Except for Ross from Friends, sitcoms normally have likeable characters. People like to root for their protagonists to succeed as they try to find love, happiness or achieve their dreams. That's not the case with It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, the sitcom that just added its sixteenth and latest season to Netflix.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a show about the absolute worst people in the world, I've followed it for fifteen seasons (sixteen come this weekend) and am still hooked. The premise, in the loosest of terms, follows 5 friends running an Irish-themed bar in Philadelphia who would do anything for money.
Created by its stars, the show has made household names of its regulars. Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton have starred in multiple movies and TV shows while Rob McElhenney is across the best streaming services fronting Apple TV+'s Mythic Quest and Welcome to Wrexham on Disney+. Throw in Kaitlin Olson and Danny Devito (yes the Danny Devito) and hilarity ensues. I'm clearly not the only one who agrees, the show has a staggering 94% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, with season 16 actually getting a coveted 100% rating.
A word of warning. This is not a show for the faint of heart, like I said, the central characters are all the worst kind of person imaginable. They regularly abuse, berate and bully each other and those around them, but of course they never actually win. This is a show that has tackled issues such as abortion, race, depression and sexuality all in outrageous ways. Some of it hasn't aged that well, but how does it get away with it? Because we are always laughing at the horrible owners of Paddy's Pub.
It runs the full intellectual gamut too, with gross-out humour aplenty followed up by a full episode parodying Beckett's Waiting For Godot or featuring a hauntingly beautiful contemporary dance. Honestly just go with it and enjoy the ride. In the US, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is streaming on Hulu.
If you like your sitcoms, Netflix is unfortunately losing an excellent British sitcom created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, although that only has 6 episodes, so it's an easier binge than 16 seasons.
