12 Most Rewatchable Episodes Of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

When "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" first aired in 2005, few could have predicted that it would become the longest-running live-action American sitcom. After all, the irreverent comedy features a group of people who are entirely devoid of anything respectable. That's what makes the show great, and its lack of boundaries has kept "It's Always Sunny" relevant and popular.

If "Seinfeld" is a show about nothing, then "It's Always Sunny" is the extreme of that philosophy, as all the characters involved are narcissistic sociopaths – Dennis (Glenn Howerton) more than anyone. You can't call Frank (Danny DeVito), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), Mac (Rob Mac), or Charlie (Charlie Day) "good people" either, and that's what makes the show so much fun. It's the darkest of satires, like driving by a terrible wreck — you can't help but take a look.

Across 17 seasons (and counting), there have been dozens of hilarious episodes of "It's Always Sunny" that are deserving of a rewatch or three. These are the episodes that define the show's central theme (or lack thereof) through gross-out humor, sharp satire, and fundamentally funny concepts that are just as silly every time. Each of these 12 episodes fits that description, and they're arranged in no particular order.

Some of "It's Always Sunny's" best episodes are one-offs that see the gang go on an unintended adventure that results in backstabbing for no justifiable reason. That's a good way to describe "Thunder Gun Express," where the team heads out to the theater to catch the latest entry in the in-universe "Thunder Gun" film franchise. Normally that wouldn't be a challenging thing to accomplish, but the movie opens on the same day that President Obama visits the City of Brotherly Love.

The President's motorcade causes total interstate gridlock. When most folks hit a roadblock like that, they throw their hands up in the air and agree to see the film on another day. Not the gang. They come up with several schemes, causing them to split into smaller groups.

Charlie and Dee take to the sewers while Frank steals a tour boat, upending its tourists' interests with his nonsensical "facts." Mac, who is a bit obese in Season 7, couldn't fit into the sewer, so he steals a bike. Eventually, he crosses paths with Dennis (who never left the car), where he's listening to himself on tape seducing women. Ultimately, Frank is arrested and calls in a bomb threat, "Thunder Gunning" the rest of the gang. Nobody gets to see the movie.

In what is now a rather relatable episode, "The Gang Gets Quarantined," a severe flu outbreak hits Philadelphia. This occurs as the gang is excited for a Boyz II Men concert (and a chance to open for them), so, to ensure they don't lose their voices, they self-quarantine, imposing strict rules to ensure nobody gets sick. A sensible idea, but for the gang, it comes crashing down as they selfishly break every rule they've set.

They agree not to let anyone in or out of the bar, while also insisting that they abstain from drinking alcohol. So, of course, Dennis orders a pizza. Frank locks him in the bathroom, away from the rest of the group, but he's not alone in there for long. Frank confines Dee after he catches her eating food in the office, and Mac soon follows after he sneezes in Frank's presence.

Meanwhile, everyone already in the bathroom is succumbing to the flu, which causes Mac to completely break character in one of the episode's funniest moments. Eventually, Charlie joins them (with whiskey), and when they finally leave the bathroom (after six days), they find Frank lying face-down, nearly naked and fully shaved as he wades in a puddle of hand sanitizer, muttering, "I just want to be pure."

The gang doesn't concern itself with introspection much, but that changes in "The Gang Misses the Boat," when they miss the titular boat and its party. This leads Frank, Mac, and Dennis to decide that the rest of the group has been holding them back, so they take some time to reflect and become better people. Dennis chooses to be more laid back, like how he was when he was younger, and opts to sell his Range Rover.

When his buyers don't show the car the appropriate respect since, well, it's mostly submerged in the river, he goes back to being the lovable psychopath the gang knows and fears. Frank tries to bankroll a new group of friends, pushing himself into their lives as he attempts to redo schemes from the first season, beginning with allowing a bunch of children into their newly opened bar.

Mac embraces a party boy lifestyle and meets a woman in a bar, showing that he hasn't changed and is still fighting his sexuality. Dee and Charlie have a relatively normal day that ends with them kissing, and it all ends as it began, with everyone reverting to their usual personalities. The episode concludes with Frank returning with a rum ham, marking the end of their grand social experiment.

The mark of an affluent individual is boat ownership. That's what Mac, Dennis, and Charlie think when they decide to buy a boat after one of their schemes nets them $2,500. As anyone familiar with boats knows, that's not enough money to buy anything that floats, and of course, they want something Dennis describes as a "P-Diddy-style" party boat — a remark that hasn't aged well. Or aged very well, maybe, considering the gang.

