It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre	Sitcom Dark comedy
Created by	Rob McElhenney
Developed by	Rob McElhenney Glenn Howerton
Starring	Charlie Day Glenn Howerton Rob McElhenney Kaitlin Olson Danny DeVito
Opening theme	"Temptation Sensation" by Heinz Kiessling
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	84 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Charlie Day Glenn Howerton Rob McElhenney Michael Rotenberg Nick Frenkel Tom LoFaro
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	3 Arts Entertainment RCH Jersey Films FX Productions
Distributor	20th Television
Broadcast
Original channel	FX
Picture format	4:3 480i (2005–2008) 16:9 480i (2009) 16:9 720p (2010–present)
Original run	August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04) – present
External links
Website

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American independent sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom.^[1] The show was created, developed, and produced by Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day, all of whom star in the show. The series follows the exploits of "The Gang," a group of self-centered friends who run Paddy's Pub, a relatively unsuccessful Irish bar in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Synopsis [link]

The series follows "The Gang", a group of five depraved underachievers: twins Dennis Reynolds and Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds; their friends Charlie Kelly and Ronald "Mac" McDonald; and Frank Reynolds, Dennis and Sweet Dee's father (although not biologically, it is revealed). They run the dilapidated Paddy's Pub, a bar in South Philadelphia. They are often dishonest, petty, egotistical, selfish, greedy, unethical, lazy, manipulative, deceitful, hypocritical, self-centered, vain, disloyal, unremorseful, hasty, overly competitive, immature, vengeful, and arrogant. Episodes usually find them hatching elaborate schemes, conspiring against one another and others for personal gain, vengeance, or simply for the entertainment of watching one another's downfall. They inflict physical and psychological pain. They regularly use blackmail to manipulate one another and others outside of the group.

Their unity is not solid; any of them would quickly dump the others for quick profit or personal gain regardless of the consequences. Almost everything they do results in competition among themselves and a considerable amount of the show's dialogue revolves around the characters arguing or yelling over one another. Despite their lack of worldly success, the Gang generally maintain high opinions of themselves and display an often obsessive interest in their own reputations and public images. Despite this high sense of self worth, the Gang often have little sense of shame when attempting to get what they want and will often engage in activities which others would find humiliating, disgusting, or even preposterous, such as smoking crack cocaine in order to qualify for welfare, seducing a priest, or hiding naked inside a leather couch in order to spy on someone.

Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia carries a TV-MA rating due to strong language, sexual content, occasional racial epithets, and drug references.

Cast and characters [link]

Olson, DeVito, and McElhenney in August 2011

• Glenn Howerton as Dennis Reynolds – Dennis is a co-owner of Paddy's Pub and is Deandra's twin brother. Possibly the most sociopathic of the characters, Dennis is narcissistic, selfish, histrionic and vain. Much of his inflated ego is perpetuated by his Ivy League education at the University of Pennsylvania where he minored in Psychology.
• Kaitlin Olson as Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds – Sweet Dee is Dennis' twin sister, the main bartender at Paddy's Pub and the show's main female character. The Gang makes sure to let her know at every opportunity that she is not liked, respected, or going to be included in their (admittedly idiotic and universally unsuccessful) plans and schemes. Sweet Dee dreams of becoming an actress although she lacks any apparent talent and suffers from debilitating stage fright. She needed a back brace in high school and majored in Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania but did not graduate.
• Rob McElhenney as Ronald "Mac" McDonald – Mac is Charlie Kelly's childhood friend and Dennis's high school friend and later roommate. He is a co-owner of Paddy's Pub. He brags about his incredible hand-to-hand combat skills, though it is quite obvious he lacks any real skill or athletic balance.
• Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly – Charlie was originally co-owner at Paddy's Pub (but ended up trading all his stocks for useless items, and now owns nothing) and a childhood friend of Mac and Dennis. He is also Frank's roommate. Charlie does most of the dirty work at the pub, is borderline illiterate, an alcoholic and substance abuser, suffers from deep psychological problems, and lives in squalor. An abortion survivor, Charlie has extreme anger issues and often screams to get his point across.
• Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds (Season 2–present) – Frank is the legal father of twins Dennis and Sweet Dee, and might be the biological father of his roommate Charlie. He used to be a successful businessman with a long history of illegal operations and dealings with sordid characters.

