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It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has lots of accolades ranging from great to questionable. It's currently the longest running sitcom with 16 seasons (and 18 planned); it has five banned episodes so far (one behind South Park); and it has Golden Globe and Emmy winner Danny DeVito playing one of its main characters. His joining a successful show wouldn't be all too surprising to those unfamiliar with It's Always Sunny; to fans, however, DeVito's work on the show was first a major surprise, but then became the pivotal point of the show.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (IASIP) is an ensemble satirical comedy about "The Gang"—twins Dennis and Dee (Glenn Howerton and Kaitlin Olson), Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), and Dennis and Dee's legal father Frank (DeVito). They run a rundown Philadelphia bar called Paddy's Pub, and the show follows their daily adventures around town. While it's hard to choose the best character, since all of them are satirical representations of pretty awful people, many would argue Frank is often the heart of the show. The ten best Frank episodes can also be a good segue for anyone who wants to get into It's Always Sunny.
Release Date August 4, 2005
Creator Rob McElhenney
Seasons 16
10 "Frank Reynolds’ Little Beauties"
Season 7, Episode 3
Image via FX Season 7 is potentially the funniest and most chaotic, with a run of thirteen ridiculous episodes, starting with Season 7, Episode 1's "Frank's Pretty Woman." The third episode, "Frank Reynolds' Little Beauties," shows Frank getting involved in throwing a beauty pageant before realizing the pageant is for kids. Frank's panic sets in as he desperately tries to separate himself from the contest, worried he might be considered a molester.
While Frank organizes the pageant, the rest of the gang gets involved with training the kids in the contest to win. The episode culminates in a song written and performed by Mac, Charlie, and Dennis while their chosen participant dances to it. Though the entire episode is ridiculously funny, this is one of the first times Frank is seen panicking and making every next move be the wrong one; from hiring a mortician to do his makeup to exclaiming to a room full of parents he's not into their children, Frank is surely never going to invest in pageants again.
9 "The Great Recession"
Season 5, Episode 3
Image via FX Frank's business savvy is apparent in many episodes, and "The Great Recession" is one of them. Frank suffers a striking blow to his finances, desperately trying to fight his way out of the major money loss. This causes him to cut off Paddy's Pub and The Gang. The Gang forces Dee and Charlie to prove their worth to the pub, but Dee quits and Charlie gets fired. Frank and Dee join forces to become traveling salespeople, selling vacuums and knives that Frank got hold of from house to house.
Frank's mind is always on the money, and he knows how to earn it, despite taking impulsive risks. The scene in which he tries to convince Dee to work with him by showing her how the vacuum and the knives work is one of the funniest scenes with Frank in the entire series; his insistence on ruining Dee's shoes to make his products work also drives the maltreatment of Dee further. The whole episode quietly (and not so quietly) revolves around him and is one of the best of It's Always Sunny overall.
8 "The Gang Wrestles for the Troops"
Season 5, Episode 7
Danny DeVito once mentioned on Conan that people often tattoo his character Trash Man from "The Gang Wrestles for the Troops," which instantly makes the episode a classic, though it is slightly underrated. In this episode of season 5, The Gang decides to throw a WWE-style wrestling match for the returning troops, introducing characters like The Birds of War and bringing on a famous local name, Da'Maniac (Roddy Piper). However, when they realize Da'Maniac is actually kind of dangerous, they decide to put Rickety Cricket (David Hornsby) as his opponent.
When Cricket starts doing well in the match, he becomes the villain of the show. Frank races in, wearing a one-shoulder leotard and black sneakers, with a trashcan in his hands, hitting Cricket and slicing up his neck. Despite the obvious need for medical assistance, the audience cheers for Trash Man, and the episode ends with the song "Real American." The chaotic episode might mock wrestling for all it is, but it's entertaining in all its satirical glory.
7 "Frank's Pretty Woman"
Season 7, Episode 1
Image via FX The opening episode of season 7, "Frank's Pretty Woman," is a hilarious opener for one of the show's best seasons. Frank decides to marry his favorite prostitute Roxy (Alanna Ubach), but The Gang, especially Charlie, believes he can find a more upstanding woman. In the meantime, Dee decides to give Roxy a Pretty Woman-style makeover. Charlie gets the idea to pretend he's a Texas millionaire and Frank his driver; he would feign being sick, so Frank can take over the date and win over the woman.
The first episode starts off season 7 on a hilarious high, with Frank delivering one of the most iconic replicas of the series: "Can I offer you a nice egg in this trying time?" In fact, Frank's obsession with eggs is a running joke throughout the show, driving the details of his character further. Because one or two things don't make a person, the showrunners and DeVito make sure Frank is a well-thought-out, detailed character.
6 "A Very Sunny Christmas"
Season 6, Episode 13
Another iconic Frank episode was at first a DVD-only episode, but it's available to watch on streaming. "A Very Sunny Christmas" also has one of Frank's greatest cold opens on the show, when he gets Dennis and Dee's dream presents, but only for himself. Driving up to Paddy's in a Lamborghini Countach, Dennis' dream car, Frank exits it without any grace and a designer bag, which Dee wants. Dee and Dennis decide to teach Frank a lesson in the style of Ebenezer Scrooge by reaching out to Frank's former business partner, whom he tricked.
