Last night, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia celebrated its 100th episode. While the Gang still rarely leaves Paddy’s Pub, that doesn’t mean its members haven’t changed over the years. Mac developed diabetes, Dee gave birth, Charlie is more illiterate than ever, and pretty much everyone has gotten addicted to one drug or another. Or pretended to have cancer. Or slept with the Waitress. But as the old saying that Charlie would no doubt mangle horribly goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. To mark the occasion of the FXX show’s 100th, we’ve attempted to distill the essence of the sitcom by teasing out its thirteen most enduring plot points. So strap on your job helmet, break out your rat-bashing stick, and see if we got our hundred-episode breakdown right.
The Gang Does Something Gross With Food (15 episodes)
Sometimes you want a milk steak, boiled over hard, with a side of jelly beans. Sometimes you just want to eat sausage out of your shirt pocket. Either way, if it’s disgusting and it has to do with food, the Gang has probably beaten you to it.
- “The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby”: Charlie and Frank fully embrace the Dumpster-diving lifestyle and eat discarded food out of the trash.
- “Mac and Dennis: Manhunters”: Charlie and Dee believe that they have eaten human meat and develop a craving for it.
- “Mac’s Banging the Waitress”: Charlie eats an entire pizza and drinks 24 beers while waiting for Mac.
- “The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention”: The Gang drives Gail the Snail out of the bar by throwing large amounts of salt at her.
- “The Waitress Is Getting Married”: Charlie eats a pound of cheese out of nervousness.
- “Paddy’s Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens”: Frank gives away Paddy’s-branded hard-boiled eggs as swag, which break easily.
- “Mac and Dennis Break Up”: Mac makes Dennis peel all of his apples before he eats them.
- “Mac and Charlie Write a Movie”: Frank eats sausage links out of his shirt pocket (so his hands don’t get greasy).
- “The Gang Buys a Boa”: Frank cooks toxic catfish out of the Delaware River.
- “Mac and Charlie: White Trash”: Frank uses a greased watermelon as a pool toy.
- “The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods”: Frank eats the meat of a dead, rancid crow.
- “Frank’s Pretty Woman”: Mac totes around a trash bag full of chimichangas.
- “The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore”: Frank and Mac eat a rum ham.
- “Frank’s Brother”: Frank assembles a hoagie in his mouth.
- “The Gang Dines Out”: Frank uses a lobster claw as a weapon.
The Gang Commits a Pennsylvania State Felony (13 episodes)
Luckily for the Gang, they live in a state where (for example) causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon only counts as a misdemeanor. Otherwise, they would have joined Jerry Sandusky in SCI Greene long ago.
- “The Gang Goes Jihad”: The Gang destroys Ari Frankel’s building when their bag of flaming dog poop ignites a gas leak.
- “The Gang Runs for Office”: Mac and Dennis try to bribe union officials.
- “The Aluminum Monster vs. Fatty Magoo”: Dennis breaks and enters into Ingrid’s studio.
- “The Gang Solves the North Korea Situation”: Frank attempts to add anti-freeze to Paddy’s official “microbrew.”
- “The Gang Gets Whacked (Part 1)”: The Gang sells a bag of cocaine to Bingo the drug dealer.
- “Bums: Making a Mess All Over the City”: Dennis and Frank impersonate police officers.
- “The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis”: The Gang obtains and transports criminally large amounts of explosives (fertilizer and gasoline).
- “Paddy’s Pub: The Worst Bar in Philadelphia”: Charlie kidnaps the newspaper critic who reviews Paddy’s Pub.
- “The Storm of the Century”: Frank loots during a disaster.
- “The Gang Gets Trapped”: The Gang breaks and enters into an Asian family’s house in order to steal a vase.
- “Thunder Gun Express”: Frank calls in a bomb threat.
- “The Gang Recycles Their Trash”: Frank attempts to bribe a city official into awarding them a sanitation contract, and then menaces him with a gun.
- “Mac Day”: Country Mac and the Gang incite a riot at the karate tournament.
Charlie Flies Into a Rage (13 episodes)
Charlie has a high tolerance for all things unpleasant. But once in a while, even alone time in his “bad room” isn’t enough to keep Charlie’s internal demons at bay. (Note: The hour-long “A Very Sunny Christmas” is officially counted as two episodes.)
- “Charlie Wants an Abortion”: Charlie threatens to smash his “son’s” face into a jelly.
- “Mac Bangs Dennis’ Mom”: Charlie goes ballistic when Dee refuses to go to phase two of his plan to sabotage Dennis.
- “Hundred Dollar Baby”: Charlie goes into a ‘roid rage.
- “Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack”: The mystery of Pepe Sylvia sends Charlie into a manic, hallucinatory state.
- “The Gang Gets Extreme: Home Makeover Edition”: Charlie gets offended when Frank insults Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
- “The Nightman Cometh”: The gang’s constant ad-libs and notes infuriate Charlie.
