Ranking the 43 best episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Warning: This post contains NSFW language and video clips.
That show about the worst people you’ve ever met continues to chug along. Wednesday, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia returns for its 16th season.
It’s an impressive run for a show whose pilot was filmed for $200. It’s Always Sunny narrowly avoided cancellation after its first season, added Danny DeVito to the main cast in Season 2 and has emerged an iconic constant in the television landscape ever since. For nearly two decades, the gang — Mac, Dennis, Dee, Charlie and Frank — have been the genesis of several terrible, nearly brilliant ideas. They’ve created products like Kitten Mittens and Fight Milk, multiple unlicensed Lethal Weapon sequels, brought the worst parts of America to Ireland and above all else, yelled a whole bunch.
In respect of these accomplishments, it’s time to separate the wheat from the chaff. There are currently 164 episodes of It’s Always Sunny that have been broadcast. Roughly 160 of them are pretty good (sorry, “Frank’s Brother” and “Charlie’s Home Alone”). But some clearly rise above the rest, and what began as a top 20 quickly swelled into a top 40-plus.
As a warning, this list is full of NSFW language and clips. You knew this coming into a rundown of It’s Always Sunny episodes. But since this is a family website, particularly when it comes to swears, there are gonna be some PG edits involved that, uh, fail to do some of the best quotes justice.
As for the order of my top 10 however? No regrets. No hesitation. No surrender, and no man left behind.