As the episode title implies, "The Gang Buys a Boat." They can only afford the so-called "Drowning Sailor," though, which is a houseboat in need of a great deal of restoration. Charlie and Frank love the idea so they can go shrimping, but Mac and Dennis are all about partying on board.

This leads to one of the show's less-nuanced running jokes of Dennis' belief that he'll score with any woman he takes out on the boat "because of the implication." As you'd expect, nobody agrees on much of anything, all of the crap inside the boat ends up in the river, and Mac ultimately agrees with Dennis' notion that girls "can make rash decisions based on fear." In the end, the boat burns while afloat away from the dock, ending the gang's latest venture with a disappointing yet hilarious inferno.

While it's incredibly rare to see Paddy's Pub get any sort of clientele outside of the random dead guy in the booth or folks who walk in and then immediately leave, "Time's Up for the Gang" might explain why. The episode begins with Paddy's having been placed on the so-called "S****y Bar List" for being hostile to women. This makes sense with Dennis behind the bar, but it's not something the gang wants, so they take a sexual harassment seminar to get Paddy's removed from the blacklist.

When they arrive, the gang wastes no time acting inappropriately in every instance and scenario. During a group setting, where Mac and Dee play out a scene as an exercise, Mac instantly grabs Dee between her legs and lifts her into the air. Both Dee and Mac balk when they're told that Mac committed a sexual assault. While true, it also remains one of the series' funniest moments.

Meanwhile, Frank wears nothing but a robe, and Dee sees her new knowledge as power against men, which she immediately weaponizes. Charlie then claims Dee inappropriately assaulted him, and things devolve from there. Finally, Dennis admits to creating the list and seminar to force other Philly bar owners to listen to him, confronting them all before the group heads to the pool to grab some drinks.

While they evolved into what can only be described as human garbage, Dee and Dennis had a relatively decent childhood. They tap into their nostalgia in "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore" by taking the group to their favorite vacation spot from childhood. It's not like they remember it — it's the Jersey Shore, after all. They fill sunscreen bottles with tequila, and Charlie, who had to be choked unconscious to leave Philadelphia, ends up having a great time.

Meanwhile, Dennis and Dee visit their old now-dilapidated haunts, and Dee gets part of her scalp cut off. They take drugs and wind up involved in a robbery and homicide, leading them to dig a grave at the beach, but they escape. Meanwhile, Frank and Mac sit on a raft enjoying a rum ham but wind up too far from shore, leading to moments of potential cannibalism.

This is all quite ridiculous and funny, but Charlie's experience is probably the best. He sees the Waitress (Mary Elizabeth Ellis), whose name remains unknown in one of "It's Always Sunny's" best running gags, and they spend the night together. She awakens, realizing she was high the whole time, and flees, leaving the gang to return to Philly as their underwhelming vacation comes to an equally disappointing end.

It doesn't take a brilliant mind to understand why Paddy's Pub isn't the best spot in Philly, and "The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award" digs into why. Everything about the group's actions in the episode is completely inappropriate, and in most cases, entirely unnecessary. They also want to win the Annual Bar Association Award, which Frank desires.

Everyone goes along with the plan, so they visit the office, where Frank tries to rig their nomination. Despite that it also only costs $10 to be nominated for eligibility, the rep informs them that every time they've sent a ballot, it's been returned covered in racial slurs and bodily waste. Dennis believes that Paddy's is too "out there" to compete, so they visit other bars to take note of how a successful place operates to attempt to replicate it.

They essentially copy everything they possibly can, but nothing about their presentation works, nor does it sit well with their limited clientele. Charlie gets high on spray paint and tries to sing, but ultimately tells everyone to leave in a rather rude manner. When folks depart, the gang decides that everyone but them is to blame. They agree that they don't need the validation an award offers, but it's clear that they're upset over it anyway.

If there's one word that describes the gang, it's dysfunction. When a scratch-off lottery ticket (and a bigoted remark) divides the gang, they visit a professional arbitrator to resolve their conflict in "Hero of Hate Crime?" When faced with the arbitrator, they each plead their cases while simultaneously trying to paint Frank as a discriminatory hater.

What follows is a series of explanations surrounding the ticket and who can claim ownership, but whenever the arbitrator suggests respect and reason, they're replaced with a new arbitrator. This continues for some time as each member of the gang argues their point, returning to Frank's use of offensive slurs against Mac. Eventually they arrive at the third and final arbitrator, who makes a ruling.

She declares that Mac and Frank split the ticket's potential winnings 50/50, leading to protests. Mac comes out as gay to claim the winnings (and sort of settle the issue around the bigoted remark) and the ticket is scratched, revealing that it is indeed a winner, valued at $10,000. Unfortunately, due to hiring multiple arbitrators, their bill amounts to $9,986, leaving only $14. The gang lets Mac celebrate his victory and collectively agree that it's good that he finally came out. They all hate him, regardless.

