howerton as Dennis Reynolds
 * Rob McElhenney as Mac
 * Kaitlin Olson as Dee Reynolds

Guest Starring

 * Mary Elizabeth Ellis as The Waitress
 * Malcolm Barrett as Terrell
 * Telisha Shaw as Janell



Co-Starring

 * Ian Mackinnon as Brett
 * Sheldon Candis as Damon
 * Ungenita Prevost as Karen
 * Aaron Hartzler as Handsome Guy
 * Jesse C. Boyd as Boy
 * Sydney 'Big Dawg' Colston as Large Man in Towel
 * George Weiss Vando as Guy
 * Montre Burton as Guy #2
 * Jon Cellini as Guy #3



Trivia

 * This episode is rated TV-MA-LS.
 * Only appearance of Mac&apos;s cousin Brett.
 * Charlie carries a photo of the waitress around in his wallet.
 * Societal issues addressed in this episode: racism, gay bars.
 * The signs in front of Paddy&apos;s bar are for Budweiser and Bud Light. The Gang is seen drinking Bud Light inside the bar.
 * As Mac and Charlie are wrestling over Charlie's wallet, the paper with the phone number falls out of Mac's pocket onto the ground, but in the next shot it's in Mac's hand behind the picture of the Waitress.
 * As this was the pilot, many of the sets were temporary locations that would change in later episodes. This includes the Waitress&apos; coffee shop and Dennis&apos; bed room.
 * When Dee is talking about her &apos;craziest dream last night&apos; and says "This guy was wearing a bunny suit" - this was most likely a reference for the movie "Donnie Darko", director&apos;s cut of which was released in 2004 (after it became a pretty popular and have earned a cult status).
 * This episode is the second pilot of the show, commissioned by FX after they saw the original pilot that Rob McElhenny, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton made independently. That original pilot was remade as the episode "Charlie Has Cancer" later in this season.

Quotes



 * : That's true. They do have "niggers" hanging from "rafters".
 * The Waitress: (overhearing Charlie) Coffee, Hitler? I'll be sure to put lots of cream in that for you.
 * : No, I'm not Adolf Hitler.




 * Dee: I had the craziest dream last night that I was in Cleveland, Ohio - which is really weird because I've never been to Ohio. And this guy was wearing a bunny suit, and he was coming out of...
 * Dennis: (interrupting her) You know what Dee, I don't want to hear about your dream, okay? I hate listening to people's dreams. It's like flipping through a stack of photographs. If I'm not in any of them, and nobody's having sex, I just... don't care.




 * Mac: Looking for a new hot spot to spot that stud? Well Paddy's Irish Pub will plug that hole.
 * : Well that's a good notice.
 * Mac: No, that is not a good notice. I don't want to be plugging anyone's holes.




 * Dee: You're not gay, you're just really, really, vain.




 * Dee: Can you get Dennis drunk on tequila? Like a lot of it. So much he might hurt himself.
 * Mac: Yeah, sure, no problem.




 * Terrell: Nothing scares gays and black folks like Irish crap.




 * Mac: Now, just to clarify when you say "sister" you mean...
 * Terrell: I mean my sister.
 * Mac: Yes, ok, this is great. Because earlier you were implying that I was racist because you thought that I was implying that all black people are related. And then it turns out that you people actually are!