The gang's going to be all back together for the majority of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 13. Stars/producers Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day confirmed that Glenn Howerton's character will return for "pretty much every episode" in the forthcoming season on FXX.

Loading

Fox Movie and TV Show Properties Headed to Disney 18 IMAGES

"He's in pretty much every episode," said McElhenney, with Day adding, "He's in the majority of them, and then we have a couple ... that focus more specifically on other characters.""Everything just worked out from a schedule standpoint," Day later added to IGN of Howerton's return. "Dennis -- or some form of Dennis -- [fans] can see in the show a lot. The type of Dennis that they see -- and I can't always guarantee that it will be the actor -- but the spirit of Dennis will be there."Before they found out Howerton would be able to return after Dennis went off to become a father in North Dakota at the end of Season 12, McElhenney said the creative team "talked about all sorts of different ideas" to mess with the dynamic of the gang. That concept of note focusing on the entire gang translates into several episodes of the season, including one that Day, McElhenney, Danny DeVito, Kaitlin Olson and Gregory Scott Cummins (who plays Mac's father) did a live script reading of at their TCA panel.The episode, called "Mac Finds His Pride," focuses largely on Frank convincing Mac to come out to his father, and culminates in a sincere, interpretive dance sequence that McElhenney spent four months rehearsing and did more than 50 takes of to get the finished scene. In another episode teased by Day and McElhenney, It's Always Sunny will do an all-female reboot of the infamous Wade Boggs' drinking record airplane episode, which will feature just Dee, Artemis, the Waitress, Mac's mom and Charlie's mom."Without saying too much about Dennis, the good news was we also have lots of other characters that we can really focus on that the fans know and love, and we use them to great affect this season," Day told IGN. "We just try to make episodes that we will like, and that's the goal. That's all we've ever done. Can we come up with [episodes] that we're proud of? And hopefully that standard -- of what we're proud of and what the audience enjoys -- stays pretty closely aligned."It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will premiere on September 5th at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FXX. The premiere episode, called "The Gang Returns," will mark the return of Howerton's Dennis.The synopsis for the episode reads: "Mac, Charlie, Dee and Frank return to their duplicitous, scheming ways at Paddy’s Pub, while Dennis takes on the new role of father in North Dakota... Even without Dennis Reynolds, the Gang has its hands full as Charlie hopes to have a child with The Waitress, Mac sets out to understand his newfound sexuality, Dee takes feminism to new heights, and Frank goes to great lengths for the Gang to experience the greatest moment in Philadelphia sports history -- an Eagles Super Bowl victory."

Terri Schwartz is Editorial Manager of Entertainment at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz