Lie Back Down

Submission 35,988

Part of a series on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. [View Related Entries]

About

Lie Back Down refers to a memorable scene from the American TV series It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia in which character Dennis looks at a woman lying in a lounge chair several rows away from him, with a woman lying between them misreading his interest as directed at her. The scene has since gained moderate popularity online as an oblect-labeling format.

Origin

On January 11th, 2017, episode two "The Gang Goes to a Water Park" of the twelfth season of American TV series It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia premiered in the United States.^[1] In one scene of the episode, character Dennis looks at a woman lying in a lounge chair several rows away from him. Another woman lying between them misinterprets his interest as directed at her and obstructs his view, with Dennis then telling her to "lie back down".

Spread

On January 17th, 2019, Redditor hero0fwar submitted GIFs based on the scene to /r/HighQualityGifs^[2] and /r/IASIP^[3] subreddits, with the /r/HighQualityGifs post gaining over 1,100 upvotes in six months.

On October 31st, 2019, Redditor dontfisheatotherfish posted a meme based on the format to /r/MemeEconomy subreddit (shown below, left),^[4] also linking a template in the comments.^[5] The post gained over 304 upvotes in six months. On the same day, Redditor shyamallama submitted a meme based on the format to /r/DunderMifflin subreddit, where it gained over 180 upvotes in six months (shown below, right).^[6]

The format did not see any further spread until March 2019, when an updated, three-panel version gained spread. For example, on March 16th, 2019, Redditor SodaSandwich posted one of the earliest new examples of the meme to /r/dankmemes subreddit, gaining 180 upvotes in one month.^[7] On March 18th, Redditor Mini_Knight posted a variation of the meme which received over 4,100 upvotes in one month.^[8]

In the following weeks, the updated version of the format gained moderate popularity on Reddit, with notable posts appearing in /r/IASIP,^[9] /r/PrequelMemes^[10] and other communities.