What It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has managed to accomplish during its run is nothing short of amazing. After twelve seasons on the air (with more on the way), the show remains as fresh and acerbic as ever. Much of this is due to the consistency of the show's core creative team and cast, but now it seems that Glenn Howerton's upcoming stint on NBC's AP Bio could mean that we will see a lot less of Dennis Reynolds on the next season. Howerton's co-star Charlie Day addressed this possibility and explained:
We really never want to do the show without Dennis. There is a possibility that maybe we would have Dennis in part of a season, not a complete season. I think we would still do a great season. There is a possibility that we have Dennis for an entire season, which would be fantastic. You know, we'll see what happens with [Glenn's] show, but I personally would not want to do the show without Dennis. And talking with Glenn, I know he still has a lot of love for the show and wants to do the show.
Earlier reports had suggested that the folks behind It's Always Sunny wanted to hold off on making more episodes of the hit series, but now it looks like they will try to work around each other's increasingly packed schedules. With that in mind, Glenn Howerton and Dennis might not depart the series altogether -- which is good because the sociopathic bar owner is arguably one of the show's most consistently entertaining characters. The one-time Star-Lord frontrunner wants to make the FXX series work with AP Bio, which could mean structuring the next season in a way that selectively uses Dennis in specific episodes and keeps him around. Nothing is confirmed yet, but this makes it seem like a more plausible course of action than we once thought.
Honestly, Charlie Day's comments to HuffPost are encouraging because it means everyone involved is trying to keep Dennis around. I don't even want to consider what would happen if the possible serial killer stopped appearing on It's Always Sunny. Think of the implication...
It's certainly possible to put a series together in the face of scheduling conflicts. Wet Hot American Summer (First Day of Camp, as well as the recent Ten Years Later follow-up) has thus far pulled off similar feats. That said, the Netflix series has the advantage of fewer episodes and a premise that allows the series to exploit its blatantly poor production values when everyone isn't on set.
By contrast, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will not only need to contend with the fact that Glenn Howerton now has obligations on AP Bio, but also with the fact that Kaitlin Olsen has to work on FOX's The Mick, and Charlie Day's commitments to his silver screen work. It's a tall order, but everyone involved seems keen on getting it right.
At this point, we will just have to wait and see how Dennis will factor into the future of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Until then, make sure to keep an eye on CinemaBlend's summer TV premiere guide, as well as our fall TV premiere guide to keep yourself up to date on all of the most highly anticipated small screen debuts of the next few months.
