10 Best Episodes Of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
If you have never heard of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, you are really missing out on one of the most brilliant shows to ever be on TV, period. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is a comedy gold mine, and I can’t think of one episode I didn’t laugh out loud at while watching. Although every episode is funny, here are 10 of the show’s most hilarious episodes, which include some of the gangs best or worse, depending how you look at it, moments.
1. The Gang Buys A Boat
In this episode of “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” Charlie, Mac, and Dennis take the money they’ve earned from selling “dick towels,” and use it to buy a boat. Although the three men were looking to buy a yacht, all they can afford is a crappy house boat. They then convince the rest of the gang to clean it since they didn’t invest any money in the boat. While at the boat store, Dennis like the sociopath he is, assures Mac that ladies will have sex with the men on the boat “because of the implication.” Except when the two return from the store, the boat has gone up in flames. This episode is filled with memorable lines, and countless gags making it one of Always Sunny’s best.
2. Mac & Dennis Move To The Suburbs
An easy enough premise, Mac and Dennis move to the suburbs after their apartment building burns down thanks to events set in motion by Dennis in a previous episode. So Mac and Dennis look to buy a house in the suburbs since they can not afford the rocket high rent in the city. Frank bets the two men that they can not last one month in the suburbs. Mac and Dennis take the bet, if the men win Frank will pay their rent for a year, and if they lose they have to share a bed with an old man. You read that right, share a bed with an old man. Like every good episode of this show, the story devolves into a hilarious fever dream by the end of the episode.
3. Mac & Charlie Die: Part 1
In this episode Mac finds out his Dad is about to be released from prison, and is coming after him and Charlie as revenge. In order to evade Mac’s dad, Mac and Charlie plan to either kill themselves, or fake their own death. The two end up going with the latter, and hatch a plan to crash Dee’s car into a wall so the car bursts into flames, but make it look like they were in the car when it explodes. Not only is Mac and Charlie’s plan utterly ridiculous, this episode proves It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is one of the funniest shows on TV due to the writers commitment to put something on the screen that no show would ever dare to.
4. The Gang Solves The Gas Crisis
Once the gang finds out Charlie has been using a generator to power the bar, the gang comes up with a better idea which is to store up on gas, and keep the barrels in the basement of their bar, until gas prices go up, and then they can sell the gas for profit. Solving the gas crisis turns out to be harder than the gang thought, and the episode ends with the gang nearly escaping an exploding van with their lives. The episode also showcases how the gang rely on each other, which would be charming, if the gang weren’t all such terrible people. This episode also gave us one of the most quotable lines from the show, after Charlie cuts the van’s breaks, and yells “wild card bitches.”
5. Sweet Dee’s Dating a Retarded Person
Beside being the episode where Charlie creates his famous dayman and nightman man songs, which are later featured in one of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia ‘s best episodes, sweet Dee’s dating a retarded person is hilarious because it takes the audience to a place they would never go on their own, and although horrible, you can’t help but laugh out loud at this outrageous episode. In this episode of Always Sunny, Dee is dating a local rapper, who Dennis recognizes as a special needs kid from back when he was in elementary school. Dee and Dennis then spend the rest of the episode trying to figure out if Dee’s new boyfriend is handicap or not.
6. The D.E.N.N.I.S System
If you’re looking to score any girl you want then you need to follow the D.E.N.N.I.S system, at least according to Dennis his system is full proof. The system is as follows, D: demonstrate value, E: engage physically, N: nurturing dependence, N: neglect emotionally, I: inspire hope, and S: separate entirely. Only someone as vain, and egotistical as Dennis could come up with such a misogynistic system, but the gang all buy into it. Too bad in the end the gang’s attempts to seduce women all backfire. This episode is one of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia ‘s best because the gang’s crazy is on hilarious full display with many memorable quotes to back it up.
7. The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award
Despite Always Sunny being one of the smartest, and funniest shows on TV with an extremely talented cast of actors, not to mention the show’s loving fan base, Always Sunny has never won an Emmy. In this very meta episode, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia addresses this injustice by changing their bar Patty’s into something the people want in order to win an award. In the end the gang has no idea what the people want, which turns out hilariously, while still being a big F U to the Emmys, and a nod to Always Sunny very loyal fans.
8. Charlie Work
While the rest of the gang works on their latest scam that involves live chickens, and a countless number of steaks, Charlie tries as hard as he can to clean up Patty’s after he learns that the health inspector is paying the bar a visit that very day. When the health inspector arrives, Charlie tries to pass off the gang’s odd behavior as normal. As always this episode is laugh out loud funny, but what is the creme de la creme of the episode is when the show parodies a seven minute tracking shot like the one in the first season of HBO’s True Detective.
9. CharDee MacDennis: The Game of Games
A game created by the gang, CharDee MacDennis is a game that is a test of mind, body, and spirit. However since this is the gang we’re talking about, the game always leads to insanity, and is never just a game to Charlie, Dee, Mac and Dennis but a full on war, that involves very heavy drinking. In this episode the gang introduces Frank to the game, and informs him Dennis and Dee or team golden geese have never lost a game. Turns out it was because they were cheating the whole time.
10. The Nightman Cometh
The season four finale of Always Sunny, The Nightman Cometh may be my favorite episode of the very long running show. In this episode the gang puts on a musical written by Charlie based on his dayman and nightman songs. Besides the very catchy songs, the jokes from this episode are in a league of their own. This episode contains It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia ‘s most quotable lines, but not only that The Nightman Cometh may be the best 30 minutes of musical comedy to ever grace the small screen.
Honestly this list could go on and on, but luckily you can catch every season of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia on FX, or Hulu, or I’m sure some other streaming service, just Google it. Even after 14 seasons of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia the show has remained as funny as it was on day one. If you are a fan of the show, and are screaming at me, “how could you not include the episode where Dee and Denis get addicted to crack?” I want to say “very good point,” but please yell at me virtually in the comment section below about which episodes are your favorite, and should be on this list.
