The ANTI-Social Network

“The ANTI-Social Network”

Season Seven, Episode Eight

Writer

Charlie Day & Glenn Howerton

Director

Matt Shakman

Air Date

November 3, 2011

Images from “The ANTI-Social Network”
“The ANTI-Social Network” is the eighth episode of the seventh season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Synopsis

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While Dennis and Charlie track down an annoying shusher the old-fashioned way, Dee and Mac cyberstalk him. Frank is online as well, trying to boost business at the bar. Things go viral, and not in a good way.

Recap

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9:30 PM on a Saturday

The Gang visits a new bar Dee found via Facebook. They only serve gin drink out of mason jars. Charlie attributes the bar’s success to the fact that they are “too cool for a sign”. Mac attributes the success to Facebook. Their conversation escalates into a screaming fight and a patron shushes them. Taken aback, the gang agrees to develop a web presence.

Back at Paddy’s, Dee, Mac, and Frank agree to make a viral video to get their Facebook page more friends. Charlie enters with Paddy’s sign, having taken it down to make the bar more hip. Dennis enters and can only think about the rude guy that shushed him the previous night. Him and Charlie decide to go find him and head back to the gin bar. Seconds after they leave, Dee finds they guy on Facebook and she and Mac decide to find him on their own for payback.

Dennis and Charlie get no help from the gin bar’s bartender so they go to the police station and fake a rape report to get a sketch artist to draw his picture. Their ruse is revealed so they get a caricature drawn of him and take it back to the gin bar, where the bartender still can’t help them. They decide to print up wanted posters with the caricature, labeled “Rude Shushing Man Please Call” with Dennis’ phone number.

Dee and Mac track the rude man, Dylan, via his Facebook updates to a store. They find out it wasn’t his real profile but the fake profile of a jealous ex-girlfriend (who had never actually met Dylan in real life). She gives them his address. They go to the address where they find a woman named Catfish who faked the original Dylan online. Catfish had also scammed Dee online, getting her to send in a lock of her hair.

Everyone returns to Paddy’s to complain how they couldn’t find the rude shusher. Frank shows off his “virus video” which promises fake celebrity appearances and other benefits about Paddy’s. The video ends with Mantis Toboggan saying the video is a computer virus. The gang freaks out at Frank, blaming him for causing their web presence to fail.

Just when Dennis claims that the entire day has been a failure, the rude shusher man enters the bar, stating it was because they had no sign. Seeing the man doesn’t remember the group, Dennis welcomes him, and asks Charlie to lock all the exits.

Cast

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Starring

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Guest Starring

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• David Marciano as Detective Larson
• Rosalie Ward as Sally
• Luenell as Catfish

Co-Starring

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• John F. Beach as Rude Man
• Justin Dray as Allen (Bartender)
• Andrew Alexander as Portrait Artist

Trivia

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• Alternate title of this episode – “The Gang Gets Connected“.
• The entire episode is a parody of the 2010 documentary film “Catfish“.
• “Jailbreak Jenkins” by Christian Mondstein & Jo Part plays at the end of Frank’s “virus video”.
• Paddy’s Pub actually does have an official Facebook page, accessible from this link.
• During the scene at Tootie’s store, in the background you can hear a “Pink Deville” by Paul Rothman (from Soundtrack of the show).
• When first in the Gin Bar, The Gang complains there is no beer. But when Dennis and Charlie return to find the Shusher, several brands of beer are visible in a fridge near the entrance under a “Liquor To Go” sign.

• The idea of the shushing came from a real life experience with Glenn Howerton. Glenn, his wife Jill and another couple were in a restaurant in Italy and a man at another table felt they where speaking too loudly and in return turned and shushed them. Glenn just found the concept of a grown adult shushing someone instead of kindly asking them to talk quieter was hilarious.
• Charlie’s criticisms of social media are more humorous as his actor, Charlie Day, specifically stays off of sites such as Twitter.
• The scene with Dennis and Charlie describing the shusher to the police is possibly inspired by a similar scene in the Seinfeld episode “The Beard”. Specifically, both Charlie and Kramer describe their respective subjects with “almond eyes” and both groups use police sketch artists for irresponsible reasons.
• During the scene when Charlie and Dennis return to the gin bar to ask about the shusher, Dennis mentions that the shusher acted irresponsibly because he could be a man with zip ties and duct tape in his trunk. In the later episode “The High School Reunion Part 2: The Gang’s Revenge”, it’s revealed that Dennis does in fact have these things in his car.

Continuity

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Quotes

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Extended version of the “transgender situation”-scene (Season 7 promos):

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We didn’t think you were a man, per se…

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I did.

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— 

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“

Okay, I did, too.

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I did because of your hair.

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— 

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Here’s why – it’s the hair and it’s the cardigan, and it’s the build…

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Yeah, yeah… It’s the way you stand, and the broad shoulders.

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— 

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But that’s okay. That’s okay.

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There’s nothing you can do about that.

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— 

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The men, probably… like it.

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They’re both fine.

Have a nice day.”

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Goddamn, I hate gin! Dee… you bitch.

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Is anybody online the person

who they say that they are?!
”