The combination of the different lighting and writing does make the last few seasons feel completely different. On the podcast they talk a lot about how little the budget was when they started and how most of the stuff they did “the wrong way.” I think now that all of them have had more experience in higher priced productions they’ve grown more accustomed to the traditional TV way of doing shows and it makes it feel less like sunny. I really enjoyed the Ireland season but most of the new seasons feel like they’re putting too much into each episode. In the past they may have come back to the same good joke several times in an episode and now they put in more different jokes and it makes the writing feel like a combination of one liners. Also the meta aspect of sunny is playing a lot more this season in particular. There have been so many obvious callbacks to previous episodes that it detracts from the current episode.

I’m four episodes into season 16 now and I’m kinda disappointed. Very few laugh out loud moments, the acting seems restrained. Uncle Jack’s vibe wasn’t at the same level of subtle creepiness and insecurity, he seems too confident and it kind of ruins his character for me. And there was something about the low-fi aesthetic (lower res, flat lighting) of earlier seasons that gave it a certain charm.

Hoping things get better from here.

First half is pretty good, second half is mostly criticism, with which I only partially agree.

Season 15 was great, and 16 has been pretty good so far!