Throw-back Sunday: Ranking the top 5 episodes from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

It’s Throw-Back Sunday TV Fans! I hope you are enjoying your weekend.  I have been recently re-watching one of my favorite series of all time; FXX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and I have been discussing it with a lot of enthusiastic fans like you.  I couldn’t believe how easy it was to quote line for line some of my favorite scenes without even thinking about it. While we anxiously await the series to return with new episodes later in 2018, you can binge-watch to your heart’s desire on Hulu.  Out of the 134 episodes of the series, it was extremely difficult to narrow this list down to my top 5 episodes and I did need to include some honorable mentions as well.  You’ll see I went a little overboard with my honorable mentions, but the episodes are just that good and funny.  Whether you are familiar with phrases like “Rum Ham,” “Green Man,” or “Charlie Work,” there are plenty of laugh out loud moments for you in each episode.  Please note spoilers are ahead if you have not yet watched the series.  My top 5 episodes from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are:

5

“The Gang Dines Out” (Season 8, episode 9)

“I can’t believe this.  They still haven’t paid tribute.  It’s been ten minutes.  Not a wave, not a nod.”

In this episode, Frank and Charlie are out to dinner at Gugino’s restaurant and are celebrating their anniversary of moving in together, Mac and Dennis are enjoying their monthly dinner, and Dee is dining alone because she got a Groupon that expires that evening.  Frank and Charlie and Mac and Dennis argue over whether or not they should all sit together, but become quickly agitated when each party doesn’t “pay tribute” to the other.  One of the funniest moments is when Mac and Charlie share a longing gaze across the restaurant, clearly wanting to put the pettiness aside so they can enjoy a meal together.  Meanwhile, Dee doesn’t want her friends to spot her eating alone and tries to convince strangers and even the waiter to sit down with her.  At the end of the episode, it seems like all chaos is about to break loose when the waiter trips and falls with a plate of spaghetti because Dee tied his shoelaces together.  The friends all laugh and cheer and toast to one another, while the poor waiter tries to get someone to pay attention to the fact that he is actually hurt.

4

“Mac and Dennis Move to the Suburbs” (Season 11, episode 5)

“Oh that Wally loves to say ‘it’s a hot one’ when I already know it’s a hot one.  Cause I’m standing outside in this hot one.  Thanks a lot, Wally.  You know what?  Tell me about future weather.  Don’t tell me about present weather…”

My top 5 list would not be complete without including this episode which is probably one of the few that I laughed the entire way through and was almost crying from laughing so hard.  Part of the reason is because I live in the suburbs and immediately could appreciate everything Mac and Dennis were dealing with.  The overwhelming sense of silence can drive you completely insane when you hear alarms beeping or chirping or the whirring of a fan to an elevated level.  Plus you have the over-friendly neighbors who just don’t know what to say when trying to make small talk.  Dennis actually has a mental breakdown when his neighbor, Wally keeps telling him “it’s a hot one” which is absolutely hilarious.  The commute to the city is also extremely funny as Dennis gives road rage a new name, viciously tearing into every person who cuts him off.  He takes his anger out on poor Mac who has just been trying to cook him a decent home meal of Mac & Cheese.  The episode gets really dark when Mac forgets to feed Dennis Junior, their adorable dog, and then later tells Dennis that he is “eating the dog.”  I mean of course “Dennis would like Dennis.”  While it’s twisted and insane, you can’t help laughing over the fact that these two have gone completely mental over their move to the suburbs.

3

“Nightman Cometh” (Season 4, episode 13)

“Ok you know what , you guys have me up to here.  I don’t want to be here, okay?  Now I have to play the piano and I’m all up here.”

If you’re a fan of It’s Always Sunny, then you absolutely have to know the lyrics to the Dayman song, especially “you’re a master of karate and friendship for everyone.”  Charlie has the brilliant idea to put on a play and really dig deep into the character of Dayman.  However, his friends insist on changing the script and giving him way too much input, infuriating him along the way.  He invites the waitress to watch the performance and proposes to her.  While this doesn’t go exactly as planned, the play itself is beyond hilarious and everyone plays their part perfectly.

