It may be the winter, but It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That’s right, the show is back and better than ever.
Now in its tenth season, the Sunny Gang has continued its path of crazy shenanigans spearheaded by Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day), Dennis Reynolds (Glenn Howerton), his twin sister Dee Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson), the surname-less Mac (Rob McElhenney), and Frank Reynolds, played by longtime comedy veteran Danny DeVito.
Although the show has been on the air since 2005, it is in its second season since being moved from its original network FX to new affiliated network FXX.
The Gang has been successful in many different forms of media. In the final episode of the fourth season, the Sunny cast performed a play called “The Nightman Cometh.” Due to this episode’s widespread popularity, the Gang performed the musical in six cities.
In addition to the play, the Gang released its 256-page paperback book, The Gang Writes a Self-Help Book: The 7 Secrets of Awakening the Highly Effective Four-Hour Giant, Today, on Jan. 6. The back of the book claims, “It works! Trust us! Warning: Following the ‘advice’ contained herein could get you arrested, maimed, or killed.” These are the antics of the Gang that have earned them such a large following since the show’s premier.
On Jan. 14, Sunny opened up the new season with the Gang on a plane, each person wearing a white tee shirt with varying tally marks. The episode, titled “The Gang Beats Boggs,” is about the Gang trying to beat Wade Boggs’ record of drinks consumed during a cross-country flight to Seattle before a game against the Mariners.
This is not the first time that Sunny has had a baseball-themed episode. In a season five episode titled “The World Series Defnese,” the Gang appear in front of a judge to defend a parking ticket they received while attending a World Series game.
One of the most politically incorrect comedies on television, It’s Always Sunny has yet to slow down after many seasons on air, unlike many of its contemporary comedies. Because of this, FXX has the Gang on contract for at least two more seasons of the show after this new season. At the conclusion of its twelfth season, in a couple of years, it will be the longest-running live action comedy in cable history.
Despite the show’s longtime cult following and popularity on streaming sites like Netflix, the show’s main cast, excluding DeVito, had not appeared in much other mainstream media until recently.
Day has recently found more fame in starring in Horrible Bosses and its sequel alongside Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis.
Howerton had a supporting role in the award-winning miniseries Fargo and also had a recurring role on The Mindy Project, in which McElhenney also guest starred.