“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has never been for the faint of heart, the delicate of constitution or the politically correct. And despite the caution wrought by #MeToo and Time’s Up, it’s not about to start showing anything close to restraint.
“We want to dial it up!” Danny DeVito said of the FXX comedy that recently debuted its 13th season. “We want to make sure it doesn’t get tame or dialed down.” Pause. “There are limits, I guess.” Another pause. “What are they?”
Good question.
Way back in the Season 2 premiere, DeVito – who has turned playing the gleeful crank, like Louie De Palma on “Taxi,” into an art form – materialized as Frank Reynolds, the legal father of the twin owners of Paddy’s Pub, Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson), after FX executives decided “It’s Always Sunny” needed a bona fide star to save it from cancellation.
These days Frank and the gang are trying to make Paddy’s great again and to fill the hole left by Dennis, who bolted for North Dakota at the end of last season. (In real life, Howerton has been immersed in his new show, NBC’s “A.P. Bio” – though the cast has said he’ll be in many episodes.)