''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

created by

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 Philadelp ...

and developed by McElhenney and

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 ...

that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later

FXX FXX is an American basic cable channel owned by the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is the partner channel of FX, with its programming focusing on original and acquired comedy series and fe ...

beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars

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 ...

, Howerton, McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson and

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 ...

. The series follows the exploits of "The Gang", a group of

narcissistic Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism exists on a co ...

sociopathic Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been ...

friends who run the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

dive bar A dive bar is typically a small, unglamorous, eclectic, old-style drinking establishment with inexpensive drinks; it may feature dim lighting, shabby or dated decor, neon beer signs, packaged beer sales, cash-only service, and a local clientele ...

Paddy's Pub in

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, but spend most of their free time drinking, scheming, arguing amongst themselves, and plotting elaborate cons against others (and at times each other) for personal benefit, financial gain, revenge, or simply out of boredom, while belittling, berating, and manipulating each other in the process at seemingly any opportunity. The 14th season concluded in November 2019, and was renewed for a 15th season in May 2020, which premiered on December 1, 2021. This resulted in it having more seasons than any other American live-action comedy series, replacing ''

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...

'', which ran for 14 seasons (435 episodes) between 1952 and 1966. In December 2020, the series was renewed for a total of four additional seasons, bringing it to 18 seasons. The show has received critical acclaim, with many lauding the cast performances and dark humor. It has amassed a large

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

Plot

Premise

The series follows a group of misfit, narcissistic sociopaths, referred to as "The Gang", who run a meager, unsuccessful

Irish bar The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

called Paddy's Pub in the neighborhood of

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...

Mac (Rob McElhenney), and bartender

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 ...

(Glenn Howerton), the three of whom also own Paddy's Pub, in addition to Dennis' twin sister Dee Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson), a struggling actress who works as a waitress there. In season 2, they are joined by

Frank Reynolds Frank James Reynolds (November 29, 1923 – July 20, 1983) was an American television journalist for CBS and ABC News. Reynolds was a New York–based anchor of the ''ABC Evening News'' from 1968 to 1970 and later was the Washington, D. ...

(Danny DeVito), an eccentric millionaire and the neglectful father of the Reynolds twins, who takes over most of the ownership of the bar. He soon becomes the financial catalyst for the Gang, often funding many of the Gang's over-complicated plots, while simultaneously succumbing to the brazen depravity of the group. Each member of The Gang exhibits unethical behavior and anti-social traits such as extreme selfishness, pathological dishonesty, narcissism, aggression, excessive drinking and substance abuse, unregulated emotions, cruelty, and absolutely no regard for the people around them, while also displaying acute codependency, stupidity, and a surprising lack of awareness of basic social norms. The comedy of the show emerges from these extreme character traits resulting in conflicts that lead The Gang into absurd, dark and painfully embarrassing situations, typically ending with them getting their comeuppance, but never learning their lesson. This allows the show to mine a variety of socio-political and economic issues for satire and dark humor, while keeping the characters in a state of relative stasis conducive to the long-running sitcom format. Episodes usually find The Gang hatching elaborate schemes and regularly conspiring, against both outsiders and one another, for personal gain, revenge, or simply schadenfreude. They habitually inflict physical and psychological pain on anyone who crosses their path, even each other, yet always return to the status quo at Paddy's Pub because they have alienated the rest of society and have only each other's company in the end.

Idiosyncrasies

The Gang has no sense of shame when attempting to get what they want and often engage in activities that others would find humiliating, disgusting, or shocking. Some of these situations include pretending to be disabled and becoming addicted to

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...

in order to qualify for

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

, attempted

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

waterboarding Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboard ...

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

, blackmail, stalking,

grave robbing Grave robbery, tomb robbing, or tomb raiding is the act of uncovering a grave, tomb or crypt to steal commodities. It is usually perpetrated to take and profit from valuable artefacts or personal property. A related act is body snatching, a term ...

