Created in 2003 by Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob Mac (formerly McElhenney), It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the longest running live-action sitcom in television history when measured by seasons, with this summer marking their 20th year on the air. For the past two decades, It’s Always Sunny has delivered chaos, confusion, and pure entertainment—and their 17^th season is far from an exception.

The show surrounds a group of strikingly awful morons better known as ‘The Gang’ who own a less-than-charming bar in South Philly called Paddy’s Pub. Comedy legend Danny Devito plays Frank Reynolds, the rich and bizarre “father” of Dennis and Dee, a pair of egotistical twins respectively portrayed by Howerton and Kaitlin Olson. Day plays Charlie, the show’s rat-bashing wild card, while Mac, who is also the main showrunner, plays the newly-out and ever-delusional Ronald “Mac” McDonald.

Despite my enjoyment of the recent seasons, I have to agree with the general fan consensus that most newer episodes prior to this season have fallen short in comparison to Sunny’s former glory. Some of the many factors at play in this disconnect from the early years are the jarring shift in budget and lighting, Howerton’s two-season-long departure from the writers’ room, and Mac’s significant deviation from his original character.

I was first introduced to It’s Always Sunny last summer by my best friend Diago and was immediately hooked by its witty comedy and satirical takes on societal taboos. In a single calendar year, I’ve watched the show four times through, and have seen some episodes upwards of eight times; it’s safe to say that I am a big fan and at least semi-qualified to speak on the newest season.

With new episodes airing every week on FX after July 9^th, Diago and I turned Season 17 into a weekly ritual. After our Friday gym sessions, we would grab a drink or two and sit down to watch the brand new season of raw, outrageous, and classic Sunny, filled with its characteristic absurdity and some of the most accurate character depictions in years.

Viewers were reunited with The Gang back in January in the first part of their crossover with Abbott Elementary, another Philly-based FX sitcom. The second instalment of the crossover and the first episode of the season, “The Gang F***s Up Abbott Elementary”, shows the unseen footage of The Gang as volunteers, and tells the same story as the Abbott episode, this time from the Gang’s perspective—a perspective that reveals the motives behind their already questionable actions.

The episode features Abbott Elementary’s mockumentary style with character testimonials that interrupt the momentum of Sunny’s traditional sitcom structure. However, this stylistic difference didn’t curb the Paddy’s staff away from their usual hilarity. From the hours-long argument about 9/11 that spiraled into conspiracy theories to Charlie’s pursuit of literacy, and an ongoing feud with Fall Out Boy, this episode places The Gang amongst “regular” people, a tried-and-true way of accentuating the group’s abnormalities.

Something that Sunny has consistently excelled at is a pattern of escalation into general insanity, which is best exemplified in episodes like “Thought Leadership: A Corporate Conversation” and “The Gang Goes to a Dog Track.” 

 The former acts as a chart-filled explanation leading up to The Gang’s mandatory community service at Abbott Elementary and follows a long-winded discussion in the Paddy’s back office to determine which member of The Gang should take the fall for the Cybertruck, baby oil, and heap of Paddy’s Pub tee-shirts that ended up in the Schuylkill River. In a typical Sunny descent into madness, water cooler conversations quickly turn into underground slapfighting competitions, while also demonstrating the group’s lack of accountability for their own degenerate behaviours and their collective tendency to throw each other under the bus at every opportunity.

“The Gang Goes to a Dog Track” is perhaps the most ridiculous episode of the season and takes the group to West Virginia in pursuit of a more “raw” lifestyle. The twins expect a classy affair but face a quick decline into crazed betting and racing in garbage bags to eat dog food. The series’ characteristic escalation and unpredictability exhibited in this episode is surely a factor in Sunny’s longevity and success, as each episode concludes in a wildly different place from its starting point.

Speaking of unpredictability, I can’t say much about “Frank is in a Coma” without spoiling it, but do yourself a favour and watch a man get tickled into a comatose state, I promise it’ll have a sweet payoff.

“Overage Drinking: A National Concern” is a reference to Season 1: Episode 3 “Underage Drinking: A National Concern,” where the twins become pawns in a teenage love story between Trey and Tammy. In addition to various callbacks to the early seasons, like Charlie’s investment in teen drama and their duct-taped video camera, this episode features Howerton’s, and Mac and Olson’s children in the cold open cussing out their parents.

 In being a satirical comedy based on morally corrupt characters who can’t see anything outside of their own personal gain, It’s Always Sunny regularly and intentionally crosses societal boundaries, and this episode serves as a perfect example. Paddy’s once again becomes a hot spot for underage kids, including Trey and Tammy’s teenage son Trey Jr. Dennis and Dee attempt to charm their former “prom dates”, and Implication Dennis returns upon his rejection. When you begin to wonder if Dennis Reynolds has gone too low, he reminds you that he can, in fact, go lower.

