The first time people watch an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, it can be easy to write the show off as over-the-top and offensive. As any fan of the series will be able to tell you, the show definitely is both of those things but there is a lot more to it than that.

An extremely intelligent show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia can be shockingly deep for a series that doesn’t take itself too deeply. Since the show often features fantastic writing and is hilarious at every turn, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia boasts an extremely devoted fan base. In fact, a lot of fans of it want to know everything they can about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and they love to dissect episodes of the show. For example, there is one episode that continues to be examined years after it first aired.

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An Amazing Run

Each and every year, there is a slew of new shows that debut on television. While there are a lot of different reasons for that, the main one is that most shows that are produced come to a quick end due to lack of interest. On the bright side, every year there also are a bunch of different shows that beat the odds by finding a large enough audience to stick around. Of course, a lot of them only last a few seasons.

Unlike the vast majority of shows that don’t last, there have been a handful of shows that are among the longest-running in television history. Amazingly enough, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of the longest-running comedy shows in terms of seasons aired. Considering that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia can be a very dark and controversial show, that is simply amazing.

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Brilliant Minds

In order for any show to enjoy long-lasting success, there is a lot of luck involved. That said, there is no doubt that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has become a legendary show almost entirely because of the talents of its talented stars.

Once a show has been on the air for many years, it can become very hard to imagine any other actors playing the series’ main characters. However, if you really think about it, most TV characters could be played by a wide array of actors. When it comes to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s main characters, however, the show almost certainly wouldn’t work if you changed out any of the series’ main stars. After all, the show’s stars share a truly unique chemistry and all of them manage to make viewers care about their deplorable characters. On top of that, early episodes that don’t feature Danny Devito just don’t feel right.

On top of the fact that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s stars do a fantastic job playing their characters, some of them play a pivotal role behind the scenes as well. For example, Rob McElhenney created the show, he and Glenn Howerton developed it, and those two executive produce the series alongside Charlie Day. With all of that in mind, it is clear that the show’s stars are worth every penny they get paid for their roles on the show.

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A Fascinating Episode

Originally aired in 2012 as a part of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s eighth season, “Charlie Rules the World” is a fascinating episode of television. Focused on a fictional video game that the gang becomes obsessed with overnight, each of the show’s characters gets avatars that are really interesting if you examine them closer.

As a Reddit user pointed out on the subreddit that is dedicated to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, each of the avatars perfectly represents their characters in the rest of the show. For example, Charlie quickly becomes the best at the video game proving that he is capable of doing great things. Sadly, Charlie’s newfound pride in himself is short-lived as another member of the gang holds him back by completely deleting his avatar. Similarly, at first, Dee is the only one playing the game which allows her to be in charge. As soon as she gets undercut when Charlie becomes powerful in the game, however, Dee quickly gives up her position of power to leech off her pal’s avatars.

Next, the Reddit user points out that Frank sees the video game as an excuse to party, gossip, and use other people, which is exactly what he likes to do in real life. Of course, Mac quickly becomes obsessed with making his avatar a physically strong badass. Once he figures out that route is going nowhere for him, Mac opts to scheme his way to the top instead. Finally, Dennis has to be the one in control as usual so when he figures out that he will never be the best at the game, he spends his time trying to convince the gang that the game is lame. When that doesn’t work, Dennis can’t handle it so he goes scorched Earth by deleting all of the gang’s avatars.

As a Reddit user perfectly pointed out in his aforementioned post, the eighth season episode “Charlie Rules the World” is a great example of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia at its best. Absolutely hilarious and dense, the episode is ripe for analysis in a way that a lot of viewers likely won’t realize at first. In fact, it could easily be argued that this episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia represents gaming better than most video game movies. That is exactly the kind of writing that makes fans of the show so devoted to the series that they talk about this eighth season episode years after it first aired.

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