, hiding naked inside a couch to eavesdrop on people, tricking a man into giving his daughter a lap dance, spiking a punch bowl at a wedding with bath salts, foraging naked in the sewers for rings and coins; impersonating police officers to extort civilians; creating a cult; secretly feeding someone their dead pet; plugging their open wounds with trash; setting a room full of people on fire and locking the door shut; taking out life insurance on a

suicidal person A suicidal person is one who is experiencing a personal suicide crisis; that is the person is attempting suicide, is seeking a means to die by suicide, or is contemplating suicide. Recognizing a suicidal person A suicidal person may exhibit certa ...

; and pretending to have

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

in order to get priority access to

water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other baref ...

rides. During the

Season 7 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

episode "The Gang Gets Trapped", in which The Gang breaks into a family's home and has to hide from them when they return, an angry monologue by Dennis captures the essence of The Gang's '' modus operandi'': Except for certain rare occasions, Paddy's Pub does not do well financially. There are often only a few customers inside at a time, if any, and those present sometimes "appear to be serving themselves." Passersby avoid the bar because of the numerous stabbings that have occurred there. The Gang has been known to close Paddy's for extended periods without warning. When the bar is open, they shirk their respective jobs' responsibilities and choose to drink instead. Paddy's is only able to stay in business because of Frank's financial backing, government bailouts and tax fraud. In addition, money is saved through paying Dee less than minimum wage, and, at one point, "getting some slaves."

Cast and characters

The show features a core cast of five characters (The Gang) and a recurring cast of colorful side characters, including the Waitress, Cricket, the McPoyles, the Ponderosas, the Lawyer and various family members like Mrs Kelly, Mrs Mac and Uncle Jack Kelly, who cross paths and interact with the Gang in increasingly unhinged ways as the show progresses.

Main

as Charlie Kelly, co-owner and janitor of Paddy's Pub. He is a childhood friend of Mac, and high school friend of Dennis and Dee. He lives in squalor with Frank in a run-down, vermin-infested apartment, and has deep-seated psychological problems, partly due to substance abuse from huffing paint and glue, and partly due to his complicated family background possibly involving child abuse. He has an extensive history of pica and regularly eats various items not meant for human consumption, such as cat food, stickers, paint, and bleach. Due to his general lack of intelligence and his illiteracy, he is arguably the simplest member of The Gang. Despite this, Charlie is a naturally gifted musician, a self-proclaimed expert in "bird law" and possibly the only competent worker at Paddy's with his knack for unorthodox maintenance practices ("

Charlie Work "Charlie Work" is the fourth episode of the tenth season of the American television sitcom ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''. Featuring an uninterrupted ten-minute long shot, the episode garnered critical acclaim from critics and fans and is ...

"). He also has an unhealthy obsession with "

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 ...

", a recurring character who finds his interest in her creepy. *

, co-owner and the main bartender of Paddy's Pub, in addition to being Dee's twin brother and Frank's son. Originally the most intelligent and normal-seeming of the three co-owners, Dennis is slowly revealed to be the most narcissistic and psychopathic of The Gang. Dennis is extremely superficial, selfish, vain and abrasive. His predatory nature is often depicted through numerous attempts to seduce various women; which, when successful, result in him

gaslighting Gaslighting is a colloquialism, loosely defined as manipulating someone so as to make them question their own reality. The term derives from the title of the 1944 American film '' Gaslight'', which was based on the 1938 British theatre play '' G ...

and emotionally abusing them in order to win over their favor before inevitably dumping them once he has had sex with them (" The D.E.N.N.I.S. System"). It is strongly hinted at times that Dennis may secretly be a

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

, though this remains ambiguous as a running gag. In season 10, he is diagnosed with

borderline personality disorder Borderline personality disorder (BPD), also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), is a personality disorder characterized by a long-term pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, distorted sense of self, and strong ...