One of the things Frank's known for is the scene in "A Very Sunny Christmas" where he convinces Dennis and Dee to sew him into a leather couch at his old company's function. He would use this opportunity, aka hiding inside the couch, to hear what his former coworkers have to say about him. The most hilarious scene ensues when Frank zips himself out of the couch due to overheating, butt-naked, sweaty, and annoyed. It's a Christmas episode for any and all fans of unconventional Christmases out there.
5 "The Gang Gets Invincible"
Season 3, Episode 2
Image via FX In one of the earliest episodes of It's Always Sunny, viewers are still getting used to The Gang's dynamic with Frank, which is, safe to say, completely established in "The Gang Gets Invincible." The gang decides to attend the Philadelphia Eagles tryouts for potential new members, just like in the movie Invincible. Charlie and Frank, one of the most unlikely sitcom duos, decide to tailgate the tryouts, and Frank makes another executive decision to take LSD because he wants to "trip balls."
As they arrive at the tailgate, Frank takes more acid. In the meantime, the gang's biggest rivals, the McPoyle family, arrive in an RV because their brother, Doyle (Bob Rusch), is also at the tryouts. This episode starts to show just how off the rails Frank can truly get—he doesn't just take more LSD at the tailgate, but he slips some into Charlie's beer without consent, gets stuck in McPoyle's toilet, and shoots Doyle, the winner of the tryouts.
4 "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore"
Season 7, Episode 2
Image via FX People often think of Frank and think of the rum ham he packs for The Gang's trip to Jersey Shore; this is one of the show's funniest episodes. Dennis and Dee reminisce about the wonderful times they had as children at the New Jersey beach and boardwalk. They convince the gang to go on a road trip, but when they arrive, the beach is full of toxic waste and stray dogs, and the boardwalk is now a place where hobos meet up.
Frank decides to take a massive rum-soaked ham with pineapples as a road trip snack, so they can get drunk and eat delicious food at the same time. When he and Mac eat the ham on the beach, stray dogs keep reaching for their ham, so they decide to get on a rubber boat. But Frank and Mac fall asleep and end up in the middle of the ocean, with the rum ham floating away. In the scene in which the two realize this might be it for them, Frank impulsively attacks Mac with a knife, showing his survival skills as zero out of ten and payback as the main motivator. This is one of Frank's most brilliant ideas that backfired and one of DeVito's best performances on It's Always Sunny.
3 "Frank vs. Russia"
Season 16, Episode 4
Image via FXX It would be wrong to say that only the earlier episodes count as Frank's highlights, because season 16 starts with a bang and follows right into ridiculous, hilarious territory with the episode "Frank vs. Russia." In this episode, Frank enters a chess tournament against a Russian grandmaster, but in order to win, Charlie needs to help him cheat. After everything fails, Dennis enters the picture and gets Frank to insert anal beads; thus, Dennis and Charlie control them with a remote to indicate which moves Frank should make.
With Dennis' chaotic involvement, Frank's scheme goes terribly wrong, though he does accidentally make the winning move in the end. The scene where Frank writhes on the floor due to the malfunctioning beads is one of the most hilarious gags on the series. It was also, apparently, inspired by a true story, when the chess player Hans Niemann defeated the grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, and everyone conspired against Niemann to prove this was his method of cheating and eventually winning.
2 "The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention"
Season 5, Episode 4
Image via FX The best and truest of Frank is seen as the show progresses, and while season 11's "Being Frank" makes the most sense as a brilliant Frank episode, "The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention" is the first real introduction into Frank's motivation to become depraved and ungovernable. His reasoning is that he doesn't know how much time he has left and wants to use it, being as drunk and perverted as possible.
The gang worries about his behavior, so they decide to stage an intervention for him; of course, they want to bring guns to it, so when a licensed therapist gives up, they stage the intervention themselves. Frank's personality and lifestyle perfectly match the gang's sensibilities, but even their idea to stage an intervention because they're worried shows they actually care for each other. Though showing open emotions isn't their style, in a way, this episode initiates Frank into The Gang as a full-blown member and not just an addition.
1 "Being Frank"
Season 11, Episode 6
Image via FX What's more Frank than "Being Frank"? This episode is one of the times the series changed its visual style from a single-camera show to a POV type of episode. It's simply a day in the life of Frank Reynolds, and all the moments his frailty seems to come out. As Frank almost chokes on a snake meat sandwich, he ends up in the hospital, where it seems a doctor is telling him he has a tumor; this could be an explanation for Frank's increasingly forgetful nature, which is another recurring theme.
However, Frank doesn't listen to his doctor but instead hurriedly returns to The Gang's chaotic schedule and unsafe adventures, when he eventually ends up locked in a trunk. In so many ways, there's safety in doing unsafe things with the people you love, and Frank's desire to catch up and spend all of his time with the dysfunctional gang is best seen in this episode.
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