It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been around for years. Boasting fifteen seasons, with a sixteenth one on the way, it’s not that surprising that there has been many – and I mean many – side characters that have come and gone. Some have popped up a couple of times and vanished without a trace, while others have become recurring side characters that we see decently often throughout the series. And today, we’re going to talk about them.
From Rickety Cricket to The McPoyle Brothers, there are plenty of side characters that have made their mark on the groundbreaking sitcom, and there are some truly hilarious things about them that make me snicker every single time. Let’s discuss them – and what I love the most about each.
The Waitress
The Waitress on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is arguably one of the most memorable side-characters. From the very first episode, we’ve seen her and Charlie’s back and forth, how she desperately hated him for being so into her and basically stalking her, to being in love with him, then hating him and everything else in between.
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If we’re being honest, Charlie is one of the least despicable of everyone in the gang in the show, so any story or side character that surrounds him is one I’m always a fan of. But whenever The Waitress is involved – someone who’s real name isn’t even known to the audience – I always know I’m going to laugh my butt off, because their chemistry is unreal. It makes sense, considering Charlie Day is married to the actress who plays The Waitress, Mary Elizbabeth Ellis.
In my eyes, the funniest thing about The Waitress is genuinely her witty comebacks. Through all the drama with Charlie she has had some of the funniest arguments in this show, and has created belly laughs for me, especially that time where she was absolutely obsessed with Dennis and hilarity ensued. I need to see more of her in Season 16.
Cricket
Oh, Cricket. I honestly feel bad for him.
He started off his time in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia as a relatively kind man. He became a priest and but ended up leaving the priesthood in order to be with Dee, but when she revealed she was never into him, it completely ruined his life and he became homeless not that long after.
Cricket is one of the most recurring side-characters. While we haven’t seen him in some time on the show, there is something I just love about him, despite him always looking to be in need of a serious shower. You can’t help but feel for him after everything that he went through – which is what makes the small wins that he does get that much more fun to witness, even with him also not being a super great person.
I believe one of the funniest parts about Cricket is the wild adventures he's had. He ends up in the most random of situations, from appearing in a dog orgy to becoming a sex worker to making out with a dog on PCP. I don’t think there’s another character that gets into that much crazy stuff. Granted, most of it is because he’s without a home, but you know for a fact that when he’s on the screen, something insane is about to go down. I want him to come back so badly.
Charlie And Mac’s Moms
There are loving sitcom moms, like Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls or Modern Family cast, member Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphey, and then there are Charlie and Mac’s mothers.
The moment these two were introduced to the show was a day that I will never forget because God, every time I see them in this show, I struggle to breathe from laughing so hard. These two are the epitome of “opposites somehow attract” but at the same time, they really don’t and we see that in their earlier episodes. And yet, they make their living situation work.
Mac’s mother is just so “don’t give a f**k” about everything that I wish I could have her attitude, and Charlie’s mother is messed up in so many ways but still remains so sweet, and anytime these two are on screen together, it makes for hysterical comedy. That’s the funniest thing about them – that they are truly unstoppable together and that their opposites work together so well, it creates the most ridiculous situations. Truly hilarious.
Luther
When we were introduced to Mac’s father, Luther, I never expected to be super into that storyline just because he didn’t seem as important as Mac’s mother. But then we got a fair few episodes with him as the main storyline and they ended up being so freaking funny.
The last time we really saw Luther in the series was in Season 13, during the finale episode, “Mac Finds His Pride,” which was honestly a great coming-out point for Mac, but his father was disgusted that he was gay, so he isn’t a big side-character that much now. Even so, the times beforehand were hysterically funny – and I’d say the funniest thing about him is how violent he is.
I mean, it’s not funny to be violent, obviously, but it’s that his whole character really focuses around how crazy he is, and his violent nature just melds with that so easily.
Artemis
Artemis is one of the oldest side-characters on this list, appearing in Season 1 of the series and continuously making appearances – and hopefully, she’ll be back in Season 16. Artemis is a little bit of a mystery at first, as she’s very much into her acting, but at the same time, you also clearly see her personality shine through when she’s with Dee.
These two don’t seem to be the best friends, but they somehow get along and it creates for some truly laugh-out-loud moments with her and the gang. I think the funniest things about Artemis are how serious she takes the art of acting and how sexual she truly is, because she lets everyone know how she feels about them. Only Artemis could pull off that strange relationship with Frank (played by Danny DeVito).
The McPoyle Brothers
Last but not least, we need to talk about these guys. The McPoyle’s are another example of characters that made their debut a long time ago, but have continued to live on in fans' memories, even though we haven’t seen them in some time. However, since they are so beloved by many, I have to include them here.
The McPoyle Brothers are from a family of inbreds and are, ah, quite strange, to say the least. They’re very much into each other and they love milk a lot, but what makes them hilarious is simply that – they are so weird.
Every moment we get with the McPoyles is when utter chaos erupts, and it’s something I seriously love to watch each and every time. I’ll be looking forward to when these two come back at some point, because they truly did make the show that much crazier.
I wanted to get into Maureen Ponderosa, but because she’s officially dead on the show, I feel like we won’t get to see her or her wackiness when it comes to cat costumes and other strange tendencies again, but she certainly created some hilarious moments. Even so, these characters are hands down some of the best.
I hope that Season 16 brings a lot more of them back, and maybe we’ll be able to get even more crazy moments with them. From the trailer, I can see a few returning – so let’s get into this bonkers season. If you enjoy the show, check out some other awesome TV series that are like it while we wait for the new one to begin.
