Hidden Messages In It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia You May Not Have Caught Onto
The FX sitcom "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" continues running strong since it premiered in 2005–in 2020, FX renewed it for four more seasons, which will bring the show up to 18 seasons in total (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Given how cheap the show's pilot was to produce, and given the show's subject matter, it might seem like "It's Always Sunny" is thrown together. That's not the case. The creators put plenty of care and attention to detail into each episode. Some jokes are so well-hidden you might not spot them.
If you're a fan of the show, you might have noticed something strange about the end credits. After the credits have rolled, there's a production bumper for stars Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton's production company, RCG Productions (formerly RCH Productions). The bumper has a quick voiceover of what sounds like gibberish, but is in fact a message played backwards. For most seasons of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," Howerton, McElhenney, and Charlie Day recorded a new message for their RCG production bumper, but sometimes they recorded unique ones for certain episodes.
Without further ado, here's the list of messages, season by season.
Play the RCG Productions bumper backwards for an extra laugh
Season 1
McElhenney, Day, and Howerton: "You're stupid for playing this forward."
Season 2
McElhenney: "Is it brown, is it brown, is it brown?"
Howerton: "Good work."
McElhenney: "Is it brown, is it brown, is it brown?"
Howerton: "Good work."
"Hundred Dollar Baby" (Season 2)
All three: "Clown baby, brown clown clown baby, brown clown."
Season 3
All three, singing: "Make it brown!"
Season 4
All three, singing: "Clown baby, brown clown clown baby, brown clown."
Season 5
McElhenney: "Next stop, brown town."
"The Gang Wrestles for the Troops" (Season 5)
Day: "The eagle's born out of thunder."
"Christmastime Special" (Season 5)
McElhenney: "Sorry for wasting your time and money, but thanks for your money."
Season 6
Howerton: "Brown–now in HD."
Season 7
Day: "Seven seasons of brown!"
Season 8
McElhenney: "The brownings will continue."
Season 9
Day: "The eagle's born out of thunder."
Season 10
Day: "They got chicken in Philly."
Season 11
A bad trumpet noise plays, then Howerton says, "Brown."
Season 12
Howerton: "Goodbye everyone, it's been brown."
Season 13
Day: "Hey baby butter, baby bitter butter, bitter butter brown."
Season 14
McElhenney: "They leave, but they all come back. Brown."
Season 15
All three, singing: "Four walls, the better brown" (via It's Always Sunny Wiki).
Why all the "browns?" Most likely that's a reference to the Philadephia-area band Ween, of which the trio are big fans–Ween uses the word "brown" as slang for "cool" (via Swim into the Sound). As for "Four Walls," that's a reference to the trio's recently released whiskey (via The Hollywood Reporter).