It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (also known as It's Always Sunny, Always Sunny or just Sunny) is an American television sitcom, which premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. The series was created and developed by Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Day, who also star in the show. The series follows the exploits of "The Gang", a group of self-centered friends who run Paddy's Pub, a relatively unsuccessful Irish bar in South Philadelphia.

History

The show began as a pilot called "It's Always Sunny on TV" and was shot on a digital camcorder by Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob McElhenney. After viewing the pilot, FX Network executives ordered the first season. Although it is often stated publicly that the pilot was shot for $200, the makers of the show have claimed that the cost was much lower because the only costs were videotapes. Danny DeVito, who joined the show in Season Two, said on The Daily Show (August 3, 2006) and on The Late Show with David Letterman (September 6, 2007) that the cost was only $85.

The first season ran for seven episodes with the season finale airing September 13, 2005. According to McElhenney, word of mouth on the show was that it was good enough for FX to renew it for a second, which ran from June 29 to August 17, 2006. DeVito joined the cast, playing the father of Dennis (played by Glenn Howerton) and Dee (played by Kaitlin Olson). Reruns of edited first season episodes began airing on FX's parent network, FOX, in 2006.

On August 18, 2007, a preview episode from a third-season episode "Mac is a Serial Killer" appeared on the group's MySpace page. The third season ran from September 13, 2007 to November 15, 2007. On March 5, 2008, FX renewed It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia for a fourth season.

On July 15, 2008, it was reported that FX has ordered 39 additional episodes of the series which means that the show will run until at least a seventh season. All remaining seasons will consist of 13 episodes. All five main cast members were secured for the entire scheduled run.

The fifth season premiered on September 17, 2009

Beginning in 2010, Comedy Central will be airing reruns of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Synopsis

The series follows The Gang, a group of five alcoholic, unethical underachievers who run Paddy's Pub, a run-down bar in Philadelphia. They are dishonest, selfish, egotistical, and antagonistic, and are often embroiled in controversial issues. Episodes usually find them hatching elaborate schemes, conspiring against one another or others for personal gain or the pleasure of watching their downfall. Their tactics often rely on inflicting emotional and sometimes physical pain on individuals both deserving and undeserving. They regularly use sex to blackmail and manipulate one another and others outside of the group. Their unity is never solid; any of them would quickly dump the others for quick profit or personal gain regardless of the consequences. Almost everything they do results in competition between them.

The title of most episodes is presented as a punchline tying in with the gag in the cold open. For example, in one cold open, Dee protests that whenever Frank hangs out with The Gang, someone gets hurt. Frank disagrees and asks "I'm just palling with the guys, how's anyone going to get hurt?" Immediately the title card appears, reading "Frank Sets Sweet Dee on Fire." The title appears as the theme song starts, directly before the credits roll. The title is almost always a complete sentence describing the plot of the episode. The wording usually containing either "The Gang" or one of the five by name as the subject of the sentence, such as "The Gang Solves the North Korea Situation" or "Sweet Dee is Dating a Retarded Person."

Every episode starts out with white text on a black background, stating a time, then shows "On a..." with the "..." being a day of the week, and finally ends with "Philadelphia, PA" such as "12:30 PM. On a Saturday. Philadelphia, PA" in "The Gang Wrestles For The Troops." During the time/date/location cards, the episode's audio is heard, normally members of The Gang talking about something.

Cast and characters

The Gang

Mac

Played by Rob McElhenney, Mac is Charlie's childhood friend and Dennis' high school friend and later roommate. He is a co-owner of Paddy's and generally the pub's most active manager. He comes from a broken home; his father has been incarcerated for dealing meth and his mother is extremely apathetic. Mac constantly seeks the acceptance of others, especially his parents, but his over-earnest efforts make him come off as an "asshole." Dennis notes that the only reason Mac hung out with the popular kids in high school was because he sold them pot and even then was considered a "jerk." A moral and physical coward, Mac frequently strives to appear "hard," usually to impress his father or friends, but he generally flees from confrontations and fares poorly in fights.

