History Series / ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia

** Charlie's stories about the mysterious "Nightman" are strongly implied to be his fuzzy recollections of being molested by his uncle as a child.

* CreepyUncle: Charlie's Uncle Jack, who is heavily implied to be a child molester.

** Sweet Dee in the first season usually plays this role. Actress Kaitlin Olson managed to remove the characterization by the second season, and since then Dee has been just as dumb, belligerent and crass as the rest of the gang. In later episodes, [[SmartBall any member of gang can play this role]] depending on the subject of the episode.

-->'''Frank''': That's ridiculous. I'm just palling around with the guys. [[TemptingFate How's anyone gonna get hurt?]]

-->'''Mac:''' "I'm gonna go save my dad!"

* EvenEvilHasStandards: The gang ''almost'' has no morals whatsoever. This makes the few times someone speaks up or acts selfishly all the more notable, though often paired with HypocriticalHumor. The lines they draw typically involve exploitation of kids, racist ideology or actual acts of violence.

** The gang often spout out culturally and racially insensitive comments and views, but always show that they're against prejudice as a concept. Members of the gang will often bicker about whether something one of them said or did is bigoted. They're all unified in hating Nazis.

** In "Charlie and Dee Find Love", Dennis gets a phone call, but his only response to the caller introducing themselves is to respond, "Who?" This happens about three times before he figures out it's the Waitress, and exasperatedly shouts, "Next time, just call yourself 'the Waitress'!"

** The episode "The Erotic Life of Dennis Reynolds" has a scene where Mac and Frank are sitting in a theater after part of their scheme to make [[ItMakesAsMuchSenseInContext Dennis appear to be Jon Bon Jovi's sexual advisor]] where they talk loudly, point a laser pointer at the screen, argue with each other, fight with another theater goer, and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers answer calls from Dennis to get him out of rehab]].

* NaziGrandpa: Dennis and Dee's grandpa asks Charlie, whom he mistakes for Dennis, to get his old army uniform while spouting antisemitic curses.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[WithFriendsLikeThese With friends like these...]] you're screwed.]]

''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is a critically-acclaimed sitcom that began in 2005, airing on Creator/{{FX|Networks}} for the first eight seasons and FXX since Season 9. Reruns have aired on Creator/ComedyCentral, Creator/{{MTV}}2 and Viceland, while the entire series is available for streaming on Creator/{{Netflix}} (in Ireland and the UK) and Creator/{{Hulu}} (also in the US).

The show follows a group of friends, regularly called "the Gang", which consists of [[HandsomeLech Dennis Reynolds]] (Creator/GlennHowerton), [[TheLadette Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds]] (Creator/KaitlinOlson), [[ThePigpen Charlie Kelly]] (Creator/CharlieDay), and [[IJustWantToBeBadass Ronald "Mac" McDonald]] (Creator/RobMcElhenney). Together they run Paddy's Pub, a struggling South UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Irish-themed dive bar. Dennis is the vain, sociopathic prep from a rich family, Dee is his shallow, shrill, and insecure twin sister who has aspirations of being an actress, Charlie is the high-strung idiot savant who is obsessed with [[NoNameGiven the]] [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep waitress]] at a coffee shop, and Mac is the [[MilesGloriosus wanna-be bruiser]] forever stuck in adolescence as well as [[ArmouredClosetGay the closet]].[[labelnote:*]][[CharacterDevelopment Until season 12]][[/labelnote]] In the second season, Creator/DannyDeVito joins the cast as Dennis and Dee's neglectful father [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Frank]], a shady, millionaire businessman who is drawn to the gang's depravity and chooses to bankroll their schemes.

The show goes to great lengths in bringing the UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist and sheer ComedicSociopathy to new highs/lows, serving as a brutal DeconstructiveParody to many {{sitcom}} tropes. The most insane suggestions PlayedForLaughs only to [[DudeNotFunny be dismissed]] in other shows are followed through to the bitter end by this group, if there is a [[OnlySaneMan voice of reason]] they are either promptly ignored or [[NotSoAboveItAll join in due to the possible pay-out]]. To them, getting [[AddledAddict addicted to crack]] in order to qualify for welfare sounds like a logical strategy.

