‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Writers Say That Finale Talk Started Around Season Nine

For most sitcoms, making it to a ninth season would be considered a massive success. For It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, that’s just halftime.

In January 2017, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia made TV history by becoming the longest running live-action sitcom ever to grace American television with the beginning of its record-breaking 12th season. Then, the show just kept going. And going. Right now, Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton are hard at work with the writers’ room of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 17 as they come up with even more chaotic and hilarious new episode ideas to top the comparatively “tame” (Danny DeVito’s words) 16 seasons that came before it. 

But eventually, Mac, Charlie, Dennis, Dee and Frank will have to come to a conclusion on their nearly two decades of schemes, injuries and felonies — right?

In a recent interview with the KFC Radio podcast, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia staff writers Dave and John Chernin revealed that the creative team behind the most enduring live-action sitcom ever has been quietly mulling over their options to end the iconic series for about a decade, as they recall conversations about the finale occurring as early as during the making of Season Nine. 

Basically, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fans should thank their lucky trash smoke stars that everyone escaped the fire in the Season Nine finale “The Gang Squashes Their Beefs” unscathed. Well, everyone that matters, at least.

In addition to the Chernins’ inside scoop, McElhenney himself has confirmed that the stars and creators of the series have had the end in mind for a while now. Earlier this year, McElhenney revealed that, roughly a decade ago, he, Howerton and Day had a frank conversation about the future of the series, and the three It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars quickly found that they all had the exact same idea for how they want to say goodbye to the biggest project of their careers.

McElhenney’s timeline aligns with what the Chernins recently said about when the finale conversations first began, as the series creator stated in March that he and his team have been in agreement on the conclusion for about a decade. Season Nine premiered in late 2013, so it's clear that everyone in the writers’ room has known a little something about what fate has in store for the Paddy’s Pub gang for about eight seasons now.

Fans have long speculated that the only way It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia could end while staying true to its characters is for the entire gang to die stupidly and of their own accidental doing. That certainly would have been achieved with a slightly tweaked ending to the two-part Season 11 finale “The Gang Goes To Hell,” but if the gang actually did drown on that cruise ship, the show never would have broken the record for longest live-action American sitcom.

And, as we all know, accolades mean a great deal to Paddy’s Pub.