, though he frequently denies this and believes himself to be completely rational, and is convinced that he is in complete control of everything and everyone around him, going as far as to label himself a 'golden god'. In the season 12 finale, Dennis reveals to the rest of the gang that he has an infant son, and moves to North Dakota to raise him. He returns to Philadelphia in season 13, supposedly supporting his family from a distance. *

as Ronald "Mac" McDonald, co-owner and self-proclaimed bouncer of Paddy's Pub. He is Charlie's childhood friend and Dennis's high school friend. The son of a convicted felon who has been in prison for much of Mac's life, he frequently attempts to demonstrate his toughness and refers to himself as the "sheriff of Paddy's". Deeply insecure, Mac constantly seeks the approval of those around him, especially his father, his apathetic and emotionally absent mother, and Dennis, his roommate. He suffers from extreme bouts of body dysmorphia, and has been depicted at various weights throughout the course of the series: prior to the beginning of Season 7, he gained and was diagnosed with

Type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...

, and when he finally returned to a healthy weight in the following season, he admitted he misses being fat, as he believed he had come across as "scary" to people. In Season 13, he is noticeably fit and physically stronger, though it is quickly revealed his motives for attaining his shape was strictly due to his intense desire for acceptance from the rest of the Gang. He often brags about his hand-to-hand combat skills, but typically flees from physical confrontation and is usually depicted as the most cowardly of the gang. Mac is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, though he often espouses strong

Christian fundamentalist Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and ...

opinions, despite his often amoral behavior, such as casual sex with numerous women, including Dennis's and Dee's mother. Though it is frequently insinuated Mac harbors homosexual feelings, he maintained an adamant denial of any such proclivity, much to the gang's annoyance, until he

comes out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

in season 12. Later episodes reveal that Mac is sexually attracted to his best friend, Dennis. * Kaitlin Olson as Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds, waitress and sometimes bartender at Paddy's Pub, as well as Dennis's twin sister and Frank's daughter. Though initially depicted as The Gang's 'the voice of reason' in the debut season, she gradually loses any sense of moral fortitude that she once had, and is frequently shown to be just as prejudiced and depraved as her male friends by the end of season 1, arguably becoming the most petty member of the group, often plotting against others whom she deems more successful than herself in a vain effort to boost her own image. Dee wore a back brace in high school, leaving her with the nickname "The Aluminum Monster", and she is frequently referred to by the gang as a bird. Dee lives alone in an apartment. Though often the butt of the gang's jokes, she frequently involves herself in their schemes, perhaps due to her constant need for approval and attention from her peers. She does not hold any ownership stake in the bar - perhaps due to the gang's various prejudices against her, but also in part to her desire to become a professional actress/comedian (an ambition she consistently fails to achieve due to her debilitating stage fright and her general lack of any apparent talent). In multiple episodes, it is referenced that Dee set her college roommate on fire, and is often portrayed as the most physically violent of the group. Despite expressing outward disgust at her brother's more predatory behavior, later episodes reveal Dee not to be above such behavior herself. *

, father of Dennis and Dee Reynolds, and the majority owner of Paddy's Pub soon after his introduction in season 2 onward. Frank is a millionaire and often funds and enables The Gang's worst schemes and impulses, just to feel a sense of youthfulness and energy. He was once a successful businessman with a long history of illegal operations and dealings with sordid characters, but chooses to abandon that life and redeem himself after leaving his "whore wife", Barbara Reynolds. It is revealed at the end of season 2 that Dennis and Dee are products of an affair and not actually his biological children. He has since embraced his "feral" nature and describes himself as "fringe class". Despite his substantial financial resources, he chooses to share a decrepit studio apartment with Charlie, where they sleep together on a pullout couch and have a surprisingly affectionate pseudo-father/son relationship. The two have similar interests, such as playing the inexplicable game of Night Crawlers and foraging naked in sewers for valuables. He always arms himself with at least one loaded handgun and does not hesitate to brandish or even discharge one when provoked, and often snorts cocaine as part of his daily routine.

Production

, and

first met each other while auditioning for ''

Tuck Everlasting ''Tuck Everlasting'' is an American children's novel about immortality written by Natalie Babbitt and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1975. It has sold over 5 million copies and has been called a classic of modern children's literature ...