** In early seasons, Dennis is characterized as a former big man on campus who peaked in high school and now can't handle being a nobody, but later seasons establish that he was just as much as loser as the rest but deluded himself into thinking that he was popular.
** Especially in the first season Charlie seemed to have a SingleTargetSexuality with "[[NoNameGiven the Waitress]]" and was generally more of a sad sack. He gradually would be scheming to get laid as much as Mac and Dennis (the Waitress also became a less recurring character), as well as becoming more feisty and viewed as probably the craziest of the group.

** One notable example is in "The Gang Hits the Road" is when Mac throws a beer bottle at a biker. Even when he does this, Mac is shocked when the bottle actually hits the biker in the back of the head, causing the man to veer off the road and hit a parked car. Mac and the Gang stop driving and actually express concern for the biker's well-being when he doesn't get up right away, and they're relieved when he finally manages to rise to his feet.

* SpiritualAntithesis: Creator/RobMcElhenney created [[https://youtu.be/UytuyWBXlwc?t=402 the series as a]] {{deconstruction}} of ''Series/{{Friends}}'', with the main characters being self-centered jerks who don't support their friends. Many viewers and critics have also referred to it as this for ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' and other traditional sitcoms. Some episodes, such as "The Gang Tries To Win An Award" and "Old Lady House: A Situation Comedy" are outright {{Take That}}s at stereotypical sitcoms.

[[quoteright:295:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sunnyphiladelphia.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:295:[[WithFriendsLikeThese With friends like these...]] you're screwed.]]

* OneHourWorkWeek: Though the bar's schedule allows the gang to have daytime hours off, they're frequently shown going out at night, even to other bars, and are rarely ever seen interacting with their own patrons. This might be part of the reason why they never seem to make any money.

** The first season had the characters more [[ThisLoserIsYou plausibly flawed individuals]] who find themselves getting into [[HilarityEnsues increasingly uncomfortable]] but [[SliceOfLife semi-plausible situations]]. By the third season they had ramped up into [[TheSociopath overt sociopathic behavior]] that makes other [[EvenEvilHasStandards psycho-criminal types uncomfortable]].

The show goes to great lengths in bringing the UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist and sheer ComedicSociopathy to new highs/lows, serving as a brutal DeconstructiveParody to many {{sitcom}} tropes. The most insane suggestions only PlayedForLaughs only to [[DudeNotFunny be dismissed]] in other shows are followed through to the bitter end by this group, if there is a [[OnlySaneMan voice of reason]] they are either promptly ignored or [[NotSoAboveItAll join in due to the possible pay-out]]. To them, getting [[AddledAddict addicted to crack]] in order to qualify for welfare sounds like a sound strategy.

The show goes to great lengths in bringing the UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist and sheer ComedicSociopathy to new highs/lows, serving as a brutal DeconstructiveParody to many {{sitcom}} tropes. The most insane suggestions only PlayedForLaughs in other shows are followed through to the bitter end by this group, if there is a [[OnlySaneMan voice of reason]] they are either promptly ignored or [[NotSoAboveItAll join in due to the possible pay-out]]. To them, getting [[AddledAddict addicted to crack]] in order to qualify for welfare sounds like a sound strategy.

''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is a critically-acclaimed sitcom that began in 2005, airing on Creator/{{FX|Networks}} for the first eight seasons and FXX since Season 9. Reruns have aired on Creator/ComedyCentral, Creator/{{MTV}}2 and Viceland, while the entire series is available for streaming on Creator/{{Netflix}} (in Ireland and the UK) and Creator/{{Hulu}} (also in the US). Sixteen seasons have been produced, with two more officially greenlit, making it the longest-running American live-action sitcom of all time.

The show goes to great lengths in bringing the UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist and sheer ComedicSociopathy to new highs/lows. The three-guys-[[TheSmurfettePrinciple one-girl]] structure and selfish characters have led many critics to compare the show to ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', and was frequently called "''Seinfeld'' [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs on crack]]" by critics in early seasons.

* GutturalGrowler:
** Da'Maniac in "The Gang Wrestles For The Troops". He makes another appearance in "Mac and Dennis Buy a Timeshare".
** Mac invokes the trope in "The Gang Saves The Day".

* TapOnTheHead:
** Charlie's preferred solution to dealing with a journalist he kidnapped -- knock him out [[GrievousBottleyHarm with a bottle]], inducing EasyAmnesia about the whole thing. The rest of the gang aren't convinced that that's how it works. [[spoiler:It isn't.]]
** In "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life", Frank knocks Dennis out. [[spoiler:He spends the next 24 hours hallucinating.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: The gang ''almost'' has no morals whatsoever.