Whether you laugh, cry, or cringe, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia definitely gets reactions.
It's gone from low-budget cult favorite to one of the longest-running television shows
around, and it's done that by doing what the other shows won't.
Let's take a peek behind the curtain and see what you might not know about this binge-worthy
favorite … even if you have your very own pair of Kitten Mittens.
"Meeeeeow!"
The gang broke Dee
When Kaitlin Olson missed a 2008 appearance at Comic Con, she had a really good reason.
She broke her back.
While it didn't happen on set, she did keep filming through the pain.
Remember that scene where Dee gets waterboarded in a urinal?
Olson says it was 100 percent real, and she was doing it on her recently broken back.
That's just the start of the injury list, and most happened because she does her own
stunts.
She says she pulled a stomach muscle dancing like the inflatable man…
"I am learning some amazing moves from this guy!"
...and that scene where Dee ran headfirst into a car door and dented it?
That was all her — and she ended up heading to the chiropractor.
Even scarier?
She slipped and sliced her leg open to the bone while the gang filmed Lethal Weapon 6.
They called 911, and paramedics were shocked when they showed up: She'd been wearing a
blood pack when she fell, and was covered in it.
Dennis and Dee almost get a new dad
Danny DeVito brings something epic to the world, and his presence makes things feel
complete.
[Loud chewing]
But his time on the show — and on Earth — almost came to a horrible end while filming,
and the whole thing started with some weights and a water-filled set.
Innocent enough?
Charlie Day explained the problem to Conan:
"We did an underwater sequence, and uh, Danny's incredibly bouyant.
Like a buoy."
The solution was to weigh him down, but when it came time for the gang to swim to the surface,
it didn't go as planned.
Rescue divers were on hand and pulled him up for air, but it was such a close call the
visibly shaken actor put an end to filming for the day and headed home.
"Don't make a scene!
Oh no, I'm not gonna make a scene!"
How Mac got fat
We're used to characters changing their hair or style, but Rob McElhenney completely reinvented
himself for the show's seventh season by gaining 50 pounds.
According to McElhenney, he had a very specific reason for getting fat.
"Vanity is such a huge part of television, and if you watch any average sitcom, you notice
that the actors get better-looking as the years go by.
[...] I thought, if we were being true to the characters [...] It was less of a stunt
or a gag and more of an actual representation of what Mac really might look like at this
point in his life."
How'd he do it?
By eating 5,000 calories a day.
It wasn't easy, and he noted it wasn't easy to drop the weight, either — about 12 pounds
refused to come off.
"I'm not gonna try to-" "Try and move me, bro!"
"Uggh!"
"Take a running start, take a running start!"
Hard pass on the rum ham
It's Always Sunny is filled with cringeworthy moments, but there's just as many moments
where the gang actually does have a point.
"I'm glad you brought that up.
Because Mr. Reynolds, science is a liar sometimes!"
Case in point?
Rum ham.
"Rum ham!"
"No, Frank, stay in the boat, stay in the boat!"
"Rum ham!"
You're forgiven if you're thinking this might actually be legit, and that eating your rum
in ham form might be sort of tasty.
As the bearer of bad news, Day says it absolutely isn't good.
He told Vice,
"I was in a bar in North Carolina and the bartender sent me over a glass of rum with
some slices of ham in it.
I had a little bit of it.
I couldn't finish it.
I would not order it again."
The Nightman Cometh
For most sitcoms, the decision to do a musical episode is one that's questionable at best.
But It's Always Sunny isn't the usual show, and "The Nightman Cometh" was such a popular
episode it was adapted into a completely live, honest-to-gosh rock opera.
It wasn't just a random bit of schtick they needed someone else to write, either, as Day
is an honest-to-gosh musician.
He told Vanity Fair he started playing the violin when he was three, thanks largely to
his musically-inclined parents.
Later, he went on to pick up the piano, trombone, and guitar, eventually earning him the nicknames
Chuck Hustle and Charlie Trombone.
That's some legit music cred, and he's got a little more: he spent years filling the
silence of their radio-less 1985 Honda Accord with his songs.
[Singing] "And I live in a walkup in some section eight housing/Where I sleep with a
man named Frank"
Mac takes a stand
When Kaitlin Olson talked to Elle in 2016, she had this to say about character development:
"That's kind of the goal for us, to make sure these characters age but don't ever grow or
change."
That's what makes the show great as an anti-sitcom, and that's why Mac being outed as gay was
such a big deal.
It took a long time, but they all agreed they had made their point on how far Mac had gone
to internalize and deny his real feelings.
It was time, and according to Rob McElhenney, it was a big deal for another reason: it allowed
him to stay true to his own personal views, and to the two mothers who raised him.
He had this to say about the issue:
"It's not really the type of show that lends itself to making political statements.
[...] On both sides of the issue are human beings and [...] the less we treat each other
as human beings, the harder it is going to be to find a resolution."
"I love your hair.
You run fast.
Did you have a good relationship with your father?
Me neither.
These are all things we can talk about, and more."
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