Mac and Dennis have been roommates since the series began, and in "Mac & Dennis Move to the Suburbs," they decide to look for a new apartment. This is due to the inflated cost of rent and the fact that they previously burned down their rent-controlled apartment. Without options in the city, they look to the suburbs and move into a house that's an hour away from the bar.

Frank bets that they won't last a month, setting up a calamity that delves into Dennis' psychopathy. Dennis assumes the role of the working husband, while Mac remains at home, feeling like a housewife who makes the same meals over and over again. This strains their relationship as Dennis begins to crack over traffic and his neighbor's irritating comments whenever they bump into one another.

Eventually, Dennis loses his mind, Mac hints at having fed him their new dog, and it all unravels as they reach the 30-day mark. When Frank says he'll pay their rent for a year if they live in the same house, the next scene shows Mac, Dennis, Dee, and Old Man (Wil Garret) all sharing the same bed in Dee's apartment. The episode is rewatchable for many reasons, but Dennis' insane, imagined freak-out at his neighbor is Howerton's best acting moment in the whole series.

When "The Gang Goes to a Water Park," the group breaks up, as it often does, into smaller teams, each with their own self-interest in mind. Frank and Charlie are determined to visit every attraction in the park, while Mac and Dee plan to hop on their favorite ride once, and they want to do it before the park is deluged with urine. Dennis' only interest is hitting on sunbathing women.

This leads him to take on a young protege who shares some of his sociopathic tendencies. In almost no time at all, Mac and Dee find themselves stuck in the Kiddy Twister, which is unsurprisingly not for adults. They clog the tube, but kids continue to go down the slide, resulting in a huge backlog of children, all of whom eventually pee.

Frank and Charlie pretend that Charlie has a disease to cut the lines, and Dennis becomes impressed with their little kleptomaniac and grifter — they're two of a kind. When Frank and Charlie finish all the rides, they spot a "Thunder Gun Express," an attraction that's still under construction. Of course they go on it anyway, using a single bottle of water on the dry slide. It rips Frank's back open, causing widespread panic when the water turns red, ending with the episode's best scene: Mac happily sitting on a pool drain.

Of the many recurring jokes on the show, Charlie's infatuation with the Waitress has driven the plot more than most. This makes sense, as Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis are married in real life, and it's a constant source of fan amusement. In "The Nightman Cometh," Charlie ropes everyone in the gang into performing in a musical he wrote based on his song "Nightman," and everyone dives into their roles, though Charlie is scant on details.

The rock opera's themes are disturbing, to say the least, with a Dayman (who is "metaphorically" a little boy) in love with a princess who works in a coffee shop. The Nightman visits him in his sleep, but a Troll demands payment for the Boy's soul, as Dee and Frank insist they're not pedophiles, which is heavily implied by the narrative. Eventually, the show comes to an end as the song "Dayman" concludes with a sunlit figure (a "true" Dayman), played by Charlie, proposing marriage to the Waitress who's been reluctantly sitting through the performance.

She, of course, says no, insisting that she fulfilled her obligation and Charlie will stop stalking her, as promised. He insists he won't be doing that at all, and she storms out of the theater as Frank attempts to console an angry and bitter Charlie. The episode is rewatchable because the musical is absolutely brilliant (if disturbing), and it's steeped in hilarious undertones.

It's made clear early in the series that Charlie does all of the crappy jobs nobody else is willing to do around the bar, which gets called "Charlie Work." The Season 10 episode of the same name shows just how much Charlie does to keep Paddy's from being shut down when a health inspector comes calling. He gets word of the inspector's arrival and tries to rope in the gang so they can ensure Paddy's passes the inspection, which it would otherwise not.

When Charlie walks into the bar, he's greeted with chaos in the form of live chickens and a bizarre scam to steal airplane miles. It's a typical day at Paddy's Pub, honestly. This sends him on a tangent as he works tirelessly to undo or work around each of the issues, including the accidental order of 4,000 steaks and the existence of chicken poo throughout the bar. When the health inspector arrives, Charlie manages to lead her through Paddy's, explaining away everything she sees with expert duplicity.

The gang helps (sort of), and they end up getting away with the inspection, leaving Charlie proud while everyone else gives the success absolutely no heed whatsoever. They're simply happy the chicken scam worked. The episode features a brilliant performance by Day, who drives the narrative in exasperation, making its conclusion all the more hilarious because, as per usual, Charlie doesn't get the credit he deserves, everyone makes fun of Dee, and everything is back to normal when the credits roll.