"Paddy's Irish Pub will henceforth remain the hottest gay bar in Philadelphia"
— Charlie
Bartender and aspiring Broadway actress, Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds, hires a black man from her acting class to boost business for Paddy's Pub, the Irish-themed bar owned by her brother Dennis and his friends Mac and Charlie, only to inadvertently turn it it into a gay bar. Meanwhile, Mac and Charlie try to find a Token Black Friend after Charlie's unrequited love — an unnamed barista known as The Waitress — hears him repeat a quote from the new hire about "niggers hanging from the rafters" and takes that as a sign they're prejudiced against black people.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- All Gays Love Theatre: Dee can't believe that Tyrell is gay, but he comments that it should have been obvious, with him being a theatre major living in Philadelphia.
- Bedmate Reveal: After getting blackout drunk on tequila, Dennis is initially pleased to find what appears to be an attractive lady in his bed... until the "lady" turns around and we see that it's actually a man with long blonde hair. And then another man emerges and asks Dennis "how that ass is feeling".
- Camp Gay: Downplayed with Dee's friend Tyrell; he's not overly flamboyant, but he does have a few camp mannerisms. When Dee angrily demands to know why he didn't tell her he was gay, he points out that he's a theater director living in Philadelphia - he thought it was obvious.
- Camp Straight: Dennis dials this up to eleven when the bar's new gay patrons start flirting with him.
- Characterization Marches On: All four members of the gang are notably different from the characterizations they would eventually settle into:
- Dee is the Only Sane Man and by all accounts appears to be a sensible, well-meaning young woman. By the start of the second season, she ends up just as depraved and unstable as the guys.
- Mac is portrayed as fairly liberal and doesn't show any hints of repressed homosexuality (though he is the most vocally opposed to the idea of turning Paddy's into a gay bar), in contrast to the Armored Closet Gay Fundamentalist he would later become.
- Charlie is depicted as more of an Unlucky Everydude who happens to have a crush on this one coffee shop waitress, as opposed to the shrill, illiterate, and borderline psychotic Stalker with a Crush of later episodes.
- While Dennis is already described as being incredibly vain, his narcissism is nowhere near the delusional levels it reaches later in the series. He also comes across as the most normal and mentally stable member of the cast alongside Dee, while it later becomes apparent that the opposite is pretty much true.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Mac has a gay cousin, named Brett, who tells him that they have a popular gay bar now. After this episode, Brett is never seen or mentioned again.
- Contrived Coincidence: Janel, the college girl who Charlie goes on a date with, just happens to be Tyrell's sister.
- Cringe Comedy: The opening scene has the Gang placed in an awkward and uncomfortable situation that's Played for Laughs.
- Date Rape: Dennis on the receiving end for once, as he's so wasted he can barely talk or keep his head up, but two guys have sex with him anyway. The podcast for "Dennis Looks Like A Sex Offender" briefly mentions that Even Evil Has Standards, saying it wasn't Mac or Dee's intention to get him sexually assaulted.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: The gang does this constantly while trying to prove that they're not racist.
- Establishing Series Moment: The very first scene has Dennis, Mac and Charlie discussing the dismal amount of money they just made, before instantly making themselves out to be racists when Dee introduces them to Tyrell. Cue several seconds of awkward silence, then cut to title card. It pretty much sets the tone for the entire series and immediately lets you know what kind of show you're watching.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Dennis makes a killing in tips due to his popularity with the gay crowd - who refer to him as "the cute one", much to Dee's chagrin.
- Fag Hag: Tyrell accuses Dee of being "into gay dudes".
- Foreshadowing: Tyrell gets very close to Dennis and can be seen staring at him with a certain look in his eyes, immediately after recounting a story where he "tore [a man's] ass apart". Moreover, Dee leans in to kiss Tyrell, but he opts for a peck on the cheek before hugging Dennis.
- Gay Bar Reveal: An unusual example in that the reveal is done to the bar's owners.
- Gilligan Cut: Dee tells Tyrell that the guys aren't happy about Paddy's being a gay bar. Cut to Dennis and Charlie laughing hysterically and embracing each other as they count the night's takings.
- Hypocritical Humor: Mac repeatedly yelling at Charlie to "stop making a scene" after tackling him to the ground in public to steal his wallet.
- Incest Subtext: Starting right off the bat in the very first episode. Dee calls Dennis "pretty boy".
- Intoxication Ensues: At Dee's request, Mac gets Dennis blackout drunk on tequila so that the two of them can sabotage the gay bar.
- Mistaken for Racist: The Waitress comes over to take the guys' orders just in time to hear Charlie talking about "niggers hanging from the rafters". He's actually quoting Tyrell, who in turn was talking about how packed his events can get, but she doesn't believe him.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Tyrell regales the gang with the story of an intense encounter he had with another man, which ends with him taking the guy out to the alley and "tearing his ass apart". Mac, Dee and Charlie think he's talking about a fight, but only Dennis seems to realize that he means... something else.
- Product Placement: According to the official podcast, Budweiser signed on to be the official beer of the series but backed out after this episode aired, which resulted in Budweiser logos being digitally removed for the rest of the season.
- Same Race Means Related: The white Dee befriends a black man to try to get more customers for the pub and the white Charlie dates a black woman to prove to the waitress that he isn't racist; it turns out the two are brother and sister.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Charlie is so fixated on the Waitress that he initially throws away a cute girl's phone number without a second glance. Even after Mac persuades him to go on a date with her, he ends up taking her to the coffee shop and asks the Waitress out in front of her.
- Token Black Friend: Invoked; Mac and Charlie hit up the college campus in an attempt to find a black best friend after the Waitress overhears Charlie using the N-word out of context.
- Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: What Paddy's briefly becomes with Tyrell managing their promotions.
