‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Superfans Weigh In on When the Show Might End

The 17th season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia concludes tonight, and fans are more anxious than ever that their beloved show could soon come to an end. 

The show’s stars certainly aren’t helping quell their fears. Charlie Day recently told The Hollywood Reporter that “it could quite possibly be the end” after Season 18, and Glenn Howerton snuck a secret, backwards message over the end credits of a recent episode that read, “I don’t want to do this anymore, I want someone else to do it.” Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito) also pretended to die this season, and given that DeVito, a genuine national treasure, is 80 years old, it’s fair to wonder how long he has left as an actor (and on this mortal plane).

Which is why I assembled a crack team of fellow It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia superfans to predict how they believe the show will end as well as how The Gang should go out. 

Let’s start with a status check. Do you think the show is as good as it once was?

Luke, admin of Charlie Day Quotes on Facebook: This season has been exceptional, considering how the past few seasons have gone. Not that I didn’t like the past few seasons — they were just different. With Charlie and his dad and Mac finding his pride, they’ve been tackling different issues that were way more serious. The show has been good and I love the episodes we’ve had, with a few small exceptions maybe, but this season it feels like they got back to their roots of what made the show awesome — the pure dysfunction.

Eddie, admin of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Implication Posting on Facebook: I like what I’ve seen so far. Like Luke was saying, the past few seasons have been kind of hit or miss, but I appreciated that. I’d rather a show take risks than get stagnant, but I’m glad to hear they’re getting back to their roots.

Nathan, creator of @alwayssunnydaily on Instagram: I completely agree. This season has been outstanding compared to the past few seasons. Not that the past few seasons have been bad by any means, but they were definitely trying new things.

How much longer do you think the show has?

Eddie: I think it could go as long as the cast and crew want to keep it going, but I’d say one more season and I’d cut it off because you can definitely tell that time is passing. The tone of the comedy is changing. The cast is aging. The themes they hit on are a bit different, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but It’s Always Sunny has turned into something else. 

Before, it was grounded in the idea of four friends running a bar, and they’re all terrible people. Now you have episodes like the one with Charlie’s dad or “Mac Finds His Pride” where the show really gets profound and philosophical. I appreciate that, but there comes a point where it stretches so far that you’re wondering, “What are we even doing here?”

Nathan: They’ve confirmed one more season, so it’s interesting to see if they renew it for a couple more to get to that magic number 20. But, as harsh as it may come across, I feel like the show will end essentially if Danny DeVito passes or is unwell and can’t carry on. I can’t see them carrying on without Danny.

Luke: They should run it as long as they physically can — whether they choose to do that or not is another matter. They have one more season, but they’ll get a renewal if they want it. 

I’m trying to be an optimistic person about this, but I personally think they’ll go until DeVito dies or is unable to do it — and he seems like he’s in pretty good shape.

Do you think the show could work without Danny DeVito?

Nathan: I can’t see it. I can’t picture the show working without any of them. The season where Glenn stepped away from the show, it really struggled.

Eddie: I agree. The cast feels like a family, and if Danny died, it would leave such a cloud. Maybe a “Goodbye Frank” episode, but honestly, I don’t want to think about that.

Luke: I don’t see them going very long after Frank, if at all.

Do you have any thoughts on how you’d like the show to end?

Nathan: They might go down a Seinfeld kind of route where they all get arrested for all the crimes they’ve done throughout the show. Or some sort of scheme where they blow up Paddy’s Pub for insurance purposes or something like that. It could go down so many different directions. But if it ends with it all being a dream, I’ll be pretty disappointed.

Eddie: They’ve played with the idea that Dennis is a serial killer, so maybe he gets arrested and goes to jail and then Mac is the only one who comes and sees him. You could have Frank flee the country and go to a tax haven while Charlie adopts a bunch of cats. Then Dee could be the only person stuck tending the bar. The closing shot could be her just absolutely miserable, but in a really successful pub, having to clean up everyone else’s mess.

Luke: I don’t want to think about it too much.

Last question, do you think The Gang, or any members of The Gang, deserve a happy ending?

Luke: Maybe Cricket, but otherwise, no. Charlie’s alright. He’s done some bad stuff, but nothing too terrible. The fans would probably want Charlie to have some sort of not-too-terrible demise, but I don’t think they’d care too much about the rest of the characters.

Eddie: I second that. Charlie should probably have a happy-ish ending. With everyone else, it would be funnier to have them face the consequences. That’s usually the punchline anyway, right?

Nathan: The whole Gang should have a miserable ending. The people they did wrong throughout the whole show could potentially have a good ending. Like The Lawyer, Cricket, even The Waitress — they deserve the happy ending, but not The Gang.