It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia has changed in numerous ways over its 17 year and 15 season run, to its benefit or to its detriment.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (IASIP) has changed as much as can be expected over seventeen years and fifteen seasons. Following in the footsteps of sitcoms such as Friends and Seinfeld, IASIP follows a group of friends (The Gang). The Gang constantly break societal norms as they amuse or enrich themselves, often at the expense of others.
Among IASIP’s many changes, some stand out more than others. Many of IASIP’s most infamous elements, in both tone and character, were absent from the early episodes. Sometimes, they were later abandoned to allow IASIP to focus on different attributes. Either way, IASIP changed either to its benefit or to its detriment.
The first seasons of IASIP concern The Gang engaging in selfish, irresponsible, and short-sighted behavior as owners of Paddy’s Pub. Early episodes rarely move beyond The Gang contriving get-rich-quick schemes or plotting to ruin the lives of those who inconvenience them.
During these first episodes, there is little distinction between Dennis and Mac. IASIP even depicts Charlie as closer to neurotic than his later unhinged characterization. As the seasons progress, IASIP emphasizes The Gang’s idiosyncrasies far more frequently and to a much greater degree.
Danny DeVito’s Frank Reynolds is one of IASIP’s most beloved characters. His dark cunning amplifies the weaknesses and vices of the rest of The Gang. He spurs them to ever-lower escapades, which Frank often funds. However, Danny DeVito was not an original IASIP cast member.
He appears briefly at the end of season one, then joins as a core cast member in the second season. Frank initially appears as a bitter man, always eager to take advantage of morally unconscionable opportunities. He quickly sinks even further, where his actions frequently appall even the rest of The Gang.
The earliest IASIP seasons use few reappearing characters. Though Charlie constantly fawns over The Waitress, the first three seasons employ only a half-dozen recurring characters. Most victims and villains of The Gang’s early exploits appear in one episode and are never seen again.
Later IASIP seasons introduce an ever-growing expanded cast. One core theme becomes showing how The Gang destroys every life it touches. Several episodes, such as Dee Gives Birth, bring many recurring characters together to highlight this.
In IASIP’s first season, Dee is the most reasonable member of The Gang. Even though she often contributes to The Gang’s plans, Dee also calls out some of her friends’ most egregious behavior. She attempts to keep her dignity and sense of morality.
From the second season onward, Dee’s attempts at reasonability fall constantly flatter. Her appeals to morality usually serve her own sense of superiority. She becomes eager to defraud others, to sacrifice the wellbeing of others for her own comfort and to hurt those who annoy her.
Matthew Mara, called Rickety Cricket by The Gang, is one of IASIP’s favorite recurring characters. After Dee tricks Matthew into giving up the priesthood, he falls into a life of homelessness, decrepit health, and abject misery.
Each time Matthew appears in an episode, his appearance and worldview have broken down further. IASIP fans commonly compare Matthew’s devolution to The Picture Of Dorian Gray, in which a man remains timeless as a portrait in his image supernaturally ages.
IASIP’s longest-running recurring character, The Waitress, appears in the pilot episode as an unrequited love interest for Charlie. He pursues her relentlessly through later seasons. His degenerate lifestyle and tenuous grasp on reality repulse The Waitress every time.
In Charlie And Dee Find Love, The Waitress realizes that Charlie’s stalking materially improves her life. She reduces the distance of her restraining order against him. In Dennis’ Double Life, The Waitress finally succumbs to Charlie’s advances, which drives Charlie away.
After IASIP’s first few seasons, Mac is best known for his religiosity, obsession with martial arts and for the jokes about his sexuality. Though Mac sleeps with several women throughout IASIP, many jokes find their humor in the idea Mac is secretly gay, despite his claims that homosexuality is sinful.
In The Gang Goes To Hell, Mac admits he is gay, but quickly retracts his confession. In Hero Or Hate Crime? Mac comes out and has remained openly gay since. Jokes about Mac’s sexuality continue, but they fixate on his personal debauchery rather than his sexual orientation.
IASIP creates a solid identity in only a few seasons. The core cast’s rapport, combined with the setting, provides fans a window into what feels like a band of true-to-life scumbags.
As the series progresses, IASIP’s writing becomes more aware of its existence as a television show. This is most brazen in The Gang Tries Desperately To Win An Award, in which most dialogue consists of thinly veiled complaints against IASIP’s lack of Emmy nominations.
Early IASIP exploits its low budget and grimy setting to create a unique, immersive story environment. Fans praise the early seasons’ atmospheric effect. This is created by tiny city apartments, filthy storefronts, and the dismal lives of people who would rather scam others than perform an honest day’s work.
Over time, IASIP’s budget increased. Acting, directing, editing and writing became more refined, and most of the authentic grittiness vanished. While these changes create new opportunities for IASIP stories and situations, many fans harken back to filthier, simpler times.
Offensive jokes have been an IASIP mainstay from the beginning. Season one involves characters using offensive racial slurs, pretending to be abortion protestors to approach women, and becoming angry that they were not ‘desirable enough’ to be molested as children.
In 2020, five IASIP episodes were removed from Hulu for their insensitivity. In each, a character would use blackface. Though the episodes frame these actions explicitly as disgusting, the content itself resulted in the removal of the containing episodes.
Taylor Clogston is a writer and editor of fiction and an amateur literary critic. He invokes his passion of classic and modern anime and manga as he writes for Comic Book Resources. When he’s not immersed in weird stories, Taylor loves cooking dinner, torturing D&D players, and photographing woodland critters. He is on twitter as @taylor_clogston.
Subscribe to the CBR newsletter for exclusive comics, TV & movie news, reviews, interviews & much more!
