The whacky, awful characters of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will never be forgotten — Dennis the absolute psychopath, Charlie the stalker, Mac the Catholic determined not to be gay, Dee the bird who thinks she is funny, and Frank the, well, very short. The show was hilarious and bitingly clever for many years; even the astonishing sound of the gang screaming in argument was endearing, always delightfully punctuated and contrasted with that cheerful, chiming music. Unfortunately, the series’ later seasons grew a bit forgettable. When is the right time to jump ship before Always Sunny overstays its welcome?
I would suggest watching through season 10 and then stopping. (Although the second-to-last episode of the season sees Frank planning to retire and the others fighting for control of the bar, which could make for a nice series finale.) The group dating, Family Feud, and “Mac and Charlie Join a Cult” shenanigans of season 10 are all good fun, but there’s a scene in episode three that is unmissable. Stopping before this moment would be a crime.
Dennis: Dee? I swear you would be of more use to me if I skinned you and turned your skin into a lampshade. Or fashioned you into a piece of high-end luggage. I can even add you to my collection.
Dee: Are you saying that you have a collection of skin luggage?
Dennis: Of course I’m not, Dee. Don’t be ridiculous. Think of the smell. You haven’t thought of the smell, you bitch! Now you say another word and I swear to God I will dice you into a million little pieces. And put those pieces in a box, a glass box, that I will display on my mantel.
On the other side of the desk, a psychiatrist slowly reaches for his pen and notebook.
Seasons 11 and 12 are not bad by any means, but some of the issues that had been only stirring earlier on come into maturity. Things begin to feel, here and there, repetitive. Season 11’s first two episodes hit hard in this regard, with another episode of the gang playing their “Chardee MacDennis” game followed by a sort-of time travel episode back to season 1. A later episode tackles a trial over events that happened in an earlier season — and this is not the first courtroom appearance for the gang, either. The gimmicks ramp up, too — attempts to keep things fresh that often characterize a show running out of steam. “Being Frank” is a whole episode from Frank’s point-of-view. The gang magically turns black in season 12 (it’s also a musical). Then there’s the classic sitcom-esque episode, the documentary-like episode, the one where Frank and Mac get to be soldiers in (virtual reality) Iraq (Always Sunny essentially begins to morph into Community), and the outing devoted entirely to the side character of Cricket, the former priest who has been ruined and mutilated by the gang’s antics. Cricket is somewhat emblematic here, beyond him looking worse and worse in a show that may be getting worse over time: he seems to show up more, as if the writers have less to say about and through the main characters, and each time you see him he’s less interesting, he’s gotten old, like the project as a whole.
And, in the literal sense, so had the cast. Danny DeVito (Frank) was always older, of course, but suddenly, after twelve years, the other stars hit their forties, and perhaps the gang’s insanity and hijinks began to feel slightly less believable as their appearances matured. Further, old age can make you look tired, making a series feel the same way.
In any case, at this point even Glenn Howerton (Dennis) was burned out. The finale of season 12 set him up to leave the show to do new things, though he was, reportedly, in most of the episodes of season 13 and stayed on after that. I stopped watching after his pseudo-goodbye. If a star, writer, and producer of a show is checking out, it’s often best to do the same. Even wiser to do so earlier, in this instance. Again, this is not to say that anything after the tenth season isn’t entertaining. I might pop back into Always Sunny every once in a while and watch a later episode for a laugh. But if you’re looking to bail before the inevitable downhill slide of a long-running series, you now know when to do so.
Season 16 of Always Sunny has just premiered on FX and Hulu.
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