Throughout the series, it is apparent that Mac is jealous of other people's success. When he learns that Charlie and the McPoyle brothers were possibly sexually molested by their—and Mac's—elementary school gym teacher, he feels rejected and worries that he is somehow inferior for having not been molested himself. He proceeds to research why he didn't get molested, stating that "If the McPoyles got blown, and Charlie got blown, then why didn't I get blown?" Although he seeks his friends' acceptance, Mac takes special pleasure in undermining, physically harming, contradicting, and publicly belittling Sweet Dee at every possible opportunity. Like Dennis, Mac sees himself as superior to the rest of The Gang and often attempts to prove his supremacy. For instance, in an attempt to impress Charlie and Dennis, he makes a series of "Project Badass" videotapes that consist of various idiotic stunts; however, the pair believes that Mac is just trying to "bang" them. He has an ongoing sexual relationship with a pre-op transsexual named Carmen, for whom he claims he is just "putting in time" as he waits for her surgery. There is much evidence that Mac is harboring one or more STDs.

Mac sincerely believes that he is an adept martial artist with "cat-like reflexes," and he usually wears sleeveless shirts to draw attention to his fitness and to exhibit his tribal tattoos. A Catholic, Mac is the only member of The Gang to profess a religious faith. Though Mac seems to care more about issues such as abortion, community activism, and parenting than the rest of The Gang, his views on such subjects are invariably twisted, ignorant, or prejudiced, and his actions regarding them are always hypocritical and selfish. For instance, after pretending to be adamantly pro-life in order to attract a female activist, Mac later demands that she get an abortion when he thinks she has become pregnant. Mac drinks alcohol like the rest of The Gang and abuses other substances, such as poppers and glue.

Mac's full name is rather ambiguous. In the season four episode "The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell," the Colonial-era Mac character is referred to as "MacDonald." But this is unlikely to be his real name because, in the same episode, the Colonial-era Frank is referred to as "Franklin" to reflect the episode's time-period. On parole papers seen in the episode "Mac & Charlie Die," Mac's father's name is listed as "Luther Mac" and his mother is usually referred to as Mrs. Mac. It is a reasonable theory that "Mac" is his last name.

Mac carols his signature line, "What's up, bitches?", throughout the series. In many episodes, Mac will enter the bar announcing "I've got news," or a variation on that basic idea, to set the episode's plot in motion. The others rarely share his enthusiasm, but he usually convinces one of them to follow him, though often reluctantly. Throughout the series, Mac flashes his signature "puppy-dog look" when he is ashamed or when he proposes something reprehensibly shameful.

Dennis Reynolds

Played by Glenn Howerton, Dennis is a co-owner of Paddy's and is Deandra's twin brother. He is highly narcissistic, selfish, and vain. He is an underachiever who arguably passed the peak of his life in high school, when he was popular. Dennis' sense of self-worth is entirely dependent on what others think of his appearance and sex appeal. He frequently obsesses over any possibility that he may have a visible physical flaw and often spends the remainder of the episode trying to correct it. Dennis needs constant reassurance that he is attractive; he often goes to shocking or dangerous lengths to gain the attention and approval of people around him. Throughout the series, Dennis frequently drinks large amounts of alcohol and occasionally uses other drugs.

Dennis has a stong superiority complex. He is almost wholly unable to empathize and routinely destroys others' property, betrays his friends, and harshly criticizes the appearance of people in his presence. He even insults and demeans his friends, particularly Deandra and Charlie, on a regular basis and never hesitates to draw attention to their flaws, shortcomings, and past failures. Both his friends and enemies refer to him as "a piece of shit" within the series. In response, Dennis usually smiles or laughs and rarely disagrees with their sentiment, seeming to be perfectly comfortable with being "a piece of shit". Dennis openly considers himself to be the epitome of physical attractiveness, but is actually very insecure about his looks. Although he is generally unfazed and often pleased by insults about his personality or nonphysical features, he is very sensitive to any negative remarks about his physical appearance. Any critique of his looks, however mild or trivial, deeply distresses Dennis and often leads him to extreme behavior. In the episode "The Gang Exploits A Miracle," Deandra counters Dennis' insults by claiming that he has a "fat face" which temporarily causes Dennis to become dangerously anorexic, passing out at the end of the episode in front of the Gang and a priest, who presumably "teabags" him.

Exceedingly promiscuous, Dennis tends to easily gain the short-term favor of women. He's claimed that, in his sexual encounters, the words "no", "don't", and "stop" never stop him from following his intentions. It has been revealed that Dennis was once dismissed from a counselor position at a summer camp because he was accused of the statutory rape of an underage teenage girl, although he maintains he just kissed the girl, who was only a year younger than him. Members of The Gang comment on his attraction to teenage girls in "Underage Drinking: A National Concern"; in this episode, Dennis ends up being blackmailed by an eighteen-year-old high school senior into escorting her to her high school prom. Dennis also has a fascination with anonymous sex, even going so far as to install a glory hole in the men's room at Paddy's.

Dennis is also implied to have had a gay experience while blackout drunk at the beginning of the first season when Mac, helping Sweet Dee get revenge, got Dennis drunk on tequila. Dennis shows a comprehensive understanding of the mechanics of gay relationships. He knows what it means to be a bear or a twink and understands how a "top" differs from a "bottom"; he explains to The Gang that "speed is the name of the game" when defining the role of a "power bottom". The possibly-ambiguous nature of his sexuality and gender identity has been explored in other episodes and is usually connected to his vanity and need for peer approval.

Dennis' taste in music is primarily what Mac calls "early-eighties glam-rock femme-shit." Dennis is seen singing along with songs of Rick Astley on multiple occasions. Despite making less than $400 a week at the bar, Dennis' family's wealth enables him to wear stylish clothing and drive a Range Rover. He is the most educated of The Gang, having graduated from University of Pennsylvania. He mentions that he minored in psychology but failed to achieve his original ambition to become a veterinarian. He also has some artistic talent that he expresses by drawing cartoonish large-breasted women, which Charlie finds enticing.

"Popping off" his shirt in inappropriate situations has become one of Dennis' main clichés. Dennis' delusional self-image influences him to believe that anyone would want to see him without his shirt and would be just as pleased as he is with what they see.

Charlie Kelly

Charlie Day plays the role of Charlie Kelly, a co-owner at Paddy's and childhood friend of Mac and Dennis. He is also Frank's roommate and possibly his biological son. Charlie is an angry person and prone to outbursts. He has poor personal hygiene, lives in squalor, and frequently abuses inhalants such as glue and spray paint. Charlie, like the rest of The Gang, drinks copious amounts of alcohol. Throughout the show, Charlie exhibits difficulty reading and writing; The Gang frequently accuses him of being illiterate and calls him "retarded." On one occasion, Mac went so far as to claim that "no one understands the subtleties of Charlie's retardation better than me."

Like the rest of The Gang, Charlie has a poor grasp of history and current events, sometimes avoiding a conversation altogether to maintain his dignity. His anger management issues, substance abuse, lack of common sense, and poor grasp of reality tend to prevent him from ever achieving much success in life. Despite his intellectual shortcomings, Charlie is very capable of devising intricate Machiavellian plans to manipulate other characters in the show and achieve his goals.

Charlie seems to be the most artistically talented member of The Gang. In "The Nightman Cometh," he demonstrates his abilities as a playwright, musical composer, and director. Like Deandra, however, he suffers from stage fright and becomes nauseated when performing in front of live audiences. Charlie exhibits a tendency to dress in costumes and assume other personae, including the enigmatic and iconic "Green Man", a veteran who fought in the Vietnam War, a Texas Oil Baron, and Serpico. He has displayed skills in playing electric keyboard as seen in "Sweet Dee Is Dating A Retarded Person." In "The Aluminum Monster vs. Fatty McGoo," Charlie shows his ability to sew, a skill that he claims allows him to maintain his few articles of clothing. Charlie's signature attire throughout the series is seen whenever he is at home: a holey black t-shirt depicting a shiny black horse, and an old pair of long thermal underwear. Although he is a co-owner of Paddy's, he always seems to be broke and frequently asks for loans from his friends. His financial problems are exacerbated by his tendency to make "bad investments".

Many of the tedious and disgusting tasks at the pub are referred to as "Charlie work," even when Charlie is not performing them. His least-favorite task is killing rats in Paddy's because "it takes an emotional toll" on him. He seems almost inhumanly tough and resilient to injury. Mac and Dennis, who believe him to be nearly indestructible, frequently manipulate him into tests of his fortitude, such as hitting him over the head with beer bottles and chairs or having him tow Dennis' Range Rover through the streets of Philadelphia. In the season three premiere, Charlie's mother reveals that he was the survivor of a failed abortion attempt. Charlie has little-to-no success in dating and harbors an unrequited love for The Waitress, a recurring secondary character in the show. He goes to great lengths to attempt to win her over, despite her frequent declarations that she will never be interested in him. Charlie consistently shows more empathy than any other member of The Gang and seems to have higher ethical standards. He also shows a deeper understanding of right and wrong, perhaps due to a lifetime of mistreatment by other people. However, he is not above selfishly manipulating, deceiving, and harming others for personal gain or vengeance. He enjoys seeing the other members of The Gang embarrassed. In "Dennis And Dee's Mom Is Dead," he is eager to have someone read to him from Dee's middle school diary so he can laugh at her difficulties as a disabled adolescent.

There is a possibility that Frank Reynolds is his real father. It is not explicitly stated in the show, but in the Season 2 finale and Season 3 premiere, Charlie finds out that Frank had a one-night stand with his mother 30 years ago. Charlie tries to persuade Frank to take a paternity test but Frank adamantly refuses. Charlie and Frank's issue ends there, though they still live together in Charlie's "shit-hole apartment" wherein they share a pull out couch for sleeping. Charlie and Frank's apartment appears to be a one-room studio in which they sleep, cook on Charlie's hot plate, and urinate in bedpans and coffee cans.

Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds

Portrayed by Kaitlin Olson, Deandra is Dennis' twin sister and is the main bartender at Paddy's. She is considered the program's female "voice." Sweet Dee was unpopular in high school due to her severe scoliosis, for which she wore a corrective back brace that earned her the nickname "The Aluminum Monster." Additionally, she is often ridiculed for her resemblance to a bird by the rest of The Gang, especially Mac and Dennis. After flunking out of the University of Pennsylvania, where she had intended to major in psychology, Deandra decided to become an actress. However, she has put little effort into realizing her ambition and has never had any significant acting work; as a result, The Gang frequently taunts her that she lacks talent. Despite identifying herself as a compassionate liberal, she is characterized as being selfish, greedy, and prejudiced. Sweet Dee battles The Gang's view that "females are inferior" and feels that she must prove that she's as able as her male friends. In "The Gang Gets Invincible," Dee poses as male alter ego "Cole" to try out for the Philadelphia Eagles with Mac and Dennis. Frank is the only one who considers Dee a true member of The Gang. Whenever there is a decision or a vote amongst members of The Gang, the three younger guys habitually exclude her.

Since high school, Dee has had a long string of failed relationships and one-night stands throughout the series including: a high-school boy who used her for alcohol and to make his girlfriend jealous; a thief who robbed the bar; a middle-aged toothless Korean busboy; and Lil Kev, a rapper The Gang was convinced was a retarded person. Like the other members of The Gang, Deandra drinks very heavily, often to calm herself when meeting an attractive man. Relative to the rest of The Gang, Dee seems to drink more and be drunk more often. She harbors a phobia of the elderly. Despite her many insecurities, Dee is aggressively outspoken and is prone to violence when angered. At one point, she assaults a bum she finds masturbating in the alley behind Paddy's. Like Charlie, her anger is greatly amplified by use of anabolic steroids in "Hundred Dollar Baby." In "The Gang Solves The North Korea Situation," she is, along with Frank and Mac, on an American Idol-like panel where she portrays a drunken spoof of Paula Abdul, slurring her words and judging hopefuls in a talent contest. She drinks heavily from a cup full of "rum and Cokes" and uses the event as an excuse to criticize and demean the contestants.

She is consistently criticized and belittled by The Gang for her appearance, for her lack of talent, and for being a woman. Dee is usually ignored or ridiculed whenever she presents an idea to The Gang; however, if someone repeats her exact suggestion, it is immediately accepted. In her mother's will, Dee is told that she has been a disappointment and a mistake even though she is Dennis' twin. There is a subtle running gag throughout the show in which Sweet Dee will exaggeratedly kick into the air when she is angered or frustrated.

Sweet Dee's acting-career aspirations have inspired her to create several characters. Many of these are seen in the episode "America's Next Top Paddy's Billboard Model Contest," in which she attempts to be discovered by talent agencies by posting videos of her acting on a YouTube-like website. However, her presence in the videos is overshadowed by Charlie's idiotic performances as Green Man. Although Deandra shows no on-camera stage fright, she consistently faces severe glossophobia when performing in front of an audience. When she performs a stand-up comedy routine at a local comedy club, she vomits on stage due to her anxiety.

Dee was the only major character in the show to be conceived without an actor in mind. Although she was originally written to be a female voice of reason to contrast with the other ridiculous characters, Dee's character quickly became an equal participant in The Gang's illicit and morally-questionable activities once Olson was cast.

Frank Reynolds

Frank Reynolds, played by Danny DeVito, is the legal father of twins Dennis and Dee and the roommate and alleged biological father of Charlie. Introduced in the throes of a midlife crisis, he first appears in the Season 2 premiere, "Charlie Gets Crippled". His background is as a successful businessman with a long history of illegal operations and dealings with sordid characters, some of whom vow to "skin him alive." For example, in 1993, he opened a sweatshop in Vietnam. In the second episode of Season 2, "The Gang Goes Jihad", Frank becomes the owner of the land underneath Paddy's Pub after The Gang blew up the building next door to scare off an Israeli businessman who had attempted to evict them. He uses this leverage to forcibly join The Gang and become their "Captain". Frank also is a member of a street gang called the "Yellow Jacket Boys." They appear to be leather jacket-wearing thugs, but the most menacing thing they are seen doing is enchanting the streets of Philadelphia with their doowop singing. Frank styles himself as a master manipulator and frequently takes the lead in The Gang's schemes. He sometimes applies Naziesque tactics to accomplish his goals, employing other characters for gestapo-like support.

Frank claims to have his children's best interests at heart but he frequently exploits and insults them. Over the course of the series he has pimped out his son Dennis for "no-rules" sexual favors and trained his daughter Sweet Dee to be a boxer so she could fight the daughter of his longtime nemesis. He is especially cruel to Dee, constantly remarking negatively on her age and looks. In "The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis", Frank waterboards Dee in Paddy's men's room to gain a confession, while in "Dennis and Dee's Mom Is Dead" he convinces her to pretend to be engaged to him and almost taking part in incestuous activity with her. As the series goes along, he ceases to be a father figure to Dennis and Dee and is just part of The Gang. Frank seems to take Mac under his wing, "mentoring" him on how to succeed in life via shady, unethical and sometimes illegal methods. It is observed that Mac looks up to Frank, more so than the rest of The Gang, though Charlie takes extreme measures to ensure that Frank remains his roommate. It is revealed that Frank is possibly Charlie's long-lost father, due to Frank's one-night stand with Charlie's mom 30 years before. Frank claims he was never told of Charlie's birth, and pushed for Charlie's mom to have an abortion, which Charlie somehow survived.

Though he clearly teaches life lessons and even offers valuable insights to The Gang, Frank's worldview is often very skewed. In the episode "Mac and Dennis: Manhunters," Dennis remarks that some of the stories Frank tells of his life come straight from John Rambo's life. In the episode "The Gang Gets Held Hostage," Frank emulates John McClane from the Die Hard film series. In the episode "Mac Is A Serial Killer," Dennis says Frank "makes less sense every day." Frank has a tendency to trip on LSD, where he has manifested traumatizing experiences being trapped in the bathrooms of recreational vehicles. Like Mac, he drinks alcohol, but not to the excess that his young associates do, except in the episode "The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention."

Frank appears to be very wealthy. However, he prefers to live in squalor as Charlie's roommate in an apartment referred to by anyone who dares step into it as "a shit-hole," which originally stemmed from his desire to hide assets from his then-recently separated wife. Though Frank is egotistical, diabolical, and maniacal, he appears to have some good in him; he seems to care greatly for Charlie, possibly even more so than he does for Dennis and Dee. In "Mac and Charlie Die," he becomes grief-stricken when Charlie fakes his own death; he carries around a plastic likeness of Charlie through the streets while wailing and keening his love for him.

Frank is a severe compulsive gambler, seen betting on everything from grade school basketball to Russian roulette, usually with his chain smoking, and high-stakes betting ring of Vietnamese friends. Sweet Dee once told Frank, "You can't just come in here and start running our lives like this, it's not fair!" to which Frank replied "Wanna bet?" Dee, confused, asks "Bet on what? Whether or not it's fair?" to which Frank replies "Yeah. Bet on whatever." This is a prime example of his boundless addiction to gambling, no matter how ridiculous the circumstances. "What's the action?" is Frank's signature line. Frank often carries a handgun, producing it whenever and wherever he or others in The Gang feels it is necessary, pointing it around, even firing it at inappropriate times.

Friends and enemies

• The Waitress (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) — The Waitress is the most frequently recurring character outside of The Gang. She works at a coffee shop not far from Paddy's, and is introduced in the first episode "The Gang Gets Racist" as the object of Charlie's affections. The Waitress has absolutely no interest in Charlie, but harbors an unrequited crush on Dennis, who slept with her in the episode "Charlie Has Cancer." Charlie goes to great lengths to woo her, while she goes to great lengths to attract Dennis' attention. In attempts to make Dennis jealous, she "banged" Frank, almost "banged" Mac, and grind-danced with a homeless man in the episode "The Gang Dances Their Asses Off." Because of her obsession with Dennis, she is often the victim of The Gang's manipulative schemes. She is a recovering alcoholic, a fact referenced first in "The Gang Gives Back" when she becomes Charlie's Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, and referenced again in "Who Pooped The Bed" and "The Waitress Gets Married." As a running gag, none of the characters seems to know her real name; she is simply referred to as "The Waitress." The only clues to her real name is that it does not start with "W" and is not "Beautiful", which was the name Dennis gave to her when he was accused of not knowing what it was. In "The Waitress Is Getting Married", it is revealed that she went to high school with The Gang. Mary Elizabeth Ellis is Charlie Day's real-life spouse.

• Artemis (Artemis Pebdani) — Artemis is one of the more frequently recurring secondary characters, introduced in "Charlie Gets Cancer" as Sweet Dee's friend from her acting classes who acts out a scene from Coyote Ugly (which featured actress Kaitlin Olson in a small part). Artemis is overly serious about her craft and displays bizarre habits and outbursts. She is very open about her sexuality and often offers to perform in the nude, even when it is unnecessary. She purportedly smokes hashish and has tried unsuccessfully to smoke it with Sweet Dee. Artemis has a notable appearance in the episode "Who Pooped the Bed," in which she announces to a crowded nightclub that she has a "bleached asshole" and that she is going to attract men by taking off her bra in order to "blast my nips". Recently she was involved in a sexual relationship with Frank and the two shared a food fetish.

• Matthew Mara/Rickety Cricket (David Hornsby) — A frequently-recurring former man of the cloth and classmate of The Gang, Cricket wore humiliating giant leg braces in high school. He first appears in "The Gang Exploits a Miracle" to reveal that he still harbors his high-school crush on Sweet Dee. He admits he was convinced to eat horse feces for a chance to kiss Dee, which she refused since, as she says, "his breath smelled like shit." Mac and Dennis have been teabagging Cricket at every opportunity since high school. Dennis claims that he has a shoebox full of pictures of him and Mac doing this, and pictures are surfacing on the Internet. One recurring theme in the series is Cricket's downward spiral: In his first appearance, he is a priest; after quitting this, he is reduced to begging on the streets. He is used by The Gang to sell cocaine for the Mob--he has his legs broken after Dennis scapegoats him; after this, he carries a vendetta against The Gang. He is most recently seen in "The Gang Wrestles for the Troops" where he was asked by The Gang to wrestle for them. He appears under the name, "The Talibum", where he hits Dee in the face with a chair and blows sand into both Dennis and Charlie's eyes. Frank then hits him with a trashcan and, by doing so, slashes his throat.

• Ryan and Liam McPoyle (Nate Mooney and Jimmi Simpson) — The McPoyles are creepy former elementary-school classmates of Mac and Charlie. They are introduced in "Charlie Gets Molested" falsely accusing their former school teacher of paedophilia, this led them to their antipathy toward Charlie and the rest of their gang because they foiled their plan and turned them into the police. The two brothers have an incestuous relationship with each other and their deaf-mute sister Margaret (Thesy Surface). As seen in "The Gang Gets Invincible," they have at least 14 other siblings and family members, who all sport the McPoyle features such as unibrows, acne, and eczema. The most notable relative is "Doyle McPoyle" (Bob Rusch), an aspiring football player. This led to further conflict as with The Gang because Doyle lost his chance to play for the Philadelphia Eagles when Frank accidentally shot him in the leg. They take revenge in the episode "The Gang Gets Held Hostage" by faking a raid on the bar. The McPoyles also have a strange obsession with milk.

• Carmen (Brittany Daniel) — Carmen is a male-to-female transsexual who is dating Mac, much to his nervous embarrassment. She first appears in the episode "Charlie Has Cancer," then reappears two seasons later in the episode "Mac Is a Serial Killer." She is attractive but displays an obvious bulge in her pants. She keeps Mac interested in her with promises of undergoing sexual reassignment surgery and with constant flattery of Mac's physique.

