The fifth season of the American comedy television series ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Charlie ...

'' premiered on FX on September 17, 2009. The season contains 12 episodes and concluded airing on December 10, 2009. Beginning with this season, the episode's aspect ratio was changed from 4:3 to 16:9.

Season synopsis

This season sees the gang tackling the global recession in their own selfish, clueless ways, by exploiting the mortgage crisis and taking advantage of the ''nouveau pauvre'' homeless people living outside the bar thanks to the

2008 recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

to growing the bar's brand by selling merchandise. The gang also follow up on last season's musical episode by putting on a wrestling show for American troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq, with Frank also dresses up as a trash man for his wrestling-for-the-troops persona. In their dating lives, The Waitress announces her upcoming wedding, which sends Dee into a panic while Mac and Dennis introduce Charlie to online dating to get his mind off the fact that his days of stalking The Waitress are over once she says, "I do." Dennis introduces the gang to his manipulative guide to scoring with women, while Dee has an online relationship with a soldier who turns out to be a wheelchair user. This season also sees Frank becoming more self-destructive and worried over his mortality: becomes a slobbering drunk, attempts to hang himself after losing all his money, has sex with Artemis (the strange actress from Sweet Dee's acting class), and tries to sleep with the same women as Dennis...after Mac has had his shot at them. The gang then decide to take a trip to the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

as part of an item on Frank's bucket list—but the trip ends before it can begin after several unfortunate events. The gang then gets their taste of Hollywood stardom when M. Night Shyamalan films his latest movie in Philadelphia, wreak havoc at the

2009 World Series The 2009 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2009 season. As the 105th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff contested between the Philadelphia Phillies, champions of the National Leag ...

, and reignite a rivalry started ten years ago at a popular drinking contest.

Cast

Main cast

Charlie Day Charles Peckham Day (born February 9, 1976) is an American actor, writer, producer and podcaster. He is best known for playing Charlie Kelly on the FX comedy ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present), which he co-created with Rob M ...

as Charlie Kelly *

Glenn Howerton Glenn Franklin Howerton III (born April 13, 1976) is an American actor, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for the long-running dark satirical comedy ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present) on FX/FXX, a show he co-created ...

Dennis Reynolds Dennis Reynolds is a fictional character on the FX series ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present), portrayed by Glenn Howerton, and created by Rob McElhenney, Howerton, and Charlie Day. He is the co-owner of Paddy's Pub, alongside ...

Rob McElhenney Robert McElhenney III (; born April 14, 1977) is an American actor, producer, writer, podcaster and co-owner of Wrexham A.F.C. He is best known for his role as Ronald "Mac" McDonald on the FX/FXX comedy series ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelph ...

as Mac *

Kaitlin Olson Kaitlin Willow Olson (born August 18, 1975) is an American actress. She began her career in The Sunday Company at the Groundlings, an improvisational theatre and school in Los Angeles, California. She had minor roles in several television series ...

as Dee Reynolds *

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...

as Frank Reynolds

Recurring cast

Mary Elizabeth Ellis Mary Elizabeth Ellis (born May 11, 1979) is an American actress, best known for her recurring roles as The Waitress on the FX comedy ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present), Nick's ex-girlfriend Caroline in the Fox sitcom ''New G ...

The Waitress ''The Waitress'' is the second album by folk singer-songwriter Jonathan Byrd. The album was released in 2003, the same year that Byrd won the New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival. ''The Waitress'' reached No. 20 on the Folk Ra ...

David Hornsby David Alan Hornsby (born December 1, 1975) is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for a recurring role as defrocked priest Matthew "Rickety Cricket" Mara on the FX comedy series ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', f ...

as Rickety Cricket *

Artemis Pebdani Artemis Pebdani (born August 2, 1977) is an American actress, best known for her roles as Susan Ross on ''Scandal'', Artemis on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' and Gramma Alice on ''Big City Greens''. Early life Pebdani was born and raised ...

as Artemis *

Travis Schuldt Travis Schuldt (born September 18, 1974)"Catching up with....Travis Schuldt." ''Soap Opera Digest''. August 12, 2013. p. 63. is an American actor. He originated the role of Ethan Winthrop on ''Passions'', and played the recurring roles of Keith D ...

as Ben The Soldier *

Lynne Marie Stewart Lynne Marie Stewart (born December 14, 1946) is an American actress, best known for her performance as Miss Yvonne, the Most Beautiful Woman in Puppet Land. She originated the role in the 1981 stage show ''The Pee-wee Herman Show'', continuing it ...

