On Why "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"

On Why "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia": When the show first aired on FX in August 2005, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia did not receive "rave" reviews. As a sitcom about four underachieving bar owners ("The Gang") in their late twenties, it wreaked of amateurish inexperience and needed an element of middle-aged depravity to complete many of its plot lines. At the time, Danny DeVito and his production company Jersey Television were still producing Reno 911!, yet he quickly recognized the show's main void and saw how it could be filled. From the moment Season 2 began airing in June 2006 (take the above clip as an example), the show felt not only more realistic, but also more hopelessly dysfunctional. In effect, the addition of Frank Reynolds (DeVito's character) helped explain why certain members of "The Gang," especially Dee and Dennis Reynolds, act so unsympathetic and egotistical toward others at times. And when Frank becomes friends with Mac and Charlie (the other "Gang" members), the level of scheming gets ratcheted up from episode to episode. Ultimately, the show will enter its 10th season in 2014, which is a tremendous achievement for any TV series these days.