2

“Charlie Rules the World” (Season 8, episode 8)

“I wonder what it is.  It’s not much…just a box of spiders.  What the hell?  Well while we’ve been sitting here, my followers have burned your land, they’ve raped your people, and they’ve destroyed your tribe.  You thought you could make a move on me, Queen of Thrones?  Well, you were wrong.”

What could be better for Charlie than a real chance to rule the world?  Well, it’s through an online video game that Dee introduces him to, but the two quickly become beyond obsessed.  Dee says “it’s like when I’m doing good in the game, I’m doing good in life.”  Charlie agrees and says “oh I want to make fun of you for saying that but I kind of know what you mean.”  Charlie quickly learns the best way to “win” at the game and even has Dee acting like his servant, which she agrees to since she is so desperate to do well in the game.  When Charlie meets up with the Queen of Thrones from the game, she actually seems like a really sweet girl who just wanted to get to know him and have lunch, but Charlie is not about to let anyone threaten his standing in the game.  Even Mac and Frank become obsessed, but Dennis is not about to let an online video game take over their lives.  He quickly realizes that they all have the same password, “paddyspub” and deletes all of their characters and ends the game because it was simply irritating him.

Some honorable mentions before revealing my number one episode of It’s Always Sunny are:

• “Dennis and Dee Go on Welfare” (season 2 episode 3)
• “Sweet Dee’s Dating a Retarded Person (season 3 episode 9)
• “The Gang Reignites the Rivalry” (Season 5 episode 12)
• “Mac and Charlie: White Trash” (Season 6 episode 5)
• “Who Got Dee Pregnant?” (Season 6 episode 7)
• “Dee Reynolds: Shaping America’s Youth” (Season 6 episode 9)
• “The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore” (Season 7 episode 2)
• “The High School Reunion” (Season 7 episodes 12 & 13)
• “The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre” (Season 8 episode 3)
• “Mac Day” (Season 9 episode 5)
• “Flowers for Charlie” (Season 9 episode 8)
• “The Gang Beats Boggs” (Season 10 episode 1)
• “Charlie Work” (Season 10 episode 4)
• “The Gang Goes on Family Fight” (Season 10 episode 8)

1

“Chardee MacDennis:  The Game of Games” (Season 7, episode 7)

“Yes now in the spirit of tradition, I propose that we begin the ritual of sportsmanship.  Good luck to you sir.  And you sir.  I do hope you have a good game, miss.  And you sir….give the illusion of respect to your opponent.  Things are about to get real dark, real quick.”

So my number one pick for best episode absolutely has to go to “Chardee MacDennis:  The Game of Games.”  For me, this episode came out of nowhere in the season and was hilarious from start to finish.  A rainy boring day at the bar turns into a chaotic battle between the minds.  The rules of the game don’t really make sense but that’s part of the charm.  After the gang begins their ritual of sportsmanship, they smash their glasses to the ground and begin war cries that are unbelievably funny.   While the game has 3 levels:  Mind, Body, and Spirit; there are puzzles, trivia, and public humiliation mixed in.  And don’t forget that drinking is clearly an important part as well.  When we get to some of the trivia questions, we quickly realize that the gang must have been clearly intoxicated when documenting these.  For example, “all right what is the greatest band in the world?”  Dee immediately responds with “Chumbawamba” and Frank is confused on how this could possibly be trivia.  Or how about “Dennis is asshole.  Why Charlie hate?”  Charlie doesn’t think he wrote this question but then comes around when he finds out the answer is “because Dennis is a bastard man.”  The gang even anticipated that Mac will get angry later in the game and try to flip the board so they secured it to the bar and it turns out they were absolutely right, proving just how well they know their opponents. Frank turns the tables later on, however; when he is in the time out cage and realizes that Dee and Dennis are not drinking alcohol to throw off their opponents.  Even though Charlie and Mac are able to immediately advance to the last level because of this, Dee and Dennis still come out on top and win, smashing Charlie and Mac’s game pieces to…well pieces.

I hope you enjoyed the list and please feel free to post some of your own favorite moments and episodes from It’s Always Sunny below.  Happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl