Your Favorite Shows Lovingly Lampooned: TV Power Hour 2!

TV Power Hour is back for its second installment, now running at CSz Philadelphia. Opening in September, the show highlights improvised versions of The Gilmore Girls and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, presented by Philly’s top improvisers and directed by Emily Murphy and Tom England, respectively. We asked them the important questions about what CSz fans - or fans of the original television programs - can expect when they come check this out.

Emily Murphy is an improviser, writer, and artist based in Philly. They have performed sketch and improv comedy since 2019, including shows such as Best Medicine, The Mirror Zone, Incantation, and indie teams Just Friends, 6 Different People, and Gooses. Emily directed the Double Feature Season 4 show Dear Diary and was a cast member of Season 1 of the TV Power Hour show Improvised Sopranos. By day, Emily is a yoga teacher and trainer, so she really doesn’t care about being funny and would much rather everyone know how surprisingly strong she is.

Murphy has this to say about her half of TV Power Hour 2: “We are spoofing Gilmore Girls, which centers around the mother-daughter duo of Lorelai and Rory. It navigates what it means to grow up in every cycle of life from high school to grandparent. The show is anchored by the small town of Stars Hollow, which showcases a cast of kooky but lovable neighbors. I’m drawn to it because the characters are big personalities with very real flaws, who all care so much about each other or the smallest bit of change or gossip to happen in the town. No matter what it is, you’ll know how they feel about it.”

The cast is comprised of Chris Berg, Brendan Connors, Michael Curran, Alix Griffin, Susannah Holub, Liz Lenker, Dan Reed, and Matt Woodward. Devin Wachs is the Director Apprentice for the show.

Murphy’s favorite way of thinking about improv is, Okay, but why do we care?. She elaborates: “Every show I’ve seen that’s stuck with me has made me feel something more than laughter. I love improv that isn’t only silly and funny, but creates characters that are lovable and the audience can see a little bit of themselves or a friend in, albeit an exaggerated version. Gilmore Girls already lends itself to this premise as the characters are quirky, but it never takes away from the relationship dynamics that ground the witty, weird characters. Plus, it is always fun to poke fun at New England prep school culture.” Even in episodes that are less canon than the original source material, audiences will see silly and earnest portrayals of their favorite characters as they prep for a big event in Stars Hollow…maybe even as if they’re even sitting in the middle of a Stars Hollow Town Meeting led by Taylor Doose himself.

Our other director for the second half of TV Power Hour 2 is Tom England. He is a performer and screenwriter with over ten years of experience in Philadelphia improv.  While also being a regular player in ComedySportz, Tom has been seen in Hallmarkable and Off the Record: The Improvised Rock Musical, and is the creator and director of The Mirror Zone. Tom is a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Professional Program in Screenwriting, but don't worry - he won't ask you to read his screenplays (unless you really want to!).

England was asked why this show pardoy resonated with him, and he replied: “It’s Always Sunny has been on so it’s practically grown up with me. What’s nuts about it being on so long is you can really get a feel for what was happening culturally, historically based on when the episode is made. It also is the perfect love letter to Philadelphia — from Chase Utley letters to a birds Super Bowl — starting out as just little Easter eggs that only us true a Philadelphians would catch, to now shoving Philly so far down the nation’s throat they have to respect us.”

How do the antics of the original show translate to a live stage performance? The show’s goal of the Gang trying to solve something is perfect improv fodder. The entire set is an episode of It’s Always Sunny, from the episode title to what schemes our version of the gang will cook up to accomplish their mission. It also doesn’t hurt that we have almost 20 years of character backstory for all of the characters that we can tap into at any point.

The cast of It’s Always Sunny is comprised of Russ Bizaro, Jaime Chaifetz, Ronnie Clarkson, Solomon Hess, Katie Hewko-Dykes, Olivia Kram, and Meghan Mason,

Whether you’re a lifelong fan of It’s Always Sunny or someone who’s vaguely familiar, audiences will see this rockstar cast embody the depraved characters we love so much and truly try to solve a problem. Maybe it’s a problem with society, maybe just fixing a pothole on Sansom Street — either way audiences can get ready to laugh along with (and sometimes at) the gang as they inevitably get up to no good.

Hilarious whether you catch all of the easter egg references or are just checking it out with no frame of reference, tickets are available at this link. TV Power Hour 2 plays the third and fourth Fridays of every month through January 22, with a special Saturday performance on December 26 instead of the Friday holiday. Grab tickets now, BYOB, and catch TV Power Hour 2 before it goes!