Glenn Howerton Thinks This Early It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Episode Is One Of The Best – SlashFilm

FXX’s record-breaking sitcom “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this summer. The series, which was created by Rob McElhenney, who also stars in the series alongside Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito, may not be the longest-running live-action sitcom in television history, but it does come close. With its 17th season set to premiere this July, viewers have two decades worth of misadventures featuring inarguably the most despicable Gang of characters in sitcom history.

With 170 episodes produced (although at least five are banned from streaming services), there are many prime candidates for what could be considered the best of the series. A particular fan-favorite is “The Nightman Cometh,” which was spearheaded by the musical talents of one Charlie Day and even spawned a tour featuring the cast performing the episode in front of live audiences. Some of the series’ most notable episodes often feature some sort of spectacle that dives deep into the Gang’s psyches, such as “Mac Finds His Pride,” where Ronald “Mac” McDonald (Rob McElhenney) performs a stunning interpretive dance as a means to come out of the closet to his criminal father, Luther McDonald (Gregory Scott Cummis),or “Charlie Work,” which features an incredible one-take shot a la “Birdman” and “True Detective” highlighting Charlie Kelly’s surprisingly thorough work ethic. However, Glenn Howerton, who plays the Gang’s most sociopathic character, Dennis Reynolds, considers an episode from the third season to be one of the series’ highlights.

The “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” episode that Glenn Howerton views in high regard comes from the third season. “The Gang Sells Out,” which originally aired on October 4, 2007, on FX, finds the ridiculous trio of Charlie, Dennis, and Mac receiving an offer for their struggling and dilapidated bar, Paddy’s Pub. Despite their initial dismissal, the Corporate Rep (Richard Ruccolo) shares the exact offer, which viewers don’t see, but it is clearly substantial enough to sway the trio, as well as the bottomless pit of wealth that is Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito). With her job at Paddy’s Pub now under threat, Deandra “Dee” Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson) pressures The Waitress (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) to get her a position at the restaurant where she works.

“The Gang Sells Out” was directed by Matt Shakman, who would go on to direct Marvel Studios’ Emmy-winning miniseries, “WandaVision” and the upcoming “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” It was written by Charlie Day and David Hornsby (who also plays the recurring character, Matthew “Rickety Cricket” Mara), and showcases the modus operandi of the Gang both as a collective and as individuals. One hilarious highlight includes the scene where Dennis, Mac, and Frank attempt to woo the Corporate Rep by taking him to a strip club in order to renegotiate the deal after he pulls it back out of annoyance and spite against them. Much to their surprise, the Rep is gay, which leads to one of the funniest monologues from Dennis. In an interview with Vice, Glenn Howerton explained why he ranks “The Gang Sells Out” as one of the series’ best episodes:

“To me, this episode encapsulates a lot of what I love about the show. It shows the characters’ extreme selfishness, their willingness to switch on a dime—their willingness to sell themselves at any given moment for the right price, and to cut each other out of the deal when it suits them. This episode might have also been the first time we did what has become a recurring joke on the show, where you’re paying attention of the three of us having a very intense conversation, only to reveal that there’s somebody else in the room with us. We’re so self-involved we don’t even realize that we’re ignoring the other person in the room… I just always felt like this episode is one of the most well-structured episodes we’ve ever done. I think it’s also weirdly one that you never hear about. And I never understood why, because I think it’s one of our best, I really do.”

In the same interview, Glenn Howerton highlights one of the episode’s funniest subplots, in which Frank enlists the help of the Yellowjacket Boys, Frank’s old Gang, who attempt to intimidate people from visiting the bookstore across the street from Paddy’s Pub that the Corporate Rep just purchased. That subplot is resolved in the episode’s conclusion, where it is revealed that the Yellowjacket Boys’ oldest member Hawky (Phil De Barros) has died, leading to them, with the company of Mac and Frank, holding a memorial service behind the bar, pouring his ashes into a fire as they sing to honor his memory. The episode ends with a darkly hilarious graphic, honoring Hawky, who lived from 1927 to 2007. Howerton recalls the subplot fondly:

“That’s the one where Hawky dies in the end? That storyline’s stupid as s***, but it’s funny, man. And then that song at the end makes me laugh.”

The Gang is infamous for their elaborate, hairbrained schemes that often blow up in their faces. Given that they often throw everything they can at the wall to see what sticks, eventually, they are bound to repeat some of the same mistakes sometime down the line. In the case of the episode “The Gang Recycles Their Trash,” which was the second episode of the eighth season, we see direct repeat elements taken from “The Gang Sells Out,” including a political conversation held inside Paddy’s Pub that is nearly verbatim from five seasons prior. The Corporate Rep also makes a return, but this time, Dee and Frank take him to a male strip club, and Dee delivers a similar monologue.

“The Gang Recycles Their Trash” is one of the few episodes from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” that has been removed from streaming services. This is due to the fact that the episode features one of Dee’s original characters, Martina Martinez, a stereotypical Afro-Latina television reporter who she portrays in blackface. Numerous episodes of the series have been banned from streaming services due to their depiction of characters portraying offensive stereotypes targeting people of color. Although their being pulled from circulation is understandable, it is worth noting that the writers on the series feature such offensive humor to poke fun at the fact that these characters are awful people who believe they can get away with such egregious acts, rather than celebrating such racist portrayals.

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is set to return to FXX and Hulu with Season 17, which will premiere on July 9, 2025.