• The Lawyer (Brian Unger) — The lawyer is first seen in "Dennis and Dee's Mom Is Dead" where The Gang mistake him for having personal involvement as the executor of Barbara Reynolds' will. He returns in Season 5, eager to personally stop Frank—he represents a family that Frank is trying to force out of their house. After Charlie makes an attempt to prove that he's more legally apt than the actual lawyer, he challenges him to a duel; the lawyer immediately accepts, claiming to have a loaded gun in his office desk. He also appears again in "Paddy’s Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens" when The Gang goes to him to get patents for products that they have created. He then tricks them into signing a contract which gives him all the profits made from their products and includes a restraining order. He also makes hundreds of copies so Mac can't eat the contracts—a call back to earlier in the episode when Mac eats Dee's waitress contract making it null and void.

Parents

• Barbara Reynolds (Anne Archer) — (deceased) Frank's gold-digging ex-wife, Dennis and Dee's mother. She is a cold, cruel, selfish woman with little affection for her family. Frank refers to her as his "whore wife". The finale of season two revealed that Barbara tricked Frank into raising the twins because she thought he was wealthier than their biological father, Bruce Mathis (played by Stephen Collins). She dies of a botched neck-lift in the third season; Frank delivers the news to The Gang armed with champagne.

• Bruce Mathis (Stephen Collins) — Dennis and Dee's biological father. The antithesis of Frank Reynolds, Bruce devotes his time and money to charities and philanthropic efforts, including adopting several suffering children in Africa. He reconnects with his twins through Sweet Dee's MySpace page (in the episode "Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad"), but they are unable to have a successful relationship with him because of his good nature. He returns in "Dennis and Dee's Mom is Dead," in which he inherits Barbara's fortune and calls The Gang "the most horrible people alive."

• Bonnie Kelly (Lynne Marie Stewart) — Charlie's mom, a sweet and timid woman who is attracted to cruel men, not to men like Dennis. She had a one-night stand with Frank Reynolds 30 years ago, possibly making him Charlie's biological father. She later reconnects with Frank, enjoying his harsh treatment and becoming his "bang-maid," but she quickly transfers her affections to the intimidating Luther Mac after meeting him at a dinner party thrown by Mac and Charlie. Quite neurotic and emotional, she is prone to dramatic episodes.

• Luther Mac (Gregory Scott Cummins) — Mac's father, a convicted felon. In his first appearance ("Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad"), he attempts to get Mac and Charlie, who have come to visit him in prison and bond with him, to smuggle heroin into the prison. In "Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender," he is out on parole and convincing Mac to help him "take care of some people." He is tall and has numerous tattoos and a generally intimidating appearance because he never blinks. The warm and gentle Bonnie Kelly is attracted to Luther's aloof behavior and criminal past. Charlie and Mac try to sabotage Luther's parole. Luther forgives Mac for this in a note which also tells Mac to stay far away from him. He now spends his days sunning on a Mexican beach.

• Mrs. Mac (Sandy Martin) — Mac's mom first appears in "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom." She is usually seen smoking and watching television on the front porch of her home.

Selected guest stars

• Autumn Reeser - appears in "Charlie Wants An Abortion" as Megan, a pro-life activist that Mac meets at a pro-life center.
• Heather Donahue - appears in "Charlie Wants An Abortion" as Stacy Corvelli, a woman who claims Charlie is the father of her son.
• Jaimie Alexander - appears in "Underage Drinking: A National Concern" as Tammy, a high-school student who blackmails Dennis into escorting her to her prom.
• Michael Rosenbaum - appears in "Gun Fever" as Colin, a gun-loving thief who steals from the neighboring bars in Philadelphia by manipulating their female bartenders.
• Dennis Haskins - appears in "Charlie Got Molested" as Coach Murray, who is being prosecuted by the McPoyle brothers; they falsely claim that he molested them back in their school days. Mac makes a notable pass at him to see if he is desirable among pedophiles.
• Eddie Mekka - appears in "Hundred Dollar Baby" as Bobby Thunderson, Frank's old boxing rival from the 1960s, now the father of Dee's new boxing rival).
• Faizon Love - appears in "The Gang Gets Invincible" as the head trainer and coach of the Philadelphia Eagles development team.
• Geoffrey Owens - appears in "The Gang Gets Invincible" as himself, hired to play Donovan McNabb. The Gang immediately identify him as a McDonald's spokesperson and "the guy from The Cosby Show, Elvin."
• Richard Ruccolo - appears as a corporate rep in "The Gang Sells Out."
• Judy Greer - appears in "The Aluminum Monster vs. Fatty McGoo" as fashion designer/clothing store owner Ingrid Nelson (aka Fatty McGoo). She is a former schoolmate Dee used to torment—but she used this as inspiration to become far more successful than Dee.
• The Sklar Brothers - appeared in the episode "The Gang Dances Their Asses Off" as the obnoxious radio DJs hosting the Dance Marathon for the bar.
• Fisher Stevens - appears as Lyle Korman, a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer who is kidnapped by The Gang after he gives Paddy's Bar a negative review.
• Sinbad and Rob Thomas - both appear in "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life." They play fictionalized versions of themselves as fellow patients Dennis encounters after being dumped outside a rehab hospital by Frank and Mac, with Sinbad playing a dominant bully and Rob Thomas playing his bitch.
• Jon Runyan - appears as a construction worker interviewed by Sweet Dee in "America's Next Top Paddy's Billboard Contest."
• Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison also make appearances as construction workers in "America's Next Top Paddy's Billboard Contest," performing as radio disk jockeys on 93.3 WMMR in Philadelphia.
• Melanie Lynskey - appears in "The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis" as Kate, a woman who interviews Dee to see if she is appropriate to carry her child as a surrogate.
• Nora Dunn - appears in "The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention" as Donna the maternal aunt of Dennis and Dee.
• Mary Lynn Rajskub - appears in "The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention" as Gail the Snail, the cousin of Dennis and Dee.
• Nick Wechsler - appears in "The Waitress Is Getting Married" as the Waitress' fiance Brad. Brad used to suffer from acne and was dumped by both the waitress and Sweet Dee in High School.
• Roddy Piper - appears in "The Gang Wrestles for the Troops" as 'Da Maniac. 'Da Maniac is a old professional wrestler the gang hires to be in their wrestling show.
• Travis Schuldt - appears in "The Gang Wrestles for the Troops" and "The D.E.N.N.I.S. System" as Ben the Soldier. Ben is a soldier who Dee was talking to over the internet.
• Denis Hart - appears in "Charlie has Cancer" and "The World Series Defence" as 'The Hate Crime Guy'.
• Jill Latiano - appears in "The D.E.N.N.I.S. System" as Caylee. She plays the girl Dennis thrawts in his system of seduction. She is also Glenn Howerton's wife.

Episodes

Season	Ep #	First Airdate	Last Airdate
Season 1	7	August 4, 2005	September 15, 2005
Season 2	10	June 29, 2006	August 17, 2006
Season 3	15	September 13, 2007	November 15, 2007
Season 4	13	September 18, 2008	November 20, 2008
Season 5	13	September 17, 2009	December 10, 2009

Music

The music used on the show is usually classical or easy listening, such as "Flute Thing", in order to strike an ironic contrast with the show's chaotic nature.

The theme song is a piece of production music called "Temptation Sensation" by German composer Heinz Kiessling. This was originally because of the show's extremely low budget but has since become a trademark of the aforementioned thematic contrast. Additionally, Kiessling's work can also be heard during various scene transitions throughout the show, along with other composers such as Joe Brook ("Moonbeam Kiss") and Karl Grell ("Honey Bunch"). Many of the songs used on the show are found on the album Cafe Romantique, an album of easy listening production tracks collected by Extreme Music.

International broadcast

• In the UK and Ireland, Bravo broadcast the first season in early 2006, with the second season broadcast on Virgin 1 in late 2007 after a rerun of the first season.
• It is also shown in Ireland on channel 3e Wednesdays at 9pm.
• In Sweden and Canada, it airs on Showcase.
• The show premiered in Australia in 2007 on the Seven Network. But as of August 2009 Season 1 has began broadcasting on The Comedy Channel
• C4 airs the show in New Zealand.
• The first season aired in Egypt on Showtime Arabia's ShowComedy in November 2006.
• Airing of the show began on Comedy Central Poland on January 7, 2009.
• The show also began airing on Subtv in Finland under the title Elämää Philadelphiassa ("Life in Philadelphia") in March 2009.
• STAR World airs episodes in India.
• FX airs episodes in Portugal and Brazil.
• Canal+ airs the show in France.
• Comedy Central Germany airs the show in Germany
• Comedy Central airs the show in The Netherlands and Hungary
• Yes Stars Comedy airs the show in Israel.
• In the Philippines, it airs on Jack TV.
• bTV Comedy airs the show in Bulgaria.

References

1. 'Cafe Romantique' at Extreme Music [1]

External links

• Official website
• Official show blog
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on TV Squad
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Fancast
• "Days of Disco" interview with Charlie Day & Mary Elizabeth Ellis on MonsterFresh.com