It’s started to get to the point where “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is losing its credibility. I know, I know. It never really had any to begin with. But while most of the premises in the past have begun with some sort of reasonable jumping-off point, but these days it’s pretty ridiculous.

In “The Gang Gets Extreme,” Dee has explained principles of a self-help book she read to the guys. Each of them is making a “vision board,” which is basically a collage of things they wish to one day have or achieve. But when Dee explains that they need to do good deeds in order to get what they desire, the gang, inspired by Charlie’s aspiration to be like Ty Pennington, decide to do an Extreme Home Makeover on one of their neighbors.

They pick a Hispanic family, which they dub “The Jaurezes,” and break into their house at night playing loud music and screaming about how they’re going to destroy their house (thanks to Dee’s broken Spanish). After kidnapping the family, the gang gets to destroying and emptying the house.

After giving a disasterously creepy makeover to the wife and daughter, Dee considers her good deed done. Frank (of course) ends up waving his gun at them, while Charlie and Mac manage to lose all their belongings and equipment, rack up huge amounts of debt in Mr. Jaurez’s name, and, eventually, destroy the entire structure.

And in the comical, karmic twist ending, the Jaurez family ends up being given the mansion that Dee was set to inherit from her mother. No other charges stick, and the gang is free to continue being massive idiots.

As much as I like this show, the formula is getting a bit tired. They’ve obviously run out of reasonable things to do and are now just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. All I ask, really, is a setup that makes sense. It would take a truly insane person to do what the gang did in this episode, and it’s hard to get past that. Sure, they don’t think things through very well, but they usually think a little.

It’s no coincidence that the best episode this season hinged on a completely reasonable fear: that Mac’s criminal dad was going to track them down and kill them. The show’s so much better when the premise doesn’t make you shake your head and laugh disbelievingly.

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