Is This Irish Sitcom the Closest We’ll Get to A Gender-Swapped ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’?
If you think about it in broad strokes, the hit British sitcom Derry Girls is strikingly similar to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with one obvious difference — Derry Girls won an Emmy.
When the British public broadcasting station Channel 4 premiered Northern Irish playwright and screenwriter Lisa McGee’s personal and punchy coming-of-age sitcom about life in her hometown of Derry during the turbulent mid-1990s, the channel probably didn’t anticipate that Derry Girls would become their biggest comedy series since Father Ted, their last successful sitcom about Ireland in the ‘90s, and their first scripted international sensation to pair with The Great British Bake Off as their American-beloved megahits. Thankfully, the heart, humor and joyful chaos of Derry Girls translated well from Northern Irish to American English, and today, over two years after the series finale, Derry Girls is still one of the most streamed sitcoms on Netflix U.S. with the subtitles on.
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Unsurprisingly, there is a significant amount of fanbase overlap between Derry Girls and the top American sitcom about self-aggrandizing misfits causing trouble in a city that threatens to become a war zone at any moment. According to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Twitter, Derry Girls is the perfect show to watch if you’re looking for a gender-swapped Always Sunny with a slightly less boozy setting:
Fans of both shows may start to see some parallels between characters when the cast of Derry Girls and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are held up next to one another — most obviously, the Irish (or British) equivalent of Sweet Dee is poor James, the punching bag of the group and the token gender outcast. That would mean that James’ often abusive cousin Michelle is Derry Girls’ Dennis, which is fitting concerning her ruthless pursuit of self-interest and her obsession with getting laid. Orla is Charlie, obviously, seeing as they both live in fantastical alternate realities and serve as the wild card of their respective gangs.
The fit for the last two core characters is a bit of a slant rhyme. We can say that Claire is Mac considering that they’re both the only gay members of their groups and that they’re usually the first to moralize. However, Erin doesn’t feel like a perfect Frank, seeing as she’s usually the last Derry Girl willing to “get real weird with it” and she isn’t into Frank’s usual indulgences like guns, whoo-urs and hanging out under the bridge.
But, ultimately, it’s the spirit of the shows that connects Derry Girls to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in their mutual audience’s minds. Each episode is typically structured around the group trying to achieve a goal through an outrageous and likely illegal scheme, and it almost never ends with the characters getting what they want. However, Derry Girls tends to take a more empathetic approach to its characters’ lives, and empathy, even when it’s expressed eloquently, always feels a little bit out of place on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Oh, also, Paddy’s Pub is an Irish bar, but the many crucifixes in Derry Girls are decidedly not dripping with blood.