 Over the years, The Gang has gained a slight awareness of when they’re approaching an ethical line, which is hilariously displayed in Charlie and Mac’s reaction to Rickety Cricket’s newly adopted dreads and use of AAVE in “Overage Drinking.” Cricket, played by Sunny producer and writer David Hornsby, is a former priest whose descent into homelessness and now cultural appropriation is entirely The Gang’s fault.

The Gang turns up the heat in “Mac and Dennis Become EMTs”, an episode about microdosing hot peppers, Postmates, and impersonating medical professionals. It’s undeniably one of the season’s strongest, from the character dynamics and storyline to the evidently high production value.

One main critique about the last few years of Sunny has been the power imbalance between Mac and Dennis, whose codependent relationship was a cornerstone of the show’s earlier seasons. Thankfully, as Mac’s character returns to his prime and accepts his newfound identity as a gay man, the MacDennis dynamic is restored. Along with the rest of The Gang, the duo becomes thrilled by life-saving and life-endangering moments and use the funds from their cancelled First Aid course to buy a decommissioned ambulance, only to begin responding to emergency situations across the city.

 The ‘gruesome twosome’ of Charlie and Frank, are also back in action, running a ghost kitchen out of their apartment. Charlie’s new passion for cooking prompts him to channel Carmy from The Bear: complete with a blue apron, an affinity for being called “Chef”, and labelled (though misspelt) spice containers.

 A personal favourite moment from the episode is the spice-filled “Bamboléo” montage involving frantic ambulance driving and misguided emergency response, a high-stress restaurant environment, and footage of Dee steering through traffic on her bike. Though high production quality can seem out of place in It’s Always Sunny, this episode—as well as “The Golden Bachelor Live”—doesn’t center the higher budget in its comedy, and instead uses it to elevate the hilarity and absurdity of each situation.

When it comes to character accuracy, the group’s preparation for Frank’s hometown visit in “The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time” takes the Frank-shaped cake. Charlie, Dee, Mac and Dennis hold a trilogy of rehearsal dinners for a focus group while Dennis attempts to sand down the more divisive and edgy aspects of his friends’ personalities in an attempt to win over a wider audience. 

Much to Dennis’ chagrin, the rest of The Gang is insistent on “popping” and essentially play caricatures of themselves that they believe will appeal to the masses. These characters—from a badass Freddie Mercury Mac and classic slapstick comedy Dee to a fully hairless Charlie—demonstrate the group’s extremely delusional perceptions of themselves.

Not coping well with Mac, Dee, and Charlie’s positive reception among the audience, as well as his own low ratings and comments on his elderly appearance, a face-taped Dennis tries to clear up any misconceptions about himself and the group, as well as his assumed status as Mac’s controlling vampire boyfriend. This monologue is one of the most memorable moments of the season, and contains a level of sincere desperation that his past storms of untethered rage have lacked, reflecting his need for external validation and understanding, as well as his disappointment towards his misrepresentation on Family Fight seven seasons earlier.

Meanwhile, Frank is making a long-awaited TV return in a pursuit for true love as the ‘golden bachelor’ in the season finale “The Golden Bachelor Live.” Hosted by The Bachelor’s Jesse Palmer, this high-budget episode provides viewers with a rare glimpse of the trashman outside of his dynamics with The Gang and really highlights the character’s eccentricity. 

As for the contestants, Frank is unhappy with the producer’s original choices and instead pushes for the inclusion of fictional TikTok star Cock Chewa, a parody of Hailey “Hawk Tuah” Welch played by Audrey Corsa. Though I was initially doubtful about this character based on her appearance in the Season 17 trailer, her limited vocabulary and her affinity for chewing proved to be a lot funnier than expected. Cock Chewa’s competition for Frank’s undying love is Sam, played by Devito’s former Taxi co-star Carol Kane, who matches Frank’s energy in an unprecedented way.

After The Gang meets Frank’s dates, they elect Charlie’s mother, Bonnie Kelly, to join the show as a third option for Frank’s future wife based on her sexual history with the bachelor—prompting the crash-out of the century from Charlie. This also marks the final appearance of Mrs. Kelly, played by the late, great Lynne Marie Stewart, who had been a recurring character on the show since its first season.

The finale ends in an earnest, cinematic moment between Frank and his rose recipient, leaving viewers wondering how this new dynamic will be integrated into The Gang’s lifestyle in the next season, and acting as a great conclusion to the eight-episode masterpiece that is Season 17.

This season is a Wade Boggs-style home run in terms of its absurdity, character accuracy, and general entertainment value, acting as a return to the classic ways of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s early days that recent seasons have felt disconnected from.With Season 18 renewed and hitting the writer’s room later this year, the forecast certainly isn’t calling for rain in Philly anytime soon.