After 15 years of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, it’s safe to say that there’s a multitude of running gags that help to elevate the show and provide more value for its long-time fans. They’ve certainly evolved over the years — grown into more complex jokes even if the characters haven’t. However, if you’re a first-time viewer of It’s Always Sunny, you may be a bit lost if you’re tuning in to the latest season, currently airing on FXX. To help out those new to the Always Sunny clan, we’re doing a breakdown of the biggest running gags throughout the series.
Charlie’s Illiteracy
Charlie (Charlie Day) is, without a doubt, the dumbest character of the gang, and probably one of the dumbest characters ever written. Although he’s not necessarily well-meaning, Charlie is mostly harmless, filled with weird quirks and eccentricities that make him one of the best characters in recent TV history. The best running joke in regards to his personality is the fact that Charlie is illiterate.
And it always leads to hysterical results, whether it’s a one-off joke or if it drives the plot of the episode. For example, in the Season 3 episode “The Gang Dances Their Asses Off,” Charlie signs up Paddy’s Pub to host a local dance-off competition. In the “Prize” category, Charlie put down the pub itself as the winnings. Naturally, he thought the word said “Pride”, and he put down the pub because he was proud of it. In theory, that’s incredibly sweet but his illiteracy drove the gang to drastic measures to make sure they win the competition.
Charlie the Lawyer
Charlie is an enigmatic man, dumb for sure, but full of random and mysterious traits that make up the silliest member of the gang. One hilarious running gag follows the idea of Charlie as a lawyer since he believes that he is quite adept in the law, particularly “bird law”. The joke appears every so often, normally when the gang gets into legal trouble and Charlie steps forward, thinking he can sort this out.
The writers capitalize on this running gag in the Season 11 episode “McPoyle vs Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century”. For some background, Liam McPoyle is suing Bill Ponderosa for the loss of his eye, as Ponderosa spiked the milk punch with bath salts at McPoyle’s wedding. The Lawyer is McPoyle’s lawyer, and Charlie and his Uncle Jack are standing on behalf of Ponderosa. In a surprise change of events, Charlie wins the case through his knowledge of bird law, proving that he does, indeed, possess some legal abilities.
Charlie the Stalker
Charlie wears many hats in It’s Always Sunny, and one of his biggest personality traits and probably the longest-running gag is Charlie’s obsession with The Waitress (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Charlie Day's real-life wife). An unnamed coffee waitress, Charlie began obsessing over her since high school and continues to stalk her daily despite the numerous restraining orders she’s obtained. The Waitress constantly rejects him, and he never gets deterred or gets the hint.
This provides lots of hilarious episodes in which Charlie schemes and lies to get the Waitress to love him, including pretending to be in AA and using another girl to make her jealous. Charlie and The Waitress do eventually sleep together in Season 12, but finding her to be clingy and annoying, Charlie begins to ignore her calls until she breaks up with him. And then, unsurprisingly, he becomes infatuated with her again.
The Waitress’ Name
Consequently, there’s another running gag in which the character, The Waitress, never actually reveals her name to the audience. The gang simply refers to her as "The Waitress", never bothering to learn her name. Even Dennis, who previously slept with The Waitress, doesn’t know her name, and files her sex tape under “W” for “Waitress.”
Charlie Work
The concept of “Charlie Work” started early in the series, as it became clear to audiences that Charlie did all of the terrible work. “Charlie Work” refers to cleaning the bathrooms, bashing the rats in the basement, and any other sort of gross or demeaning duties. Charlie actually describes what “Charlie Work” is in “The Gang Gets Analyzed”: “Well, Charlie Work is, like, you know...like basement stuff, cleaning urinals, uh, blood stuff, your basic slimes, your sludges, anything dead, or decay, you know — I'm on it, I'm dealing with it."
Again, as with all the running gags, the writers smartly take this concept and run with it in one of the best episodes of the entire series, aptly called “Charlie Work”. Featuring an uninterrupted seven-minute-long shot, the episode follows Charlie as he tries to make Paddy’s Pub pass a surprise health inspection. The gang offers no help, as they are currently underway trying to smuggle chickens for a scheme. The episode illustrates that “Charlie Work” really is much more than just the “basement stuff.” Without Charlie, the bar would not be up and running, and although he’s not the brightest guy, he does provide value.
Frank’s Toe Knife
Frank (Danny DeVito) is definitely the grossest of the gang, often burping, farting, and emitting other grotesque bodily noises. One of his favorite pastimes is using his toe knife to pick out the gunk behind his toenails. Unsurprisingly, he often cuts himself with the toe knife, which he also uses for a variety of other uncleanly purposes.
The Sewer & The Bridge
The dynamic duo of Frank and Charlie spend their time in cryptic ways, often only giving brief locations or descriptions of their hangouts. Two of the most common ones are the sewer and under the bridge. Here, they find lots of treasures including denim that they like to boil. They also make friends like Duncan and Z and use the sewers to travel more easily throughout the city (which involves taking off their clothes, of course).
Dennis is a Serial Killer
At the beginning of the series, Dennis (Glenn Howerton) certainly had emotional and empathy issues, but they quickly developed into full-on sociopathic tendencies. This often comes out in the form of his treatment of women, including the "D.E.N.N.I.S. System" (Demonstrate Value, Engage Physically, Nurture Independence, Neglect Emotionally, Inspire Hope, Separate Entirely). He also continually harps on putting women in boxes or freezers or suggesting in other ways how he’d like to hurt women, even if he doesn’t think that’s his intention.
The Implication
One of Dennis’ frequently exposed sociopathic tendencies is his creation of “The Implication”. The implication was first mentioned in the Season 6 episode, “The Gang Buys a Boat”. Dennis wants to invite women onto the boat to sleep with them, stating that they will not say no because of “the implication”. Said implication is the idea that they may get harmed if they say no because they are isolated on a boat and cannot escape.
Instinctively, this sounds creepy and alarming. When explaining the implication to Mac (Rob McElhenney), Mac says he doesn’t get it and it sounds like Dennis is just going to hurt women (which it does). Another important time in which the implication returns occurs when the gang goes on a cruise in “The Gang Goes to Hell” in Season 11. We see him attempt to use the implication in action and ends up scaring a young, teenage girl in the process.
Mac’s Sexuality
The question of Mac’s sexuality initially began as a joke when the series first premiered in 2005. Mac always had tendencies that led the gang to believe he was gay, and he continually refuses to believe it’s true. Part of this stems from his stringent and aggressive Catholic beliefs, as well as his insistence on performative hypermasculinity. Small jibes and moments regarding Mac’s questionable sexuality pepper the first few series, but in Season 12, It’s Always Sunny decided to do something different.
In previous seasons, Mac has come out as gay before, only to head firmly back into the closet as fast as he could. However, in “Hero or Hate Crime?”, Mac actually came out and decided to stay out for the first time, and he’s been out ever since. And in Season 13, Mac decided to reveal his sexuality to his father through a stunning contemporary dance that illustrated the pain and struggle of coming out. It’s the most poignant and serious moment of the series and another fine example of how the writers continue to explore and work with the running gags in the best way.
Dee is a Bird
Poor Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson) gets picked on by the boys a lot, and they’ve called her many names over the years. However, one particular joke has been a constant — calling Dee “a bird”. Not super bright or original, the gang calls Dee a bird because she is very skinny, blond, and shaped like a bird (in their eyes at least). Part of the humor of this running gag is that it’s basically an anti-joke, not very funny in its concept, but it gained more humor as the boys kept repeating it and getting weird, immature joy out of it.
Dee’s Gagging
Sweet Dee has never been good in front of crowds, ironically, since her dream in life is to become an actress. Dee has tried her hand at stand-up a few times since she believes that she’s very funny and thinks it might be her way to Hollywood. However, every time she goes on-stage she starts gagging in a hysterical but terrifying realistic way. Honestly, she occasionally inspires sympathy gagging because she’s just too good.
Dee’s Car
Finally, Dee’s bad luck extends to her personal belongings, as another recurring gag is that Dee’s car always gets wrecked. Dee’s car usually gets destroyed during the gang’s schemes, sometimes ones that she has nothing to do with. The boys will just steal her car, use it for some shenanigans, and then return it broken. If her car isn’t being destroyed, then it’s being stolen and never seen again.