The 5 best seasons of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’ ranked

The creators of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia didn’t just remind the world of Philly’s legacy of irreverent humor and crassness — they made TV history. Sunny has become the longest-running live-action sitcom in American television history.

Now in its 17th season, Sunny has spent the past 20 years delivering iconic moments from lampooning the American zeitgeist (“Two wars?!”) to creating situations only the most-depraved characters could navigate (“The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby," anyone?).

Created by Rob Mac (formerly Rob McElhenney), Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Day, and also starring Kaitlin Olson, Always Sunny came out of the gate with a controversial spin on Seinfeld’s “A Show About Nothing” formula — which Sunny would later spoof — during a time of procedural network sitcoms.

Sunny pulled no punches in its early years, at times to its detriment, with problematic use of Black- and brownface and stereotyping of Asians. The showrunners insisted audiences were supposed to laugh at the Gang’s cartoonish ignorance — not with them.

When the show aired on FX in 2005, it lacked the razor-sharp focus and chemistry — and Danny DeVito — that would define its golden years. It wasn’t until season 2 that DeVito joined the cast, and not until seasons 3 through 12 (2007 to 2017) that the series found its signature rhythm.

While some of the series’ bests include episodes like season 13’s “Mac Finds His Pride,” or Charlie’s tearjerker of a breakdown in season 15’s Ireland escapade — and the return to form of season 16 in its entirety — the magical formula of Always Sunny’s decade-long run from seasons 3 to 12 remains unmatched.

To narrow down the true genius of the show, look no further than these five seasons.

The Gang in season 7, as always, were pure villains, burgling homes, committing tax fraud, and propping up sketchy child beauty pageants. Almost four full episodes are dedicated to places in the Philadelphia region — from the Jersey Shore to a race across the city to catch Thunder Gun Express in theaters, and the two-part high school reunion finale at St. Joe’s Prep.

It’s also the season where Mac puts on 50 pounds for a story arc around his delusions of becoming muscular by “cultivating mass” to later “harvest” it. (He would later flip this concept and get Marvel-level ripped for Season 13). The season begins with Charlie vomiting fake blood on his date and ends with a drunken ensemble dance number to George Michael’s “Freedom!”

Season highlights:

Season 9 is like watching Michael Jordan in his prime, dunking from the free-throw line. The Gang’s a wrecking ball of comic destruction with eight seasons to backup running jokes that hit harder, especially in the season finale, where Sunny’s weirdest characters are called back to squash their beef.

It also gave us the long-running meme, “So anyway, I started blasting!” and the show’s most meta-narrative episode in “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award” (a nod to Sunny never winning an Emmy award).

More collaboration came this season, with Game of Thrones writing duo David Benioff and D.B. Weiss in “Flowers for Charlie,” (remember when those two wrote good television?), while longtime contributors like director Dan Attias and writer-actor David Hornsby (a.k.a. “Cricket” in the show) helped shape the season’s tone, just as they had penned some of the show’s funniest moments.

Best episodes

If season 4 was lightning in a bottle, season 5 is when the Gang started wielding their powers. They responded to the 2008 housing collapse with Honey and Vinegar Realty, leaned into Philly lore with the myth of underground tunnels from the Olidee Inn to Citizens Bank Park, and filmed a twisted stand-alone Christmas episode — featuring a fully nude DeVito — though that would be released with Season 6 instead.

It’s also the season where Dennis Reynolds’ mask of an ego-driven bar owner begins to slip to reveal the narcissistic “five-star” man, when he invents a system to hoodwink an unsuspecting woman (played by Jill Latiano, Howerton’s wife). Season 5 carries the torch from season 4 of deepening the Sunny lore and crafting engaging story arcs in each episode.

Season highlights:

Season 8 is arguably one of the best seasons of Always Sunny, with some of the series’ most silly and gruesome antics, from Mac and Charlie’s hilarious staring contest in “The Gang Dines Out” to the McPoyle zombie wedding massacre (featuring a cameo from Guillermo Del Toro). Mac and Dennis poke fun at both sides of the existential coin when they debate the merits of evolution and God — “Rock, Flag, and Eagle, right, Charlie?”

The episode where the Gang tries to solve the citywide trash strike through limo trash pickup is even more poignant now after the DC 33 strike, and who can forget Dee and Dennis deciding to “pull the plug” on their Pop-Pop after realizing he was a Nazi? Season 8 fires on all cylinders.

Season highlights:

This is the quintessential Always Sunny season — one of its longest, and the first where everything truly clicks.

Directed exclusively by Fred Savage and Matt Shakman (now of Marvel fame), this season puts all of Always Sunny’s creative abilities on full display for the first time, committing felony crimes, solving poop mysteries, “Pepe Silvia,” crafting period pieces, fake death ruses, “Dayman (a-a-ah...)”, and continuing the show’s long-running bit of the Gang “fixing” a crisis only to make it worse in this season’s gas crisis episode. This season has some of the series’ most memorable moments that people who haven’t even watched the show reference today.

Season highlights: