"That's what we do. We yell at each other, and if people want to tune in and listen then they're welcome to."
— Dee
The gang tries to clean up their act and garner more mainstream appeal in the hopes of winning a Philadelphia Best Bar Award, but old habits die hard.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- Affectionate Parody: Through the central metaphor the episode pokes fun at many standard conventions of popular and even critically acclaimed shows, done with a knowing glance but freely admitting they understand why are so well liked. The end message of the episode was more along the lines of doing your own thing and letting people visit if they want to rather than catering to as large an audience as possible.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Dennis tries to enforce this between Mac and Dee in order to boost their popularity with the customers. Unfortunately, their dynamic is based more in mutual loathing and physical violence than any genuine sexual chemistry.Dennis: What are you doing?! This isn't "will they or won't they?" This is "I know they won't, and I know I don't want them to!"
- Better than Sex: Mac is supposed to recommend the bar's signature cocktail as "better than an orgasm" but fails to grasp the subtlety of the expression.Mac: I like to recommend to first-timers our signature cocktail, Caribbean Paradise. Some people say it's better than bustin' a nut!Customer: Excuse me?Mac: Busting a nut. It's like, uh, blowing your load... It's like, coming all over you. It's light, it's playful.
- Call-Back:
- Frank tries to present the owner of Sudz with an egg to use as a paperweight.
- Charlie once again composes a song with disturbing lyrics after getting high on spray paint.
- Mac again threatens to put his thumb through someone's eye.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mac reminds Dennis and Dee that he banged their mom.
- The gang are pleasantly surprised when Charlie manages to write a song that doesn't contain any rape references.
- Darker and Edgier: Frank invokes this almost word for word after visiting a burlesque club and becoming convinced that the gang need to take Paddy's in this direction in order to win.
- Designated Love Interest: In-universe, the gang attempts to set up Mac and Dee, despite the fact that the two have no chemistry and mostly despise each other.
- Excrement Statement: The chairman of the Bar and Restaurant Association claims that in previous years the gang have always returned the ballot entry form covered in "fecal matter, urine and racial slurs".
- Expository Theme Tune: Charlie writes one for the bar.There's a place for me, it's the place I go/Where the beer is cheap and the lights are low/It's Paddy's Pub/I like Paddy's Pub...
- Gaussian Girl: Played for laughs; Dee is made to stand under a bright spotlight to "soften her features" so that people will buy Mac being attracted to her.
- Gilligan Cut:Dennis: I wanna be very clear about something: this literally means nothing to me.(Cut to title card: 'The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award')
- Hidden Depths: Charlie managed to write a decent song for the bar that the gang thought was actually good.
- I Banged Your Mom: Mac's initial response to Dennis attempting some "lighthearted" banter:Mac: I'VE HAD ORGASMS! I'VE HAD TONS OF ORGASMS! I HAD ONE WITH YOUR MOM, DUDE!!
- Insult Backfire: Dee is actually pleased when Dennis states that he's going to slather her in makeup and shine a light on her in order to make her seem more attractive.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Dennis, Dee, Mac and the chairman of the Bar and Restaurant Association walk in on what appears to be Artemis penetrating Frank with a beer bottle.Frank: Don't judge me, this is art!
- It's Not Porn, It's Art: The subtext of the above quote, given that the entire episode is about creative works, Frank's scene introduced as the "more upscale" version.
- Kick the Dog: The rest of the gang still lock Charlie in the basement to keep him out of the way even after they admit that he did a good job with the song. This backfires when he gets high on spray paint and escapes.
- Laugh Track: The customers in Sudz act as one, laughing on cue at the bartenders' banter.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Pretty much the entire episode; in principle, it's about the gang lamenting the fact that Paddy's has never won a Best Bar award, but it's really about the show's creators hanging a massive lampshade on the fact that Sunny itself has never won an award,note with "bars" as a thinly-veiled stand-in for shows. Some more specific examples:
- Dennis comments that Paddy's is too "fringe" and has alienated many people in Philadelphia, referencing the show's dark humor and handling of taboo subjects.