Episodes [link]

Production [link]

The show began as a short film idea written by Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton about a man telling his friend he has cancer, while the friend's only intent is on trying to borrow a cup of sugar. This was then developed into a pilot called It's Always Sunny on TV and was shot on a digital camcorder by Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob McElhenney. 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 ordered the first season. Although it is often stated publicly Always Sunny was one of the first shows to be shot in 24p video, using Panasonic's DVX100 MiniDV camcorder. From the sixth season forward, the show was shot using high-definition cameras.

The first season ran for seven episodes with the season finale airing September 13, 2005. According to McElhenney,^[2] word of mouth on the show was good enough for FX to renew it for a second, which ran from June 29 to August 17, 2006. To boost ratings and achieve more mainstream exposure, Danny DeVito joined the cast in the first episode of the second season, playing the father of Dennis (played by Glenn Howerton) and Sweet Dee (played by Kaitlin Olson). Reruns of edited first season episodes began airing on FX's parent network, Fox, in 2006, but after only two episodes ("Gun Fever" and "Charlie Gets Molested"), Fox removed the show from its lineup. The show would not be shown on broadcast television until 2011, when FX began offering the show for syndication.

On August 18, 2007, the episode "Mac is a Serial Killer" from the third season appeared on the group's MySpace page. The third season ran from September 13, 2007 to November 15, 2007. On March 5, 2008, FX renewed It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia for a fourth season.^[3] On July 15, 2008, it was reported that FX has ordered 39 additional episodes of the series which means that the show will run until at least a seventh season. All five main cast members were secured for the entire scheduled run.^[4] The fifth season ran from September 17, 2009 to December 10, 2009.^[5] On May 31, 2010, Comedy Central began airing reruns of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.^[6] WGN America will also broadcast the show beginning Fall 2011.^[7] The sixth season ran from September 16, 2010 until December 9, 2010, running twelve episodes. The seventh season ran from September 15, 2011 until December 15, 2011, running 13 episodes. On August 6, 2011, FX announced it had picked up the show for an additional two seasons (the show's eighth and ninth) running through 2013, which will make it the longest-running live-action comedy in basic cable history. There is also an option for a tenth season.^[8]

First-run seasons of Sunny will continue to air on FX. In addition to the five seasons already produced, Comedy Central has also acquired the rights to seasons six and seven which premiere in the fall of 2010 and 2011 respectively.^[9] A run in late-night broadcast syndication began on September 19, 2011.

Opening titles [link]

The title of most episodes is presented as a punchline tying in with the gag in the cold open. For example, in one cold open, Sweet Dee protests because Dennis thinks her boyfriend is mentally retarded. When she says "There is no way I'm dating a retarded person." Almost immediately, the title card pops up which reads "Sweet Dee's Dating A Retarded Person". In the first season, the title of the show would show up before the title of the episode. Starting in season two, the title appears as the theme song starts, directly before the credits roll. Episode titles almost always are a sentence describing the plot and incorporating one or more of the main characters name or their collective appellation of "The Gang". Further example episodes include "Charlie Kelly: King Of The Rats","Mac and Dennis: Manhunters","The Gang Gets Whacked", "Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games," and "The Gang Goes Jihad."

