It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is TV’s longest-running live-action sitcom, and some seasons are better than others.
Sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been going strong since 2005. Both a cult item and a mainstream success (at least somewhat), the show has gone on to become the longest-running live-action sitcom of all time.
That accomplishment is both incredible and understandable. For one, the show is a niche item that is far from universally appealing (especially those who cringe at cursing), yet it’s reached a wide enough audience on a relatively small network (FX, then FXX) that it may very well extend to Season 20. For now, though, fans will have to settle for a decade and a half of hysterical material, some of which ranks higher than others.
Ssharlenes was very clear: “Definitely eight for me, there’s not an episode in that season I haven’t seen a million times. Reynolds vs Reynolds is my favorite episode on top of that.” Reynolds vs. Reynolds: The Cereal Defense is a very fun episode, though it’s far from enough to give Season 8 the crown.
A now-deleted user also championed the season in a separate thread: “I thought season 8 was a good one. It felt like a return to some of the original style after season 7, which definitely felt a bit different, especially in the early episodes.”
The-Juggernaut said that they “really liked season 11. Mac and Dennis Move to the Suburbs was amazing. The ski resort episode had me dying.” The Redditor has a point about Suburbs, one of the greatest episodes from the past five seasons. And, while The Gang Hits the Slopes doesn’t meet that mark, it still has some very memeable Charlie Kelly moments.
While GoldenGuy444 was discussing Season 12, they also showed some love for Season 11. In particular, its finale: “I have a soft spot for Season 11’s insanity (The Gang Goes to Hell is so underrated it hurts) but felt that Season 12 felt much more refined.” They then reaffirmed their point with “No matter what anyone says, The Gang Goes to Hell is the best Season finale the series has done. No matter how Mind F****** this Season finale felt.” The Redditor has a point on The Gang Goes to Hell, it’s at the very least the most intelligent, character-deepening season finale of the series.
For instance, This Redditor wrote that “Season 5 is the best,” but they “would put Season 6 at a close 2nd. I don’t know about anybody else but I think every episode in 6 is a classic. I mean come on, The Gang Buys a Boat is one of the most quoted episodes around here (“the implication”). Also Charlie Kelly: King of the Rats? Denim chikon or however he spells it? C’mon, the whole season is amazing!”
Editfilm then added another example: “Mac and Charlie: White Trash is one of my favorite episodes of the series.” Season 6 has some bangers, but Mac and Charlie: White Trash is timeless. The B-plot with Dennis and Dee trying to get into a pool club to prove they’re high-class is pretty great, but Mac and Charlie arguing and doing splits in skinny jeans at the bottom of an empty pool where “Jamie Nelson died” is absolute gold.
JJyaz7 started a thread to profess their love for the 9th season: “I’m rewatching IASIP rn and am currently on season 9. I totally forgot how good this season was. Almost every episode is great. And the gang saves the day, mac day, and the gang gets quarantined is also among the top sunny eps in the whole show IMO.”
Season 9 is the ultimate mixed bag of It’s Always Sunny‘s run. There are either extreme highs or extreme lows, with nothing much in between. On the former side there’s “Mac Day,” “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award,” and “The Gang Gets Quarantined” (which is well worth watching even in the COVID-19 era).
GoldenGuy444 sang the praises of a few of the season’s best episodes, writing about “The Gang Turns Black,” “The musical episode was good. If they could make like a 4 minute extended version of the Scott Bakula song I would be in heaven.”
The Redditor also cited the season’s best episodes (and by far one of the best episodes of the series as a whole): “Really liked ‘Hero or Hate Crime?’ felt they could have played a bit more with the character’s view of the incident but it was still really funny.”
SlammaJamuh started a thread to write about the sophomore season: “I’m going back through the early seasons on Netflix and realizing how good the second season is–it’s where the series, in my opinion, find their footing. It’s the introduction of Frank, there is continuity between episodes, and it’s when the gang’s antics are on the lower end of the ridiculousness spectrum.”
The ridiculousness of Sunny‘s later seasons is both logical (the ante must be upped) and outright humorous (look no further than the introspective Waiting for Big Mo in Season 14). However, there’s an appeal to seasons one through four (arguably five) that many fans consider both more brazen and more realistic than what came later.
Some Redditors tore into Season 14, but others saw the season for what it really was: a high point of the series’ later years. Season 14 is outstanding, and will probably always stand as It’s Always Sunny‘s most underrated year.
For reference, there are 10 episodes (like most of the show’s post-Season 7 run) and seven of the 10 are top-notch: “Thunder Gun 4: Maximum Cool,” “Dee Day,” “The Gang Chokes,” “The Gang Texts,” “The Janitor Always Mops Twice,” “The Gang Solves Global Warming,” and “Waiting for Big Mo.” All of these episodes either try something utterly new or serve as worthwhile and effective commentary about the show’s history. Space_Monkey_Bob put it best with: “These will age like fine wine….”
There’s a subsection of It’s Always Sunny fans that view Season 4 as the God of the series; The perfect merging of the early seasons’ roughness and the later seasons’ increased envelope-pushing. Bare minimum, the season contains the series’ best episode, The Nightman Cometh.
A now-deleted user is one such fan: “And now I’ve consulted an episode list and I’m pretty sure my favorite season is 4. Gas Crisis, Nightman Cometh, Who Pooped the Bed?, Paddy’s Pub: The Worst Bar in Philadelphia, The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell… very high number of great eps.” The Redditor’s first two examples are bonafide classics, but many would disagree with the other three choices. “Who Pooped the Bed?” hinges on one juvenile, unfunny joke and never does much else with it (though Dee’s B-plot is effective), Paddy’s Pub: The Worst Bar in Philadelphia is the only post-S1 episode to not include Frank, and The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell is despised by most fans on the level of Season 7’s Frank’s Brother.
Sdudenhoeffer wrote “Best is 5. The variety of the episodes was amazing.” A now-deleted user corroborated the viewpoint later in the thread: “Agreed, the best season is 5. You can’t top episodes like Frank’s intervention and the gang goes to the grand canyon.”
Bdxc36 was even more effusive with their praise: “Season 5. The only episode I would consider somewhat bad is the Recession Episode. Other than that, you have The Gang Hits the Road, The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention, World Series Defense, The Gang Wrestles for the Troops, The DENNIS System, and Mac and Charlie Write a Movie, which are all phenomenal episodes. Then the season ends with The Gang Reignites the Rivalry, which is the best episode in the entire series.” Every episode the Redditor mentions is an all-timer, and they’re just about enough to put season 5 at the top of the heap.
Two seasons of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia have (almost) consistently hit the nail on the head: Season 5 and Season 7. Dennis__Reynolds (with their great name) positioned Season 7 at number one: “My personal favorite season is Season 7, looking at the episodes I can’t pick any specific ones because they’re all that good.” However, the Redditor then lists some of the season’s highlights: “The Gang Gets Trapped, The High School Reunion, The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore, and Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games.”
Constantvariable agreed, but made note of the season’s one horribly-received episode, “Frank’s Brother,” which is unquestionably the most misguided episode of the series, effectively forsaking the contentious camaraderie that makes each episode an uncomfortable joy.
Ben Hathaway is a novelist, copywriter, and film buff located in Richmond, VA. While he loves cinema as a whole, his favored genre is horror.
