It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of the longest-running sitcoms of all time. The show is currently in its fourteenth season with no signs of stopping any time soon. It’s come a long way since it began and yet the concept stays the same.
We get to watch our favorite gang of dysfunctional characters do terrible things and be awful people every day. We’re taking a look back at the top ten best episodes of Always Sunny according to IMDb.
Season 7, Episode 7 - “CharDee MacDennis: The Game of Games” (9.2)
The gang decides to invent their own high-stakes board game and it’s completely ridiculous and hardly makes any sense. But it does involve the team-up of Charlie and Dee versus Mac and Dennis.
The game became incredibly popular with reproductions even being sold in real life to diehard fans of the series. It features a timer, three levels, and lots of drinking. The game would be visited later on in the series too as a new favorite past time.
Season 9, Episode 3 - “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award” (9.2)
After the gang gets snubbed yet again for “Philadelphia’s Best Bar” Award they go to extreme lengths to figure out what they should do to win next year.
The episode is particularly humorous because it serves as a metaphor for the series never winning, or even being nominated for, an Emmy Award despite being on the air longer than most other comedies. It also includes a musical number and some of the best in-jokes and meta-references in the series.
Season 3, Episode 9 - “Sweet Dee’s Dating a R*tarded Person” (9.3)
The title of this episode is certainly not politically correct, nor should it have probably been used at the time, but it remains a standout episode of Always Sunny. The main reason people still love this episode so much is due to how it highlights the best part of the show.
These are truly awful people. Everyone gets to be in their terrible glory as they attempt to find out if Dee’s new rapper boyfriend has a mental illness or not. Dee is as oblivious as ever to everything.
Season 5, Episode 10 - “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System” (9.3)
When you look at the most-quoted episodes of Always Sunny, “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System” will surely rank near the top. Many people love this episode due to how crazy it is Dennis would think his system is an acceptable way to talk to women.
There is also the entire running joke through the series and in the fandom that Dennis may be a serial killer and his system lends a lot of evidence to that. Again, one of the best parts of the comedy is laughing at the gang and how ridiculous they are.
Season 13, Episode 4 - “Time’s Up for the Gang” (9.3)
Surprisingly for a show of this nature, they always seem to handle super-sensitive topics well. The show has tackled an array of political topics and buzzwords from racism to abortion so it was not at all shocking when they did an episode on the Times Up movement.
As usual, the gang handles a sexual harassment seminar in the only terrible ways they know how to. Dee is actually the person who takes the entire thing the least seriously. The episode does a great job of getting in some real criticism at the toxic culture of Hollywood and sexism while still being hilarious.
Season 11, Episode 5 - “Mac & Dennis Move to the Suburbs” (9.4)
Dennis and Mac move to a house in the suburbs due to the cheap rent and soon find that they can’t handle life outside of their comfort zone. This episode focuses on the pairing of Mac and Dennis, which many fans love. Their interactions are some of the best in the series.
The two of them trying to live a normal life involving a 9-to-5 job, traffic, annoying neighbors, and lots of mac and cheese devolves into complete disaster by the third act and it’s glorious to watch the two of them unfold.
Season 12, Episode 2 - “The Gang Goes to the Water Park” (9.5)
The gang goes to a water park for a day of fun, what could go wrong? Well, Mac and Dee get stuck inside of a water slide with a bunch of kids piling up behind them and everyone starts peeing in the water. Charlie and Frank try to ride every ride in the park.
It works, but Frank also manages to rip his back open and bleed everywhere due to going down a rubber slide with no water. Finally, Dennis meets his match in a younger girl who manages to scam the scammer.
Season 12, Episode 6 - “Hero or Hate Crime?” (9.5)
The plot of this episode involves the gang all fighting over a lottery scratch ticket, forcing them to go to an arbitrator to decide who should get it and the money. The problem is, a series of unfortunate events makes it hard to decide especially because Frank saves Mac’s life, but only by calling him an offensive homophobic slur.
They have to decide if Frank is a hero, or committed a hate crime. But the main reason this episode is so special is that Mac officially comes out and admits that he’s gay. The gang even lets him have his day and take the ticket, although they plan to ruin it later by making him pay the bill.
Season 4, Episode 13 - “The Nightman Cometh” (9.7)
Charlie decides to create a musical based on the character known as “The Nightman.” Long-time fans know that Charlie’s creation of the Nightman has to do with his traumatic youth involving an abusive uncle. But in this episode, he gets to express himself through song and most of the songs are pretty catchy.
Plus, it’s great fun to watch the gang actually get into their characters, sing, and dance on stage even if most of it goes terribly wrong.
Season 10, Episode 4 - “Charlie Work” (9.8)
One of the main reasons this episode is ranked so high is due to its technical feat. The episode features an extended uninterrupted shot that lasts seven minutes and makes for the flow of Charlie’s work to impress the health inspector all the more impressive.
It’s also great for Charlie fans who get to see the character do something very helpful as the rest of the gang ignores him and tries to pull off a high-stakes chicken scam. We learn how important what Charlie does for the bar is.
Next: It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia: The Best Episode In Every Season, Ranked
