It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has changed in some very remarkable ways since its first season premiered.
In a recent interview, renowned comic actor Danny DeVito revealed that the creators of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia managed to write a script even he thought went too far. Of course, by this point, DeVito’s Frank Reynolds is a key part of the show’s ensemble and of its humor. However, he wasn’t actually present in the first season.
In fact, there are so many things that have changed from the early days of the series that, in some important ways, it’s almost unrecognizable. For this reason, it’s worth taking a look at some of the most notable of these in order to truly appreciate what it has become.
Like many great series, It’s Always Sunny sometimes breaks away from the sitcom format to give audiences various themed episodes. In doing so, it flexes its own creative muscles. Episodes such as the spoof of film noir or the musical are reminders of just how comedically skilled the series remains.
However, this is a convention that was only established after the first season. In fact, it’s hard to imagine the first season having any episodes like this, considering the fairly limited conception of what the show was in the very beginning.
Frank Reynolds is arguably one of Danny DeVito’s best roles. He has become such an integral part of the show and so seemingly at ease with performing numerous disgusting acts, that it is truly difficult to imagine the series without him.
In fact, watching the first season, it is clear that something is missing. While some of this might simply be the benefit of hindsight, it has to be admitted that adding DeVito was one of the best decisions the series ever made, and it helped to elevate it into one of the great sitcoms.
When the series begins, Dennis is, like both Mac and Charlie, capable of very bad behavior. However, as reprehensible as he might be, he’s not anywhere close to the person he would become just a few seasons later.
It has become so well-established that he is most likely either a sociopath (or even possibly a serial killer) that it’s hard to see the character in the same way. He’s not exactly likable, to be sure, but neither is he the terrifying person–prone to outbursts of rage–that he will later slowly but surely develop into as the series progresses.
It’s safe to say that Charlie is not one of the series’ most intelligent characters. It is made abundantly clear throughout the last few seasons that he is barely functional, in part as a result of his tendency to drink cleaning fluids.
In the first season, however, there is very little of this to be seen. He may not be the most intelligent person, but the show also doesn’t make a point of highlighting those things which would come to characterize his later persona. Instead, he just seems about as hapless as Dennis and Mac.
One of the most notable changes that occur between the first season and its successors is the character of Dee. In the beginning, she is something of the voice of reason, the person who is willing to take a step back.
This marked her as very different from her male counterparts and, truth be told, a waste of Kaitlin Olson’s formidable acting talents. She is a little bit boring in the first episodes of the series, so it is definitely a good thing that they slowly let her character become as prone to terrible behavior as the others, with all of the physical comedy this enabled.
By this point, it’s clear that much of the humor in It’s Always Sunny stems from the various schemes the Gang gets into. This is so tied up with the show’s fundamental identity that it’s hard to imagine it without it.
This was not at all true in the beginning, however, when there was a much stronger emphasis on Paddy’s Pub and what it took to run a bar. Given just how zany these schemes have become and how skilled the show is at mining these scenarios for uproarious humor, this is a change that has been for the good.
With each new season, It’s Always Sunny has shown a willingness to truly push the envelope, creating very cringeworthy moments. It’s for this reason that it should be regarded as both a great sitcom in its own right and one of the best series on FX.
Notably, however, there is a notable lack of truly problematic episodes in the first season. Compared to what will come after, the first season is almost boring. It’s a clear sign that the show was still finding its footing and trying to decide just what kind of a series it would end up being.
Given how much of a success It’s Always Sunny has become, it would make sense that it has come a long way in terms of how much money it has been given. One of the most unrecognizable aspects of the first season, in particular, is how primitive the production values are.
It’s not bad, per se, but it’s clearly a show that has not been given a large budget to play with. It has the feel and the look of a low-budget independent comedy movie, and it wouldn’t be until later that it would attain the polish of one of its home network’s flagship series.
One of the things that make It’s Always Sunny such a hilarious show is its characters. Each of them, as the seasons have gone on, has become quite distinct. However, this wasn’t nearly as much the case in the first season.
The characters as they emerge here are, in some key ways, very similar to one another, with just enough personality characteristics to tell them apart. As it slowly found its feet, however, it also allowed each member of the cast to imbue their characters with the traits with which they would become so identified.
Like all great shows, It’s Always Sunny has excelled at creating compelling side characters. Perhaps none of these is more important than Cricket, who has had to endure unspeakable things at the hand of the Gang. In the first season, however, he is nowhere to be found.
Given just how humorous–and tragic–he would become in the later seasons of the show, his absence is particularly notable. It’s also a further sign of how, during its first season, the show didn’t yet know just what direction it was going to take with its humor.
Thomas J. West III earned a PhD in film and screen studies from Syracuse University in 2018. His writing on film, TV, and popular culture has appeared in Screenology, FanFare, Primetimer, Cinemania, and in a number of scholarly journals and edited collections. He co-hosts the Queens of the B’s podcast with Mark Muster and writes a regular newsletter, Omnivorous, on Substack.
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: 10 Things About Season 1 That Are Unrecognizable Now – Screen Rant
