It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - What We Know So Far

The powers that be at FX have spoken, and it's going to stay sunny in Philadelphia for many years to come.

During an a panel for Disney Investors Day, Variety reports that FX head honcho John Landgraf made the announcement that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the little series that could about five dirtbag friends running a bar in Philadelphia, will break its own record as the longest-running live action series in television history. Landgraf announced that the series, which was renewed for its fifthteenth season in May of 2020 — breaking a previous record held by The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet — has now been renewed through its eighteenth season.

For a show that put its pilot together on a shoe-string budget and shot it on a handheld camera, this is quite a feat, and knowing the crew behind Always Sunny — creator Rob McElhenney and his collaborators Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton, who star as Mac, Charlie, and Dennis, respectively — they have plenty of tricks up their collective sleeve for their final season. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming 15th season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, from its release date to its cast and plot.

If you've been waiting for the 15th season of It's Always Sunny for what seems like forever, you won't have to wait much longer. The next season of the show is set to premiere sometime in 2021 on FXX, which is the good news; the bad news is that there's no release date as of yet.

However, if the show is earmarked for a 2021 release, that hopefully means that the series has been able to continue filming and producing episodes safely during the COVID-19 pandemic — and hopefully, it means that we'll get new episodes of It's Always Sunny sooner rather than later. This much, at least, appears to be the case, since creator-star Rob McElhenney is currently on a COVID-19-induced hiatus from filming season 2 of Apple TV's Mythic Quest and has turned his attention to the next chapter of his long-running show (via Uproxx).

Apparently, that turning of attention yielded fruit, because actor Charlie Day recently posted an interesting painted photo to his Instagram with the message "Sunny is back. Season 15." This feels like a pretty solid indication that the new season has entered production. They'll have to work fast to meet that 2021 release date, but it certainly remains within the realm of possibility. It's not like this is a show with a ton of VFX.

Ultimately, there's no doubt that McElhenney, who has previously said that he's happy to keep doing the show "forever," will return. Alongside McElhenney's real life wife Kaitlin Olson and legendary screen presence Danny Devito, who play Dee and Frank on the series, the creator will be joined by Day and Howerton as well.

Howerton took a brief break from the series in 2018 to film the series A.P. Bio, but he returned to the show after a short hiatus, completing the ensemble. Beyond that, guest stars like Mary Lynn Rajskub, David Hornsby, and Jimmi Simpson, who have popped up throughout the show in supporting roles, might end up returning as well.

As for what the 15th season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia could possibly be about, that's anybody's guess. Year after year, "the gang" finds different ways to get in some pretty hilarious trouble, and each season, the show veers between real-life commentary — like in episodes that tackle the #MeToo movement or gendered bathrooms — and fantastical episodes, like a parody of '80s ski movies or a two-part episode where the gang goes on a cruise and, apparently, dies.

We do have one hint about a particular Philly landmark that might make an appearance in season 15. According to Glenn Howerton, the gang has been listening to all the voices on Twitter clamoring for an episode featuring the hottest political spot in the entire state of Pennsylvania (via Den of Geek), a parking lot that will live in infamy forever. We are speaking, of course, of Four Seasons Total Landscaping, the location of choice for launching quixotic Giuliani-led bids to overturn democratic elections. While we have no idea how the gang plans to work the "Four Seasons" into their next season, we do know that the new set up of episodes fixes to be about "all this bulls**t. Also d**k jokes." That last bit comes straight from McElhenney, who tweeted the cryptic and profane not-really-a-spoiler on January 10.

Which B.S. — exactly — does he mean? Your guess is as good as ours, but we can't wait to find out. While you wait for season 15, the previous 14 seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are streaming on Hulu.