The 12th season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia arrived on Netflix UK over the weekend and rarely has the phrase “the dirty dozen” felt so appropriate. A deliberately cheap, acidic sitcom set in an Irish dive bar, it stars a gang of venal borderline alcoholics who would be actively hateful if they weren’t so hilarious.



Sometimes it feels like an American continuation of the anarchic spirit of The Young Ones, with its squalid setting offset by startlingly meta moments. And sometimes it feels like a blue-collar Curb Your Enthusiasm, pouring scorn on social norms over a deceptively jaunty theme tune. Throughout, it remains both transgressive and ingenious.

For those not already aboard the Paddy’s Pub train, the raw look and gleefully shrill tone can make it a hard sell. But its sheer longevity – not many shows reach the hallowed 12-season club – seems to have helped it extend into the public consciousness. After debuting on the US cable network FX in 2005, It’s Always Sunny was redeployed as the flagship show for spin-off network FXX in 2013 and (while admittedly starting from a low base) it has delivered record-breaking viewing figures ever since.

The world’s favourite deadbeat sitcom … It’s Always Sunny. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

Around the world, it can boast of an apparently permanent residency on Netflix’s “trending now” tabs. Perhaps the show’s consistently corrosive worldview is increasingly in tune with the times. During the recent Fyre Festival meltdown, the collision of hubris and humanitarian disaster reminded enough people of their favourite deadbeat sitcom that popular memes reimagined the fiasco as one of It’s Always Sunny’s austere episode title cards.

From humble beginnings, with a pilot shot on camcorder by creator/star Rob McElhenney and producer/stars Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day, It’s Always Sunny has become a surprisingly big noise in showbiz. By season two, it had snared Danny DeVito as a series regular. It has also attracted guest stars of the calibre of P Diddy, Josh Groban and the guy who played Mr Belding on Saved by the Bell.

Depraved patriarch Frank, played by Danny DeVito. Photograph: Everett/REX/Shutterstock

Damon Lindelof, the influential co-architect of Lost and current overseer of HBO’s critical hit The Leftovers, was an early champion of It’s Always Sunny. Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss (two guys you might imagine have quite a lot on their plate) wrote a season nine episode, and booked enough vacation time from Westeros to cameo in season 12 as a pair of amusingly indifferent lifeguards.

For over a decade, It’s Always Sunny has proudly spelunked into the worst of human nature. But even though the Paddy’s Pub gang – volatile dimbulb Mac (McElhenney), vain twins Dennis (Howerton) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson), greasy factotum Charlie (Day) and depraved patriarch Frank (DeVito) – are constantly trying to sabotage each other on-screen, they have demonstrated impressive commitment behind-the-scenes.

At this stage, everyone involved has a genuinely impressive side-hustle. Olson’s own sitcom The Mick has recently been renewed for a second season. Howerton has booked the lead in a high-profile pilot alongside Patton Oswalt for NBC. Day has leapfrogged into Hollywood franchises like Horrible Bosses and Pacific Rim. DeVito recently signed up to co-headline an Amazon sitcom opposite Jeff Goldblum. And series mastermind McElhenney is locked in to create a movie based on the world-conquering Minecraft video game.

If the whole point of It’s Always Sunny was for marginalised outsiders to get their foot in the door of the industry, it has worked like a charm. There are already plans in place for a 13th and 14th season, though with its talent in such demand, it looks likely we won’t see season 13 until 2019. But look on the sunny side: that leaves plenty of time to catch up.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia seasons 1-11 are on Netflix UK, with season 12 released 7 May. Earlier seasons also screen on Viceland UK.