Here’s Why Glenn Howerton Wanted to Quit ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Back in Season Six

If Rob McElhenney wasn’t such a good friend and collaborator, there was a real chance that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia would have spent the last 10 seasons sans-Dennis. 

Dennis Reynolds once attempted to leave Paddy’s Pub and The Gang’s constant scheming, only to come crawling back one episode later after deciding that fatherhood wasn’t for him. But, for one frightful It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia off-season back in 2017, there was a very real fear throughout the fandom that Dennis’ dramatic exit at the end of “Dennis’ Double Life” signified the real-life departure of Glenn Howerton from the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In the tension-filled time between Always Sunny in Philadelphia Seasons 12 and 13, superfans speculated that the Juilliard-grad had grown tired of being stuck in Dennis-mode and desperately wanted to explore artistic opportunities outside of the show.

Even though Dennis would return to Always Sunny in the Season 13 premiere “The Gang Makes Paddy’s Great Again,” fans who worried that the star, writer and producer Howerton felt “boxed-in” by the series weren’t wrong — they were just late. When Howerton appeared on the podcast Take Your Shoes Off w/ Rick Glassman, he admitted that, back during the making of Always Sunny Season Six, he thought about quitting the show until McElhenney intervened and talked him down.

I guess “You’re trapped! You’re trapped!” really does work.

“When we were shooting Season Six of Always Sunny, I was in a bad place,” Howerton admitted. “I was feeling burned out, and, frankly, I was feeling boxed in by the show.” 

Unsatisfied with his acting career being centered entirely around a single series, the day-to-day demands of making It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia began to wear Howerton down like he was Dennis trying to live in the suburbs with Mac. Said Howerton of Always Sunny back in 2010, “At that point, we were doing 13 episodes a season. … I didn’t want to do it anymore — at all. Because I had other career goals, and it was getting in the way. Because I’m spending — at that point, probably eight, nine months were spent writing, acting and then in post on Always Sunny. Nine months. And I didn’t set out to be a comedic actor, I had other things that I wanted to do.”

“I’m not someone with endless amounts of energy. Some people can juggle multiple things at once, I’m not good at that,” Howerton said of the demands of Always Sunny. And, when that grind wore on Howerton, he took it out on the people around him. “I didn’t realize how much my energy was affecting everybody. I was bringing a real negative vibe to things. … And because I’m not only one of the lead actors on the show but I’m also a producer and a writer on the show, I’m one of the bosses on the show, it was affecting everybody.”

After weeks of bad energy and dreams of quitting, Howerton says that McElhenney hit him with much-needed check in. “(McElhenney), in the most loving way, he pulled me aside and he was like, ‘Hey man, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.’ I was like, ‘Yeah?’ and he was like, ‘Are you okay? Are you doing okay?’”

At first, Howerton says that he was “a little defensive,” but after he realized McElhenney was coming to him from a place of concern, he let his guard down. Once McElhenney validated Howerton’s feelings, McElhenney told his friend, “Well, just so you know, that feeling that you’re having, while perfectly legitimate, it is affecting people, and you should know that. Because people look to you as the boss.”

Howerton says that the talk “broke down my ego,” admitting that, afterwards, “I cried. I got choked up, because it was an opportunity to actually connect with somebody about the thing that was bothering me.” 

McElhenney’s empathy brought Howerton out of his funk and made him feel like he could stay on Always Sunny for another 10-plus seasons. If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s that being a good friend is much more effective and much more affordable than a life-like sex doll.