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“It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” Will Become The Longest-Running Live-Action Comedy Sitcom Ever

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Let’s take us all the way back to the year 2005.

Mariah Carey returned to the top of Billboard, MTV made Lauren Conrad the most popular high schooler since Lebron James, XXXL PRO CLUB white t-shirts with XL jeans shorts and headbands was popular fashion, and a wild group of friends lured us into a pub in Philadelphia, and we haven’t stopped laughing ever since.  

There’s an old saying  by 1849 French writer  Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr  “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose“ which translated in English means “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Doja Cat has replaced Mariah on the Billboard charts, Lauren Conrad has become a best-selling author and business mogul, people are wearing clothes that actually fit, but even though much has changed in the past 16 years, one thing that has managed to remain the same is our frequent visits Paddy’s Pub to witness wild shenanigans by Charlie, Mac, Sweet Dee, Dennis, and Frank.   

With the premiere of its 15th season Wednesday on FXX, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia becomes the longest-running live-action comedy series ever. The sitcom beats out the classic series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which ran for 14 seasons from 1952 to 1966.

The show, which premiered in 2005, was created by Philadelphia native Rob McElhenney, an alum of St. Joseph’s Prep and Temple University, and fellow actors Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton, who also star in the sitcom. The show was borne out of boredom and a tough few years in Hollywood for McElhenney. Ultimately, FX, a then-still-burgeoning network that has ended up the home of other comedy staples, bought his pilot.

The series follows “The Gang”, a group of five misfit friends: twins Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Deandra “Sweet Dee” Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson), their friends Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day) and Ronald “Mac” McDonald (Rob McElhenney), and (from season 2 onward) Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito), Dennis’ and Dee’s legal father. The Gang runs the fictional Paddy’s Pub, an unsuccessful Irish bar in South Philadelphia.

When the show began, the characters were flawed, silly, and selfish, constantly trying to get one over on the other and launching schemes that included buying tanks of gasoline to resell at a higher price and charging people to witness a water stain that appeared to be in the shape of the Virgin Mary, but as the show has gone on, the group has devolved into people who often relish backstabbing and conning their way through life. Somehow, the sitcom remains hilarious and the gang endearing to watch.

Since the show’s inception, McElhenney, who grew up at East Moyamensing Avenue and Dickinson Street, has filmed as much as he can in Philadelphia. The city, he’s said, can’t be replicated.

Eventually, the FX series will be coming to its conclusion and the cast will move to other future endeavors. But even with this potential change, one thing that may stay the same until the end of time is the record set by these lovable Philly lunatics. 

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