Charlie Work

In the episode, Charlie struggles to get the bar ready for a surprise health inspection of Paddy's Pub as the rest of the Gang prepares a chicken-and-steaks airline mile scam.

He alerts Frank (Danny DeVito) and rushes to the bar, only to discover that the Gang is in the midst of an ill-timed airline mile scam involving steaks and live chickens.

Dennis (Glenn Howerton) is painting a sign for Carmine's: A Place for Steaks and Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and Mac (Rob McElhenney) are attempting to wrangle chickens for the fraudulent scheme.

To Dee's horror, it begins going off; Charlie explains that he blocks the vents to fill the basement with hazardous gases to clear out the rodents.

Charlie has Dee pretend Paddy's Pub is a real restaurant, orders Mac and Dennis to remove the Carmine's sign, and gets Frank to move the truck out of the way while the delivery man is distracted.

Charlie is excited about getting a passing grade, but the rest of the Gang reveals that they care more about the steak scheme than the health inspection.

"Some are simple–where we pan past the brick wall and hide the cut or go through a pool of darkness–or where we are more ambitious and use green screen (coming back into the bar from the basement for instance was a blend of a shot that panned into a green screen with a shot of the keg room that continued the motion)," Shakman further explained.

I wanted that to be the actual place so the audience wouldn't doubt the veracity when we used the stage set for later scenes: Charlie arguing with Dee about moving the dumpster and checking in with the inspector in the alley.

[6][7] "On a technical level, it's a marvel, as well as a creative look at the genuine odd jobs that Charlie does behind the scenes to protect his friends' livelihoods..." observed Rolling Stone's Noel Murray.

Club also praised the episode, saying that "Charlie Day's ability to let Charlie's demons peep through his excitable dialogue is one of Sunny's chief assets, and Day's performance here is pure exhilaration as he wrangles: crates of chickens, 4000 steaks, a clogged toilet, a disabled carbon monoxide detector, a hungry and confused truck driver, a repeatedly blown fuse, a painted Frank blowing a recorder, Mac grunting and apologizing at just the right time, and two separate carjackings to make everything turn out all right.

Charlie Day's Charlie Kelly is the central figure in "Charlie Work". Day also co-wrote the episode.