Paddy's Pub [link]

Exterior shots of Paddy's Pub are not shot in Philadelphia. Most of the interior shots are on Los Angeles sound stages. Exterior shots of Paddy's Pub are shot at the Starkman Building, 544 Mateo Street, Los Angeles(34°02′25″N 118°13′59″W / 34.040312°N 118.232921°W / 34.040312; -118.232921).^[10][11] "The Great Recession" shows a street sign which places it at 3rd and Dickinson in South Philadelphia (39°55′46″N 75°09′01″W / 39.929402°N 75.1503°W / 39.929402; -75.1503).^[12] Rob McElhenney grew up near Dickinson and Moyemensing near the location.^[12] In 2009, McElhenney and Olson announced their purchase of Skinners Bar at 226 Market Street in Philadelphia (39°57′00″N 75°08′41″W / 39.949895°N 75.144795°W / 39.949895; -75.144795). It was renamed Mac's Olde Towne Tavern.^[13]

Music [link]

The theme song is a piece of production music called "Temptation Sensation" by German composer Heinz Kiessling. Additionally, 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 Christopher Movick ("Off Broadway"), Joe Brook ("Moonbeam Kiss") and Karl Grell ("Honey Bunch"). Many of the tracks heard in the series have been taken from Cafe Romantique, an album of easy listening production music collected by Extreme Music, the production music library unit of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Independent record label, Fervor Records 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 on September 1, 2010,^[14] the same day that Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney's son Axel Lee McElhenney was born.^[14]

Throughout the series, music is featured from artists including: Bell Biv Devoe, The Doors, Biz Markie, Enigma, Joe Esposito, Stacy Q, Rick Astley, Extreme, Heart, Ray Parker, Jr., Yello, Rick Derringer, Bruce Springsteen, Soul Asylum, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Steve Winwood, Seal, Kate Bush, Deee-Lite, Styx, Boyz II Men, Alphaville, Berlin, and The Go-Go's.

Coincidentally, the main theme "Temptation Sensation" appeared in the fourth season Taxi episode "Louie's Fling" (which aired in 1981) in a scene with Danny DeVito's character Louie De Palma and his girlfriend Zena Sherman, who was played by DeVito's real life wife Rhea Perlman.^[15][16]

Reception [link]

Early seasons received mixed reviews. Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the first season negatively, commenting "it is smug enough to think it's breaking ground, but not smart enough to know it isn't."^[17] Brian Lowry of Variety gave the first season a positive review, saying it was "invariably clever and occasionally a laugh-out-loud riot, all while lampooning taboo topics."^[18] 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 & 6 respectively.^[19] The show has become a cult hit with fans and is often compared in style to Seinfeld—particularly due to the self-centered nature of its main characters, to the point that FX attached the tagline, "It's Seinfeld on crack."^[20]

[edit] The Nightman Cometh Live

In September 2009, the cast took their show live. The "Gang" performed the musical The Nightman Cometh in New York, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.^[21] Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Artemis Pebdani also appeared in the performance as The Waitress and Artemis. Danny DeVito's wife, actress Rhea Perlman assumed the role of Gladys.^[22]

Co-creator Rob McElhenney said that Live Nation originally approached the cast about doing the show at 30 cities, but in the end the cast settled on 6.^[23] Co-Creator Glenn Howerton 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."^[24] 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.

International broadcasts [link]

This section requires expansion.

In Canada the series is shown on Bite TV and has been shown on Showcase in the past.

In Slovenia and Serbia the series is shown on FOX Life

In Norway the series is shown on TV3 and Viasat 4.

In Australia the series is shown on The Comedy Channel and the Seven Network.

In Brazil the series was shown on FX Brasil.

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland the series was shown on Comedy Central.

In the Philippines, it is shown on Jack TV.

In Portugal, it is shown on FX.

In Turkey, it started to be shown on "Cnbc-e" and now is on "e2".

In Israel, it is shown on "Yes Oh".

In Sweden, seasons 1-5 was shown on TV3 and TV6.

The series is available to stream on Netflix in the UK and Ireland.

References [link]

External links [link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

• Official website
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on TV Squad
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at the Internet Movie Database
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at TV.com

v t e It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Episodes · Characters The Gang Mac · Dennis Reynolds · Charlie Kelly · Deandra Reynolds · Frank Reynolds Seasons 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 Category