'' and other projects in New York City and, later, in Los Angeles — they were going up for similar parts, moved to Los Angeles around the same time and even had the same manager Nick Frenkel. Day and Howerton, notably, got to know each other on a car ride back from testing for ''

That '80s Show ''That '80s Show'' is an American television sitcom set in 1984 that aired from January to May 2002 on Fox. Even though it had a similar name, show structure, and many of the same writers and production staff, it was not a direct spin-off of ...

'' in late 2001, when Howerton was cast as Corey Howard and Day did not get the part of his best friend. While living in New York, Day had been making comedic home movies with

Jimmi Simpson Jimmi Simpson (born November 21, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his work on television, which includes recurring roles as Liam McPoyle on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–2013), Lyle the Intern on ''The Late Show ...

Nate Mooney Nate Mooney (born January 26, 1972) is an American actor best known for his recurring role as Ryan McPoyle on the FX comedy series ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''. Career He appeared on various television series, including ''Breakout Ki ...

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 ...

and

Logan Marshall-Green Logan Marshall-Green (born November 1, 1976) is an American actor and director. He is known for his roles in the television series ''24 (TV series), 24'', ''The O.C.'', ''Traveler (2007 TV series), Traveler'', ''Dark Blue (TV series), Dark Blue' ...

, his friends from the Williamstown Theatre Festival, many of whom would later go on to be involved with ''Sunny'', which inspired McElhenney and Howerton to want to make short films of their own with him. McElhenney, in particular, had been writing screenplays between jobs and since none of them were picked up, decided to shoot them himself with Howerton, Day and other actor friends. The decision to make their own short films was further influenced by the release of the affordable Panasonic DVX100A digital camera as well as the accessible, low-budget look of ''The Office'' (UK) and ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

''. ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' grew out of an idea for a short film conceived late one night by McElhenney "where a friend came over to another friend's house to get sugar, and the friend tells him he has cancer, and all the guy can think about is getting his sugar and getting out of there." He wrote the scene down before taking it to Howerton the next day to flesh it out and work on making it comedic. Day was soon roped in and the first script was written, featuring three struggling actors in LA named Charlie, Glenn and Mac, and the ensuing awkwardness around Charlie's cancer diagnosis. The home movies were shot and reshot multiple times, initially with Hornsby playing the Mac character and McElhenney behind the camera as director. It was via this process that McElhenney, Day and Howerton learnt the basics of shooting, editing and other aspects of film-making. The three then developed a second "episode" of their home movie series, this time focused on the cringe humor from Mac's sense of shame around his relationship with Carmen, a transgender woman. At this point, it became clear that the home movies had potential as a television series, instead of the short films they were envisioned as originally. Both parts would eventually end up in the episode " Charlie Has Cancer". The home movie was titled ''It's Always Sunny on TV'' after the

a-ha A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ...

song " The Sun Always Shines on T.V.". Howerton had been listening to the album ''

Hunting High and Low ''Hunting High and Low'' is the debut studio album by Norwegian new wave band A-ha, released on 1 June 1985 in the United States and 28 October 1985 in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, reachin ...

'' (1985) while stretching at a Crunch gym in West Hollywood. It was later changed to reflect that, in the unaired pilot, the gang had been rewritten as bar owners in Philadelphia, instead of actors in LA. This was then developed into a pilot called ''It's Always Sunny on TV'' and was shot on a

digital camcorder A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video camera, video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right s ...

and filmed in the actors' own apartments. They expanded the central cast to four people living in Los Angeles, "a group of best friends who care so little for each other", Howerton said. It was believed the pilot was shot with a budget of just $200, but Day would later comment, "We shot it for nothing... I don't know where this $200 came from... We were a bunch of kids with cameras running around shooting each other and henext thing you know, we're eleven years in and we're still doing the show." This pilot was shopped by the actors around various studios, their pitch being simply showing the DVD of the pilot to executives. After viewing the pilot,

FX Network FX is an American pay television channel owned by FX Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content unit of The Walt Disney Company. It is based at the Fox Studios lot in Century City, California. FX originally launc ...

ordered the first season. The show was budgeted at $450,000 an episode, less than a third of a network standard, using

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

DVX100 The Panasonic AG-DVX100 was released in October 2002. Its 60Hz version was the first consumer-affordable Digital data, digital camcorder capable of recording video at 24 progressive scan, progressive frames per second. The last revision was the ...

MiniDV DV refers to a family of codecs and videotape, tape formats used for storing digital video, launched in 1995 by a consortium of camcorder, video camera manufacturers led by Sony and Panasonic. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, DV was strongly ...

prosumer video camera. The original concept had "the gang" being out-of-work actors with the theme song being a cha-cha version of "

Hooray for Hollywood "Hooray for Hollywood" is a popular song first featured in the 1937 movie ''Hollywood Hotel'', and which has since become (together with " That's Entertainment" and " There's No Business like Show Business") the staple soundtrack element of any Ac ...

"; however there were too many shows at the time with a similar premise. "The network came to us and said, 'We don't want a show about actors,' and we said, 'Fine, let's put it somewhere else,'" McElhenney explained. "I'm from Philly, let's put it in Philly, and we'll make it about a bar, because that's a job where you can have lots of free time and still have income that could explain how these people can sustain themselves." Prior to Kaitlin Olson joining the show, the character Sweet Dee was originally played by Jordan Reid, who at the time was the girlfriend of McElhenney, but was recast after they broke up. After the first season, FX executives were worried about the show's low ratings and demanded that changes be made to the cast. "So,

John Landgraf John Phillip Landgraf (born May 20, 1962) is the Chairman of FX Networks. He is also a member of the Peabody Awards board of directors, which is presented by the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. ...

, who's the president of FX, he called me in for a meeting and was like, 'Hey, no one's watching the show, but we love it,'" McElhenney recalled. "'We wanna keep it on, but we don't have any money for marketing, and we need to add somebody with some panache that we can hopefully parlay into some public relations story, just so we can get people talking.'" FX began suggesting actors such as

that could boost the show's profile. "It's not that we were reticent to the idea of adding Danny to the show," Howerton recalled, "It's that we were reticent to add a name to the show. You know, because we kinda liked that we were no-names and it was this weird, small thing, you know." Initially, McElhenney refused, saying "No, I just don't think we wanna do that, and they were like, 'Oh OK, well, you know... the show's over.'" Realizing they needed to change the trajectory of the show to please the network, McElhenney, Howerton, and Day became open to adding a new cast member who was familiar to the public. However, McElhenney, Howerton, and Day were hesitant at first since they thought they would "ruin the show", particularly Day. DeVito later joined the cast in the first episode of the second season, playing the father of Dennis and Dee. The show is shot in both

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The exterior of Paddy's Pub is located at the Starkman Building on 544 Mateo Street in Los Angeles. On April 1, 2016, the series was renewed for a

thirteenth In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octa ...

and fourteenth season, which matched ''

'' with the most seasons for a live-action sitcom in American television history. On April 9, 2020, McElhenney announced that writing had begun for the fifteenth season. Filming for the season began in May 2021 and wrapped that October.

Episodes

Broadcast and syndication

The first season ran for seven episodes with the finale airing September 15, 2005. According to McElhenney, word of mouth on the show was good enough for FX to renew it for a second season, which ran from June 29 to August 17, 2006. Reruns of edited first-season episodes began airing on FX's then-parent network,

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

, in June 2006, for a planned three-episode run—"The Gang Finds a Dead Guy," "Gun Fever" (which was renamed "Gun Control") and "Charlie Gets Molested" were shown. The show was not aired on broadcast television again until 2011, when FX began offering it for syndication. The third season ran from September 13 to November 15, 2007. On March 5, 2008, FX renewed ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' for a fourth season. On July 15, 2008, it was reported that FX had ordered 39 additional episodes of the series, produced as seasons five through seven of the show. All five main cast members were secured for the entire scheduled run. The fifth season ran from September 17 to December 10, 2009. On May 31, 2010,

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

began airing reruns.

WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ran ...

also began broadcasting the show as part of its fall 2011 schedule. The sixth season ran from September 16 to December 9, 2010, comprising 12 episodes, plus the Christmas special. The seventh season ran from September 15 to December 15, 2011, comprising 13 episodes. On August 6, 2011, FX announced it had picked up the show for an additional two seasons (the eighth and ninth) running through 2013. On March 28, 2013, FX renewed the show for a tenth season, and announced that it would move to FX's new sister network,

. In April 2017, Kaitlin Olson announced that ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' would go on an extended hiatus. In an interview with ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'', she said, "We ended up pushing our next season a year because we were all busy with separate projects this year. So at the end of this coming shooting season of '' The Mick'', I'll step right into ''Sunny'' after that." On October 2, 2017, the show premiered on

Vice on TV Vice (formerly known as Viceland and also known as Vice TV) is an American basic cable television channel that launched on December 2, 2019, replacing H2 on most multichannel television providers in the United States. It is a part of the Vicela ...

. The series is available for streaming on

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except for the episodes "America's Next Top Paddy's Billboard Model Contest", "Dee Reynolds: Shaping America's Youth", "The Gang Recycles Their Trash", "The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 6" and "Dee Day", due to scenes involving

. The same episodes are missing from

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in the UK,

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in Canada and Australia and

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in Latin America.

Music

The show uses recurring orchestral

production music Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libraries. Background ...

selections. "We had a music supervisor called Ray Espinola and we said, 'Give us everything you have in a sort of '' Leave It to Beaver'' with a big band-swing kind of feel,' and the majority of the songs are from what he sent over," Charlie Day explained. "When you set it against what these characters were doing—which often times can be perceived as quite despicable, or wrong—it really disarmed the audience. It just became our go-to library of songs." The theme song is called "Temptation Sensation" by German composer

Heinz Kiessling Heinz Kiessling (March 11, 1926 – December 27, 2003) was a German musician, conductor, composer and music producer, known mainly from his work for popular films and television programs. Kiessling's piece "Temptation Sensation" is the theme song ...

. Kiessling's work ("On Your Bike" and "Blue Blood") can also be heard during various scene transitions throughout the show, along with other composers and pieces such as Werner Tautz ("Off Broadway"), Joe Brook ("Moonbeam Kiss"), and Karl Grell ("Honey Bunch"). Many of the tracks heard in the series are from ''Cafe Romantique'', an album of easy listening production music collected by Extreme Music, the production music library unit of

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

Independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Fervor Records Fervor Records is an American independent record label based in Phoenix, Arizona. The company was founded in 1989 and is now owned and operated by David Hilker and Jeff Freundlich. The label creates compilations of previously released and unrele ...

has also contributed music to the show. Songs from The Jack Gray Orchestra's album ''Easy Listening Symph-O-Nette'' ("Take A Letter Miss Jones," "Golly Gee Whiz," and "Not a Care in the World") and the John Costello III release ''Giants of Jazz'' ("Birdcage," "Cotton Club" and "Quintessential") are heard in several episodes. The soundtrack, featuring most of the music heard on the show, was released in 2010.

Soundtrack track listing

Reception and legacy

Critical reviews and commentary

''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' has received critical acclaim for its humor and the performances of the cast.

Emily Nussbaum Emily Nussbaum (born February 20, 1966) is an American television critic. She served as the television critic for ''The New Yorker'' from 2011 until 2019. In 2016, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Early life Nussbaum was born in the ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' praised the show, calling it "not merely the best sitcom on television but one of the most arresting and ambitious current TV series, period."

Gillian Flynn Gillian Schieber Flynn (; born February 24, 1971) is an American author, screenwriter, and producer. She is known for writing the thriller and mystery novels, '' Sharp Objects'' (2006), '' Dark Places'' (2009), and '' Gone Girl'' (2012), which ar ...

of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' reviewed the first season negatively, commenting, " is smug enough to think it's breaking ground, but not smart enough to know it isn't." Brian Lowry of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave the first season a positive review, saying it was "invariably clever and occasionally a laugh-out-loud riot, all while lampooning taboo topics." However, later seasons of the show have received favorable ratings on review aggregator Metacritic, receiving 70/100, 78/100 and 85/100 for seasons 4, 5 and 6 respectively. The show has become a

cult hit A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

with viewers and is often compared in style to ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

