It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been on the air for over a decade now and it’s still going strong with more seasons on the way. The key to the show’s longevity has always been its ability to experiment with different styles and subversions on the familiar formula.
The writers have experimented with everything from a Christmas episode to a P.O.V. episode to a surreal inversion of a clip show. 15 seasons in, the show is still able to surprise its audience with narrative experiments like a four-episode trip to Ireland.
A Very Sunny Christmas (Season 6, Episode 13)
At the end of its sixth season, It’s Always Sunny explored the Gang’s bizarre holiday celebrations in a hilarious Christmas special. Unsurprisingly, “A Very Sunny Christmas” eschews the usual sentimentality of yuletide-themed sitcom episodes.
In a parody of A Christmas Carol, Frank comes close to redemption, then gets double-crossed by his old business partner (who he originally betrayed) and goes right back to his duplicitous ways.
Frank’s Brother (Season 7, Episode 5)
In the middle of the seventh season, It’s Always Sunny did a flashback episode. A lot of the humor in “Frank’s Brother” stems from Danny DeVito donning a toupee to play young Frank and being referred to as a “kid” by all the characters around him.
Regular Coen brothers collaborator Jon Polito guest-stars as Gino, Frank’s estranged brother. The two tell the Gang their backstory, centered around a love triangle with a nightclub singer named Shadynasty.
The Janitor Always Mops Twice (Season 14, Episode 6)
Charlie stars in his own hard-boiled detective noir in season 14’s “The Janitor Always Mops Twice.” The illiterate custodian dives into the criminal underworld of Philly to get to the bottom of who “diarrhea-poisoned” Frank.
Shot in black-and-white, “The Janitor Always Mops Twice” gets the high-contrast lighting, the grizzled voiceover, and the twisty storytelling of the film noir just right.
A Cricket’s Tale (Season 12, Episode 9)
In the penultimate episode of season 12, Rickety Cricket took center stage. Cricket is usually relegated to supporting roles, or even just brief cameo appearances, but “A Cricket’s Tale” is told entirely from Cricket’s perspective.
The episode pulls together all of Cricket’s cameos throughout the season, weaving them into a story about struggling to reconnect with his father and get his life together.
Charlie Work (Season 10, Episode 4)
Season 10’s “Charlie Work” is one of the most visually engaging episodes in Sunny history. As Paddy’s is faced with an impromptu health inspection, director Matt Shakman follows a flustered Charlie around the bar in what appears to be a single continuous tracking shot.
Although “Charlie Work” was inspired by the long-take sequence in True Detective, the air date of the episode ultimately lined up more closely with then-recent Best Picture winner Birdman with jazz drum on the soundtrack.
The Gang Does A Clip Show (Season 13, Episode 7)
When TV showrunners have an episode count to pad out, they’ll sometimes indulge in a “clip show” cutting together existing footage from the series. If they tune in to watch a new episode and get presented with a bunch of classic moments they’ve already seen before, audiences can be bitterly disappointed by clip shows.
In season 13’s “The Gang Goes a Clip Show,” Sunny inventively plays around with the “clip show” format with fabricated clips taken from the Gang’s warped interpretation of reality (including one scene from a completely different show).
The Gang Saves The Day (Season 9, Episode 6)
When It’s Always Sunny reached the 100-episode milestone, the writers experimented with an anthology-style episode, “The Gang Saves the Day,” in which the Gang is caught in a hold-up and each of them fantasizes about how they’ll save the day.
Everyone has their own segment: Mac stars in an action movie, Dee goes to Hollywood, and there’s a Pixar-style animated segment charting Charlie’s Up-esque love story with the Waitress.
The Gang Turns Black (Season 12, Episode 1)
There’s a fantastical element to the season 12 premiere, “The Gang Turns Black,” with a Freaky Friday-style “body swap” narrative. The Gang spends the episode trying to learn whatever lesson they need to learn to get back to their own bodies.
The episode also experiments with another genre framework – the musical – with such catchy numbers as “What Are the Rules?” and “Give Me One Good Reason.”
Being Frank (Season 11, Episode 6)
Season 11’s “Being Frank” is shot entirely from Frank’s point of view and his thoughts can be heard in voiceover narration, evoking the style of the classic British sitcom Peep Show.
“Being Frank” offers fans a glimpse at a typical day in Frank’s life. While he struggles to keep up with the Gang’s latest scheme, he goes on various debauched detours to take drugs with Bill Ponderosa, steal a rug from Artemis, and get kidnapped by some burly strip club patrons.
Mac Finds His Pride (Season 13, Episode 10)
The season 13 finale, “Mac Finds His Pride,” was the first time the show got emotional. It’s Always Sunny had enjoyed a brazenly cynical attitude for more than a decade at that point, so tugging on the audience’s heartstrings marked a radical change of pace.
With a breathtaking performance by Rob McElhenney, “Mac Finds His Pride” pulled it off beautifully. Sunny revisited the idea of hitting fans in the feels in the season 15 finale when Charlie broke down next to the corpse of his estranged father in Ireland.
The Gang Goes To Ireland (Season 15, Episode 5)
Midway through season 15, when the guys decide to take a vacation to “the whiskey beer island of green and fight” and Dee lands an acting gig in Ireland, the Gang heads to the Emerald Isle (and ends up staying there for a four-episode arc).
“The Gang Goes to Ireland” and its sequels avoided the trappings of other sitcoms that take a jaunt to another locale in a latter-day season. Sunny’s Ireland arc isn’t just the same familiar formula in a new setting; it shakes things up with a serialized storyline and a surprisingly emotional tone.
