The series starts out pretty great: a group of 4 friends (including a pair of siblings) who work at a bar they own get embroiled in various unusual scenarios related to certain hot-button issues, mostly by their own doing, due to their varied quirks, low inhibitions and questionable sense of morality.

As season came after season, hardly anything remains of that solid foundation by the conclusion of Season 9, where I stopped watching (with 7 more seasons ahead of me). The character of Frank, who joins the gang on a permanent basis in Season 2, is too oddball not to take the series in a way more whimsical, less grounded direction. The gang's doings become increasingly more absurd, scattershot, moronic and villianous as time goes on; their characters grow from loveable exaggerations of some people we might know or even be to being the dumbest and most immoral people on the globe. Any sense of consequences is lost.

The series loses sight of its focus on hot-buttons issues, ups the dose of gross-out toilet humour and slowly devolves into a live-action Family-Guy-esque. Meanwhile, its attempt at maintaining continuity result both in an immovable status quo (that sinks a lot of episodes but boosts some others that try to mix things up) and in a vast roster of supporting characters, many of whom you'd think are too one-note to reappear or for anyone to care to see them again.

That degradation does not have a linear character, as Seasons 5 and 6 harken back to Season 1 (or even 2) every now and then, or try new things that land - but are promptly forgotten. And while good episodes can still be found later on, there's too much muck to rake through.

In the end, I've certainly enjoyed a lot of the series, and the acting is brilliant with amazing delivery for more than a few great lines; and a lot of the plots are very imaginative and truly hilarious - at a certain point, the diminishing returns have to be recognised however. The series just doesn't have fuel to last that long even without pulling the engine out on the go - but it's still screeching along, god knows why.

My ratings by season: S1: 6 S2: 5 S3: 4 S4: 4 S5: 5 S6: 6 S7: 3 S8: 4 S9: 3

Specials

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14

Season 15

Season 16