How Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the Longest-Running Sitcom on the Air, Keeps Up – Vanity Fair

In 2005, the world was a different place. George W. Bush occupied the White House, YouTube was a brand-new novelty, and Donald Trump was content to yell youre fired at reality-show contestants. At the same time, and with little fanfare, FX was prepping its newest series: Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a jet black comedy about a group of largely despicable peopleMac (Rob McElhenney), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Charlie (Charlie Day), and Dee (Kaitlin Olson), with Frank (Danny DeVito) joining the Gang in season twowho run (aka spend most of the day drinking at) Paddys Pub, a derelict bar in South Philly.

If the premise doesnt sound like the setup for a daring political sitcom, thats because it was never meant to be one. [Sunny] wasnt born out of wanting to get up on a soapbox or wanting to be controversial, says Rob McElhenney, Sunnys creator, executive producer, writer, and star. It was a function of us trying to figure out how we could be different from other shows. Ultimately for Sunny, that meant constructing a politically incorrect world in which self-interest was the main currency, taking the selfishness of Seinfelds characters and ramping it up dramatically for the basic-cable boom.

Fourteen years later, televisions comedy landscape is wildly differentFleabag won Emmys, Barry took dark comedy to a bloody new level, and even on the networks theres The Good Place building a sitcom around moral philosophy. But back in Philadelphia, the Paddys gang remains as nihilistic and boundary-pushing as ever, keeping up with modern developments like the #MeToo movement and Trump presidency with the same commitment to making audiences laugh at the inanity of the world around them. Now tied with The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet as televisions longest-running live-action comedy, Sunny continues to keep up, even as the real world matches the absurdity its been dishing up for more than a decade.

As characters living in the real world in (almost) real time, weve seen the Gang tackle topical issues in episodes like Gun Fever, The Gang Goes Jihad, The Gang Solves the North Korea Situation, The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis, and Mac Fights Gay Marriage. But the series has a well-established tradition of addressing hot-button topics in the most extreme ways possibleand coming at them from both sides (even when that other side originates in a dark or dangerous place). Whereas other shows are content to dance around controversial concerns, Sunny smacks them right in the facesometimes literally. Sunny has regularly been overlooked as one of televisions most adroit political satires, but you dont have to go too deep below the surface to see it.

Our show has really always been based on giving the characters a very strong point of view or a strong want or need or desire, and having that desire come into conflict with somebody elses desires, wants, and needs, says executive producer-writer-star Glenn Howerton, who also directed two season 14 episodes (including its opener, The Gang Gets Romantic). I think weve taken that basic tenet of writing and just added the element of something topical to that.

One of the benefits of having an ensemble cast of characters who are often at odds with each other, or at least suspicious of each others motives, is that its easy to introduce a controversial issue and have everyone come down on a slightly different side of it. We look at what the conversations areand what are the interesting arguments. Because the argument is whats entertaining to watch, says executive producer-writer-star Charlie Day.

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How Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the Longest-Running Sitcom on the Air, Keeps Up - Vanity Fair