It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an iconic show that has been running for more than half of my life. It is a bit daunting to ever go back and watch a show that has been running for this long, but I finally committed after years of false starts. It was as good as I could have hoped for.
17. Season 2: Danny DeVito Joins the Gang
The obvious big thing with season 2 of Sunny is that it introduces Danny DeVito as the father of Dee and Dennis. The tone of the show also got much more outrageous almost right away, and the transition still feels jarring all these years (later despite it being the dominant tone of the show from here on out). It’s still funny though, but I will always have such a soft spot for the rough-around-the-edges quality to season one that this season cannot meet.
16. Season 3: Finding a Rhythm
Season 3 comes across as the gang getting way more comfortable with DeVito’s role in the show. He feels much more seamlessly integrated to the gang’s shenanigans, and it makes for just a far superior season of television than season 2. They also did an effective job of making use of their deep bench of insane recurring players that would pop up 2-3x a season this time. The show almost had itself figured out at this point.
15. Season 16: Out of Gas
With season 15, I thought the show was finally going to run out of steam. Then the “Ireland Gambit” four-episode arc really paid off and turned it into a damn fine season of Sunny. Once again, it seemed like season 16 would mark the end of the show, creatively. There was just a spark missing. There was a critical mass of replacement level episodes that made it underwhelming. But then the season finale happened: the Dennis mental health day. This was as good as any Sunny episode. It was an episode so strong that makes me believe Sunny can still go on without being a shell of itself.
14. Season 17: Frank the Golden Bachelor
For a late era Always Sunny season, this was far more consistent than the preceding years. There were no highs like the season 16 finale which was legitimately one of the best episodes of the show ever, but this season had way fewer misses than the show’s average at this point. The Abbott Elementary crossover and the fake The Bear episodes were probably the highlights.
13. Season 8: High Concepts
Season 8 was the first of many seasons that followed that only had ten episodes. Given the step back season 7 took, this was a welcome development. However, it did not lead to immediate better results. After finding success with serialized stories in recent seasons, this season featured what seemed like the highest percentage of high concept episodes to date. They are definitely the most hit-or-miss style of sitcom episode, but I appreciate that the show was still continuing to push boundaries and expectations eight seasons in.
12. Season 15: Post-2020 + Trip to Ireland
Always Sunny came back from the first year of the pandemic and made a series of episodes that directly dealt with the decade of events that happened in 2020. They did not showcase the show at its peak, and I started to think the show was coming a little undone. But then the show spent the whole second half “in” Ireland, and it was a rather masterful gambit to completely change up the scenery and the dynamics in key ways. It was a fresh coat of paint, but sometimes that can shift the energy enough to keep things going.
11. Season 14: Running out of steam?
In the final pre-pandemic season of Always Sunny, the show seemed to be finally running out of steam. The consistency just was not there compared to the previous seasons, and the peaks were fewer and far between. There was a sort of “the end is nigh” quality to this season that made you think “Okay, this was good, but I don’t think they can hang on much longer.” The Dolph Lundgren episode was fun though.
10. Season 7: Fat Mac
After a lights-out run from seasons 4-6, season 7 was a distinct level lower in quality. I am not entirely sure why it felt that way. My suspicions are that it may have something to do with the fact that there were fewer recurring characters, and there just were not as many standout moments. Bottom line though is that the show was nowhere near as consistent. This season did however have Fat Mac. I am not sure why Fat Mac is flirting but other actors putting on weight for a role feels like workplace sexual harassment. But it is what it is. Fat Mac was just a tremendous bit.
9. Season 11: Let Me Be Frank
Season 11 was a step down from the recent success of the show, but it was still obviously quite good. Besides managing to get Guillermo del Toro to appear on the show, the other real notable aspect was the rare two-part episode for them that functioned as the season finale. I will be honest: I do not have a lot to say about this season. It was good! It was not great! I don’t think there are any particularly important reasons why that are worth delving into beyond the margin of error for a sitcom slowly gets smaller and smaller the longer it stays on the air.
8. Season 12: Dennis Leaves
Season 12 continued much as season 11 went. The highs were not as consistent as they once were, but they were still higher and more consistent than the transition stretches (2-3 and 7-8) when they were finding their voices. At this point, I am curious if they go through any additional phases or if this is just the general quality level from here on out. Another notable thing they once again ended the season on a bag with the Dennis Double Life story. I did not see that coming, and it was awesome. And then I really did not see Dennis leaving for real leaving the show or did he? (He did not.) (Frank sponsoring terrorism, Charlie and Mac making UFC fighters shit their brains out, and “Hero or Hate Crime” were also standouts.)
7. Season 13: Dennis Out and Back
Season 13 was an extremely noteworthy season of Always Sunny. Season 12 ended with Dennis seemingly being written out of the show. They tried to sell it in this season’s premiere with even having Howerton removed from the opening credits. The coda of the premiere revealed it was a fakeout though and that Dennis was still here. Except he then was only in 6/10 episodes this season? This season is also notable for very much being about Trump. Much like the rest of the world, Sunny was caught with its pants down in the previous season, and so they did not have a formal “response” to Trump being President until the episodes in 2018. Anyway, this was another fun season. The show is clearly past its peak at this point, but they are so far above what most shows are doing even in season 13.
6. Season 1: Prologue
I have such a great fondness for the first season of Sunny and have watched it so many times. There is a great stripped down quality to it. It embodies the theory of a television show redoing the pilot over and over again which is a great way to establish the themes and character dynamics of the show. I have always liked the vibes of the first season most of all. I do not want to lay the blame at DeVito for that, but there was something undeniably simpler and more grounded about the presentation of the show in its opening season that they were never able to recapture.
5. Season 10: Wade Boggs
Season 10 perfectly built on the momentum the show got back in season 9 and delivered many standout self-contained episodes as the show continued to all but abandon more serialized ideas. The season premiere with Wade Boggs is one of the most sincerely hilarious ideas that the show has ever had, but almost every episode delivered great results this season. I loved it.
4. Season 9: Return to Form
After a couple of seasons that fell short of the show’s (admittedly) high expectations, this season represented a return to the quality standard they established in seasons 4-6. What was interesting though is that they did not go back to HOW they made those seasons – they stuck with the new frequent use of high concept episodes. They just got much better at it.
3. Season 5: M. Night & Phillies
Season 5 continued the momentum of season 4. The show has a fully established voice and tone, and they have only gotten way more consistent at making each episode stand out in a good way. Charlie on a blind date trying to lie and show off and say he is a “philanthropist” and then say “I’m a….full-on rapist” is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.
2. Season 4: Unleashed
Season 4 is when Always Sunny feels like the show figured everything out. How to balance episodes where the characters are off in different plots. How to keep a roster of recurring bit players on deck. How to build to bigger episodes. It is a turning point in a way, as the show went from being full of talent that would have moments of brilliants to becoming a truly great show. You love to see it.
1. Season 6: Implications
Season 6 seems like a new level for the show. They were able to do a better job of having some recurring plot lines which only elevated the show. They also had what is possibly my favorite and most diabolical bit on the show in this season: the implications. This bit is so evil and so fucking funny. I had only ever seen it in an isolated clip before which was funny enough, but it only became better in context. The context being the implications come from them trying to replicate…Diddy parties. In 2010. Jesus fucking Christ.
The Reel World 