This Is The ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Editing Decision That Glenn Howerton Calls ‘The Dumbest Thing We’ve Ever Done’

Nearly two decades later, Dennis is still mad that he couldn’t stop Frank from blasting holes in his own ceiling — sounds like a liberal yahoo tried to take away Frank’s guns.

Thanks to the sadly concluded The Always Sunny Podcast, superfans of the longest running live-action sitcom in American TV history learned that the stars and writers of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia bicker almost as often but not nearly as bitterly as their characters do on the show itself. Unsurprisingly, the last two decades of collaboration between comedy powerhouses Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton have created countless opportunities for disagreement as the partners’ respective approaches to humor and storytelling brush up against each other. The differences in the gang’s artistic sensibilities was a constant topic of discussion on the gone-too-soon podcast, and one instance of creative disagreement nearly caused the Golden God to bring down the hammer of Thor on Mac and Charlie.

When The Always Sunny Podcast reached the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season Two finale “Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad” during their rewatch of the early seasons, it re-sparked a heated debate over the appropriate sound effects to use in a scene where a revolver-toting Frank gets almost as angry in his apartment as Howerton was in the editing room:

Frankly, despite the majority decision made by the pro-bullet block of McElhenney and Day, Howerton was absolutely in the right on this one — Frank firing five live rounds into his own ceiling while Charlie and Mac barely react is absolutely stupid. In the universe of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a great many jarring and criminal events are commonplace and unremarkable, but gunshots — especially in their own homes — are always a cause for concern. 

Beyond that, wouldn’t Charlie have some objections to Frank putting holes in his own ceiling? The apartment they share may be a biohazard, but Charlie is notoriously particular about exactly what kind of dump in which he wishes to live. I mean, this is a man who has an entire other room permanently locked away because he doesn’t want any disruptions to his space. Why would Charlie ever be this nonchalant about a newly aerated ceiling?

Ultimately, however, the editing decision went through the usual arbitration process and Charlie’s choice came out on top. The gunshots seem like an insane addition to an otherwise tame scene and I still don’t understand his logic for adding them so late in the production process, but I guess it’s harder for fans to read Charlie’s mind than it is for Charlie to read.