#It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Is The Best Show About The Worst People

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is the longest-running live-action comedy series in American television history. The series was created by McElhenney, Howerton, and Day, who pitched it to FX based on a pilot and a very low budget. In season 2 they added veteran comedian Danny DeVito as Dee and Dennis’ (assumed) father, Frank. The series took off, with DeVito balancing the cast’s chemistry and drawing in new viewers.

No topic is safe from the skewering of the gang, or the writers of the series. Over the years they’ve addressed issues surrounding race, gender, sexuality, political affiliation, gun ownership, and more, all while making such challenging topics entertaining. Likewise, the gang are terrible people, but they’re written somewhat sympathetically. Their terrible actions and behaviors are condemned by society and the series itself, but over the years we’ve learned enough about the trauma that shaped them that we can at least understand why they’re so terrible. They’re still irredeemable, but they seem less monstrous. 

If the formula of following a bunch of terrible people in a sitcom seems familiar, that’s because it is. “It’s Always Sunny” is a riff on numerous other sitcoms, most notably “Seinfeld.” They even did a great homage to the series in their episode riffing on clip shows, or episodes where a bunch of old clips are played to fill time. In that episode, they remember themselves as being the characters in the famous Seinfeld episode, “The Contest.” 

But whereas the “Seinfeld” gang are fairly wealthy New Yorkers, the “Sunny” crew can barely pay their rent. Frank bankrolls some of their misadventures, but there’s also plenty of times where the gang’s down and out. It’s another thing that makes them feel a little more relatable, and makes it easier to comment on your average American.