Once TV series survive beyond a certain season, fans can find themselves switching from worrying about cancellations to wondering if the end will ever come. Such as it goes for The Simpsons and Law & Order: SVU, and FXX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is definitely in that conversation. The depravity-filled comedy wrapped its sixteenth season in 2023, with new episodes potentially dropping late in the 2024 TV schedule, but do stars like Kaitlin Olson and Glenn Howerton know when Always Sunny will give way to dusk?
Possibly, but they’re not sharing any specifics on the matter if they do. In fact, the co-stars both waxed hyperbolically when asked about the future of the long-running hit, which was granted a four-season renewal extension from FXX back in 2020. Olson, Howerton and Danny DeVito were on-hand for a weekend event celebrating the Hulu subscription bundle with Disney+, and when asked how many more years we could expect to see Dennis and Dee on the small screen, The Mick vet amusingly took a shot at her fictional father figure’s age, telling Variety:
Seven…teen…thousand. We’re gonna be really old by the time it — look at this guy. [Points to Danny DeVito.] We better cram ‘em in, if you know what I mean. Just kidding, just kidding. He’ll outlive us all.
Perhaps the funniest part about this bit is that Danny DeVito was standing very close to Kaitlin Olson, but was in the midst of being interviewed by another outlet, so he didn’t even get to hear the light-hearted zinger. I think he would have appreciated it, though, and probably would have stopped her from backtracking.
At 79 years old, Danny DeVito is no spring chicken, but you couldn’t tell by looking at his current career arc. He lent his talents to three different star-studded movies and a Disney animated series in 2023, while also returning to the theater stage alongside his daughter Lucy DeVito.
And that’s not even bringing up the various dream-projects that fans hope he makes in the near future, from reprising Penguin for a new Batman movie to the long-hampered Twins sequel to the Throw Momma from the Train follow-up that he revealed in November. We should all be so grateful that he's able to put so much effort into bringing Frank Reynolds back so often.
Co-star Glenn Howerton didn't offer an abundance of further clarity when he was asked by Variety about Always Sunny's potential endgame. As he put it:
At least one more for sure, I know that. Possibly two more. Possibly in perpetuity throughout the universe.
For all intents and purposes, "in perpetuity" and "17,000" might as well be the same answer, since neither is exactly realistic. But they both still imply that this is a comedy that could last as long as FXX's budget does, and no one in the cast seems particularly eager to end it all.
Although Glenn Howerton's phrasing of "possibly two more" makes it seem like the aforementioned four-season decision might not play out in full, although we can only hope that was just a slip, and nothing more foreboding. After all, we kinda need to see naked Frank popping out of another piece of furniture before it's all said and done.
While waiting to see where the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia characters go next, be sure to revisit past seasons on Hulu, and check out why the company ranked so highly in CinemaBlend’s list of best streaming services in 2024.