''—particularly due to the self-centered nature of its main characters. ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' reviewer Jonathan Storm wrote, "It's like ''Seinfeld'' on crack," a quote that became widely used to describe the series, to the point that FX attached the tagline, "It's ''Seinfeld'' on crack." In 2014, ''

'' listed the show at number 7 in the "26 Best Cult TV Shows Ever," with the comment that "it's a great underdog story ... If it sounds too dark for you, consider that there's an episode about making mittens for kittens, and it's adorable." In 2016, a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' study of the 50 TV shows with the most

Facebook like The like button on the social networking website Facebook was first enabled on February 9, 2009. The like button enables users to easily interact with status updates, comments, photos and videos, links shared by friends, and advertisements. Onc ...

s found that ''Sunny'' was "more popular in college towns (and most popular in Philadelphia)." In 2015, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' rated the top 20 greatest and funniest ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' episodes, stating "for 10 seasons, the series had mined comic gold from the execrable behavior of the owners of Paddy's Pub." They claimed the two-part

season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...

episode, "Mac and Charlie Die" is the sitcom's greatest episode yet. In 2019, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

called the show "the best US sitcom." They praised the show's unique outlook and ability to range from nihilistic humor to genuine heartfelt moments. According to Matt Fowler of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

, the series "broke new ground" due to its sociopathic depiction of "The Gang". It was also ranked 63rd in IGN's list of the top 100 TV shows of all-time.

Awards

Other media

''The Nightman Cometh'' live

In September 2009, the cast took their show live. The "Gang" performed the musical '' The Nightman Cometh'' in New York City, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

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 ...

and Artemis Pebdani also appeared in the performance as The Waitress and Artemis. Actress

Rhea Perlman Rhea Jo Perlman (born March 31, 1948) is an American actress. She played head-waitress Carla Tortelli in the sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993). Over the course of 11 seasons, Perlman was nominated for ten Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Act ...

(wife of

) assumed the role of Gladys. Creator

said that Live Nation originally approached the cast about doing the show at 30 cities, but in the end the cast settled on 6. Co-developer

described the show as "essentially an expanded version of the actual episode of "The Nightman Cometh," which was the final episode for season four. There are some added moments, added scenes, added songs, and extended versions of songs that already existed." Two new songs were included in the performance and a longer running time allowed for greater improvisation by the actors. The performance was also preceded by a preview screening of a season five episode. The Los Angeles performance, filmed at The Troubadour, was included as a bonus feature on the season four DVD box set.

Russian adaptation

A Russian adaptation of ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' premiered in Russia on the television channel

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

on May 12, 2014. This version is titled ''В Москве всегда солнечно'' (''V Moskve vsegda solnechno'', ''It's Always Sunny in Moscow'') and like the original, centers around four friends, who own a bar called "Philadelphia" in Moscow.

Book

A book based upon ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' was released on January 6, 2015, titled ''The Gang Writes a Self-Help Book: The 7 Secrets of Awakening the Highly Effective Four-Hour Giant, Today''.

Podcast

On November 9, 2021, Howerton, Day, and McElhenney started ''The Always Sunny Podcast'', an episode-by-episode-recap of the show, with Megan Ganz as producer. Occasional guest stars include Kaitlin Olson, David Hornsby, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Michael Naughton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Cormac Bluestone and Danny DeVito.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 2000s American black comedy television series 2000s American satirical television series 2000s American single-camera sitcoms 2000s American workplace comedy television series 2005 American television series debuts 2010s American black comedy television series 2010s American LGBT-related comedy television series 2010s American satirical television series 2010s American single-camera sitcoms 2010s American workplace comedy television series 2020s American black comedy television series 2020s American satirical television series 2020s American single-camera sitcoms 2020s American workplace comedy television series Alcohol abuse in television American LGBT-related sitcoms Culture of Philadelphia English-language television shows FX Networks original programming FXX original programming Irish-American culture in Philadelphia Narcissism in television Television series about dysfunctional families Television series about twins Television series by 3 Arts Entertainment Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in Philadelphia