- Frank attempts to guide the gang in making adjustments to win based on his greater experience, a reference to Danny Devito's long and award-studded career.
- The guys tell Dee not to make any jokes and just "look pretty" since people find funny women intimidating, alluding to Dee's original role as the Only Sane Man until Kaitlin Olson pushed for her to be as funny as the guys. This can also be seen as a Take That! to many other sitcoms and the industry in general, given the prevalence of the female Closer to Earth trope.
- Dennis tells Mac and Dee to get some sexual chemistry, something to which they both react with disgust. Their respective actors are married in real life.
- At one point Mac asks whether the bar's location could be the problem, until Dennis points out that a new bar that just opened across the street has already won a ton of awards.
- They go to an immensely popular bar called Sudz that is well lit, brightly colored, charming and likable staff with fruity drinks you're meant to share with friends. The group is disturbed by how cheery and friendly the environment is, only to get caught up the romantic banter of the staff and admit the drinks go down smooth.
- Lighter and Softer: The gang deliberately tries to invoke this after seeing how generic and inoffensive their competition is.
- Minority Show Ghetto: Discussed; Mac and Dennis are concerned that if they get too many black guys in people will think that they're a "black bar", and black bars don't win awards.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: For a given value of "hero". The rest of the Gang likes Charlie's theme song for Paddy's, but still elects to lock him in the basement anyway. Since there's nothing for him to do down there except huff paint and chemicals, Charlie ends up getting high on inhalants and composes a different song that's much less charming than his initial attempt.
- Not So Above It All: Dennis, Mac and Dee are initially confounded by the lighthearted cheesiness that is Sudz, but they soon find themselves enjoying the staff's banter and get drawn into Greg and Amanda's romance. Though admittedly this is after they've gotten considerably drunk.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: The Gang have returned their previous ballot entries covered in feces and racial slurs. They claim this was a joke.
- Precision F-Strike: In Charlie's revised song, which he performs for all the bar industry bigwigs:I just want to tell you all / Go fuck yourselves!
- Self-Deprecation: After talking with the manager at Sudz, Frank relays to the Gang the manager's feedback that he'd been to their bar and though it was "just a bunch of people yelling over each other," which is by far the most common criticism of the show from detractors.
- Shout-Out: Sudz is an obvious reference to Cheers and similar sitcoms that followed in its footsteps, with Greg and Amanda acting as a Sam and Diane-style Will They or Won't They? couple.
- Spiteful Spit:
- The gang all start spitting at the industry people at the end of the episode after realizing that they've ruined all hope of winning an award.
- The Gang, led by Dee, prepare to this to the bar association chairman until Frank calls them off.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Referenced when Mac threatens to "jizz" in a customer's drink.
- Take That!: Sudz is a corny, lighthearted, and inoffensive bar featuring a laugh track, bright lights, UST between two of the bartenders, a Token Black Friend, and one woman who isn't funny but is cute. It's a pretty clear Take That! to more wholesome, wide-appeal television. Though the show does directly display that the bar is much more popular than Paddy's.
- Take That, Audience!: In-universe, after escaping from the basement (and while clearly high on spray paint), Charlie takes to the piano and starts hammering out a song about spiders
that quickly devolves into this:Charlie: (singing) I don't need your troooophies or your gold, I just wanna tell you all: "Go fuck yoursellllves." (wails) Go fuck yoursellllves! (begins spitting; wails some more as the others begin spitting on the judges) Go fuck yoursellllves! I really need to tell you "Fuck you, motherfucker, I don't need you in my bar!" (wails to close out the song) - Token Black Friend: Lampshaded; the gang point out how strange it is that Sudz, the former best bar winner, has a single black employee who randomly pops up to make witty comments.
- Token Minority: Sudz has one, and the Gang spend a second wondering how weird it is that nobody seems to want to acknowledge it. Emulating them seems to be the only reason for the gang inviting Z to their relaunch, though Dennis muses that they should have gotten a "less threatening" black guy.
- Would Hit a Girl: Mac attempts to choke Dee after she insults his mother.
