It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: how the ‘anti-sitcom sitcom’ became a hit

Stupid, absurd and filled with depraved characters, this scrappy series might be TV’s greatest underdog

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he year was 2005 and comedy television was entering a shiny new era. Cultural giants like Friends and Sex and the City might have concluded a year earlier but glossy upstarts – The Office and How I Met Your Mother, heard of them? – were ready to fill their monolithic shoes. Into their midst came a scrappy new series: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

The success of It’s Always Sunny was never guaranteed. It was born only a few months after YouTube, shot on a handheld camera, had a budget of practically nothing and featured a motley crew of out-of-work actors. The show was built on a simple premise; to highlight the exploits of an idiotic, narcissistic group of friends running an Irish dive bar in South Philly who scheme, betray and trick each other – or unfortunate strangers – at every turn.