'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Cast Talks Two More Seasons and No Emmy Love

Charlie Day

The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia cast arrived to Saturday’s Television Critics Association (TCA) Press Tour with something celebrate. Earlier that morning, FX announced it had picked up the show for two more seasons.

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The crew told reporters that they had definitely considered the direction the show would and could take when the network approached them about moving on for two more years.

“We had a lot of discussions about it from a creative standpoint,” executive producer and star Charlie Day says. “First and foremost, can we do it? Can we keep it funny and fresh?”

“We’ve been fortunate that this show has stayed somewhat underground,” Day continues. “In some ways that seemed unfortunate in the beginning and now it’s great… If we were seven years into an overhyped television show, then we’d probably be as sick of it as the public. So, I think creatively we’re just kind of hitting our stride.”

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And while the show looks forward to two more seasons with an option for a tenth, it has yet to get any Emmy love. EP and star Rob McElhenney explained why he thinks that’s the case.

“Our audience skews very young,” McElhenney says. “And I think that unfortunately that’s a hurdle in terms of the Emmys. I think it’s also often misunderstood. Our show is satire. It’s supposed to be satire. So, I think a lot of people have a version of what they think the show is in their minds before they even watch it or if they even watch it at all and I think that holds us back unfortunately.”

At any rate, the stars are happy to continue on with its network and its fans’ love alone. McElhenney’s weight gain for the upcoming season is a definite indicator to us of the kind of dedication they still hold for the show and its fans (although the rest of the cast says he suggested they all do it, and they were happy to let him go it alone).

McElhenney got the idea when he was watching a show and realized that the actors became better looking as the series went on.

“I’m being realistic about the way the character would look by the way he eats and drinks and doesn’t work out,” the actor, who says he’s now been able to lose about half of the weight he gained for the show. “This is as close as to what he would look like.” 

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 7 premieres Thursday, Sept. 15.

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