as Bonnie Kelly *

Sandy Martin Sandy Martin is an American actress, playwright, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles in the film ''Napoleon Dynamite'' and the TV series ''Big Love'', ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', and ''Ray Donovan''. Career Martin ...

as Mrs. Mac *

Brian Unger Brian Douglas Unger (born 1965) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and commentator. Biography Born in Dayton, Ohio to Richard ("Rich") Unger and Eleanor ("Ellie") Oprea, Unger grew up in Granville, Ohio. He graduated from Granvill ...

as The Lawyer

Guest stars

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...

as Kate *

Ben Koldyke Benjamin Koldyke (born March 27, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Don Frank on ''How I Met Your Mother'' (2009–2010), Lee Standish in '' Work It'' (2012), and Greg Gibbon on '' Gortimer Gibbon's Life On Normal Street'' ( ...

as Sean *

P.J. Byrne Paul Jeffrey Byrne (born December 15, 1974) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as Nicky "Rugrat" Koskoff in the Martin Scorsese film '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013) and Bolin on Nickelodeon's animated s ...

as Tad *

Nora Dunn Nora Dunn (born April 29, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch variety TV series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990, Dr. Reynolds in ''The Nanny'' (1998-1999), and Muriel in ''Home Economics' ...

as Donna *

Mary Lynn Rajskub Mary Lynn Rajskub (; born June 22, 1971) is an American actress and comedian who is best known for portraying Chloe O'Brian in the action thriller series '' 24'', and the character Gail the Snail in ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''. Rajskub ...

as Gail the Snail *

Suzy Nakamura Suzy Nakamura (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress and improv comedian. She is known for her many guest appearances on sitcoms such as ''According to Jim'', ''Half and Half'', ''8 Simple Rules'', ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' and ''How I Me ...

as Tabitha *

Nick Wechsler Nick Wechsler may also refer to: * Nick Wechsler (actor) (born 1978), American actor * Nick Wechsler (film producer) (born 1949), American film producer {{Hndis, Wechsler, Nick ...

as Brad *

Nasim Pedrad Nassim ( ar, نسیم) also transliterated as Nacim, Naseem, Nasseem, Nasim, Nesim or Nessim, is a unisex Arabic name. It is mostly used in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures and language groups. It may refer to: Company *Nasim Sdn Bhd, a m ...

as Lucy *

Patricia Belcher Patricia Belcher (born 1954) is an American film, stage and television actress, known for her roles as Ms. Dabney in the Disney Channel sitcom ''Good Luck Charlie'', and as United States Attorney Caroline Julian in the FOX crime procedural c ...

as Judge *

Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for hi ...

as Da' Maniac *

Jill Latiano Jill Latiano Howerton (born September 17, 1980) is an American actress, model, dancer, documentary film producer and television personality. Career Latiano began her career in 1999 as a dancer for the New York Knicks. From 2003 to 2005, she wa ...

as Caylee *

Mae Laborde Mae Laborde (May 13, 1909 – January 9, 2012) was an American television and film actress, who began her career at the age of 93 and who was active until her death at age 102. She was best known for her appearances on ''Talkshow with Spike Fere ...

as Gladys *

Marshall Allman Marshall Scot Allman (born April 5, 1984) is an American actor. He is known to television audiences for his role as L. J. Burrows on the Fox television series '' Prison Break''. He is also known for playing Tommy Mickens on ''True Blood''. Earl ...

as Bezzy *

Noah Bean Noah Whipple Bean (born August 20, 1978) is an American actor best known for his roles as Ryan Fletcher on The CW action-thriller series ''Nikita'', as David Connor on the FX legal drama ''Damages'' and his leading performance in the independent ...

as Art Sloan *

Cody Kasch Cody Reed Kasch (born August 21, 1987) is an American actor. He is known for his role of Zach Young on the ABC comedy-drama series ''Desperate Housewives''. Early life Kasch was born in Santa Monica, California. He is of Scottish descent. He w ...

as Cheesefoot

Episodes

Reception

The fifth season received positive reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it has an approval rating of 94% with an average score of 8 out of 10 based on 17 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Gang comes to accept their rotten lot in life and ''It's Always Sunny'' settles into a morbidly pleasurable groove as a comedy of foiled dreams and dunderheaded schemes."

Home media

References

External links

* * {{It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 2009 American television seasons It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia