You've definitely had this moment: You're out somewhere — having brunch, let's say — and for whatever reason, you wind up eavesdropping on the table behind you. You can't help it; they're loud. And over the course of however-many minutes, while your friend is in the bathroom or you're waiting for the check, you have that horrible realization: Substitute the names of some bars, some random hook ups and some jobs that this crew is talking about, and these friggin' people might as well be living your life. Not even might as well, though: I mean, look at them, they're doing it. There's really no need for you to be here at all. You're a modern urban redundancy. You're worse than a demographic — you're being trumped by people who, even though they might look it, probably aren't even as cool as you.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I am surprised to report, is a television show that is delightfully full of those You-Wear-Pumas-I-Wear-Sauconys moments, and as it happens, it's pretty funny, too. It's been a long time (never) since a TV show has tried to home in on the crude hungover existences of desperately-on-the-edge-of-failure Philadelphian underacheivers, so at the risk of damning the show with faint praise, I will say this: It beats the balls offa Hack. (Or even Amen, for that matter.)

Always Sunny follows the travails of four friends — in true Philly sausage-party style, three guys, one girl — as they run a bar, Paddy's, which I'll be damned if it isn't modeled on the Paddy's on Second and Race. (Trainspotters beware: Much of the show is shot in Philly, and the dialogue constantly references nearby locales — if the show weren't so well-written, it'd be enough just to cruise through and play "Hey, I Know Where That Is!") The show's creator, Rob McElhenney, stars as Mac, who's pretty much the straight man for the antics of Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and the apopleptic Charlie (Charlie Day), who nails the shrill Philly raspy-screamer guy as best as anyone on a sitcom on FX possibly could. The deal with these kids is that, well, they're kind of choads. They're obviously not thick-necked Tiki Bob's breederbots, but you can tell that there's lots of Beastie Boys and Helmet still lurking on the Paddy's jukebox. Always Sunny, if it has a fault, plays right into the notion of the stuck-in-the-'90s slackery Philly that freelancers for the Sunday Styles section of the Times seem to just love us for.

The trade-off, though, is all that time slacking provides plenty of time for Mac and the gang to come up with some pretty spot-on, and funny/true, dialogue. And it's here that the show shines: Always Sunny often aims for the Curb Your Enthusiasm-style jugular, and damn if it doesn't hit more than half the time. Two weeks ago, the dudes cruise an abortion rally for chicks, with obviously disastrous results; somewhere along the line, they also get a 10-year-old boy vomitously drunk. In last week's episode, they tried to not have sex with teenagers. This stuff really happens, people!

But I digress: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia shouldn't be this good. But I guess, at least for now, it is. They'll blow it, though: Philadelphians always do.

New episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia air on Tuesdays at 11 p.m. and are repeated on Thursdays and Mondays at 11 p.m. on FX.

Aug. 25-Sept. 8

Mad Money
Mon.-Fri., 6 and 9 p.m. and midnight, plus Fri., 4 a.m., CNBC
Have you seen this? Jim Cramer is like the Emeril of money! He's gonna take those capital gains and kick 'em up a notch! BAM!

Rescue Me
Fri., Aug. 26, 11 p.m. (repeat), Sun., Aug. 28, 10 p.m. (repeat) and Tue., Aug. 30, 10 p.m. (new), FX
Just when the entire world had given up on Denis Leary, he goes and makes a great show. If you haven't given this Leary-as-drunken-fireman vehicle a shot yet, maybe now, in those doggy dog days, might be a good idea.

MTV Video Awards
Sun. Aug. 28, 7 p.m., MTV
The trainwreckiest awards show in all of Trainwreckville is BACK! This time, with Diddy as the host, in Miami. I don't see any way this won't go off without a hitch.