- “Who Got Dee Pregnant?”: Charlie freaks out that his Halloween costume is too sexy and makes women take advantage of him.
- “The Gang Gets a New Member”: Charlie is extremely resistant to the idea of inviting Schmitty back to the Gang.
- “A Very Sunny Christmas (Parts 1 and 2)”: Charlie assaults the Mall Santa.
- “The Gang Gets Analyzed”: During a therapy session, Charlie gets into a fight with Dennis.
- “Charlie’s Mom Has Cancer”: Charlie objects to the church collecting money for a statue when it could be raising money for his mom’s cancer treatments.
- “Charlie Rules the World”: The online the game TechPocalypse makes Charlie paranoid in the real world.
The Gang Suffers a Major Injury (8 episodes)
I don’t know if it’s the inhalants or the yearly dose of trash-can “microbrew,” but every member of the Gang has shown a remarkable resistance to toxins, poisons, electricity, and all manner of physical punishment.
- “Gun Fever”: Dennis shoots Charlie in the head.*
- “Charlie Gets Crippled”: Frank runs Charlie over, and the rest of the Gang gets injured by Dennis’s reckless driving.
- “The Gang Gets Invincible”: Dee breaks several bones in her foot while attempting a punt.
- “The Gang Dances Their Asses Off”: Rickety Cricket accidentally shatter’s Dee’s kneecap during the dance competition.
- “The Great Recession”: Frank attempts to hang himself twice and cuts open his hand.
- “The Gang Wrestles for the Troops”: Dee gets her nose broken by a metal chair.
- “The High School Reunion, Part 2: The Gang’s Revenge”: Dee’s wedgie forces her to wear her back brace again.
- “Pop-Pop: The Final Solution”: Charlie overdoses on nitrous oxide.
The Gang Stereotypes Homosexuals (7 episodes)
Sure, gay people are just one of the many demographics that the Gang approaches with, shall we say, something less than sympathy. Still, there’s something about their fascination that suggests it’s more than idle curiosity. Especially with Mac …
- “Charlie Has Cancer”: Mac wants to be the first to sleep with Carmen after she has her sex reassignment surgery.
- “The Gang Exploits a Miracle”: Charlie proclaims himself “gay for God” to win over the pilgrims to the water-stain Virgin Mary.
- “The Gang Sells Out”: Dennis and Mac try to curry favor with the “corporate drone” by revealing their extensive knowledge of gay slang.
- “Mac Is a Serial Killer”: Mac is hiding his relationship with Carmen because he’s ashamed of it.
- “The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis”: Dennis and Mac impersonate a homosexual couple to drive up the price of Dee’s surrogacy.
- “Frank Reynolds’ Little Beauties”: Dennis, Mac, and Charlie choreograph a shirtless techno dance for the beauty pageant’s lone male competitor.
- “The High School Reunion”: Dee tells Charlie and Mac to “suck each other’s rotten peckers” in order to catch the attention of the cool kids at the reunion.
Frank’s Questionable Business Practices (7 episodes)
So far, we’ve never seen the extent of Frank’s fortune, or how exactly he amassed it. But the glimpses that the show has given us suggest he might have cut more shady business deals than Bear Stearns.
- “Dennis and Dee Go on Welfare”: Frank hires some workers in order to scam the Work for Welfare program.
- “The Gang Gives Back”: Frank invites Vietnamese gamblers to a youth basketball game.
- “The Gang Gets Whacked”: Frank pimps out Dennis as a “handsome companion” to country club members.
- “Sweet Dee Gets Audited”: Frank admits to creating shell companies to defraud the IRS out of tax money.
- “Frank’s Back in Business”: Frank reveals his past life as a corporate raider when his former company, Atwater, asks for him to bail them out.
- “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award”: Frank attempts to bribe the head of the Restaurant and Bar Association.
- “Mac and Dennis Buy a Timeshare”: Frank is really knowledgeable about pyramid schemes and timeshare scams.
The Gang Keeps Score (6 episodes)
Fierce internecine competition is one of the hallmarks of It’s Always Sunny. And what better way to keep track of who’s one-upping whom than to keep a running tally?
- “The Gang Gets Held Hostage”: The Gang competes for immunity from “the first round of shootings in the face.”
- “Sweet Dee’s Dating a Retarded Person”: The Gang keeps a tally of “retarded” versus “not retarded” about Dee’s boyfriend, Li’l Kevin.
- “Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender”: Dee counts the number of random passersby who agree that the picture of the new neighborhood sex offender looks like Dennis.
- “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System”: Mac and Frank create a strict order for who gets to pick up Dennis’s girlfriends after he leaves them.
- “Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games”: The Gang plays through its nineteenth iteration of their classic rainy-day activity.
- “Reynolds vs. Reynolds: The Cereal Defense”: The Gang keeps track of who they’re supporting on the “Trial Meter” and the “Evolution Meter.”
The Gang vs. the Ivory Tower (6 episodes)
Museum curators, lab scientists, school principals, and even frat boys: For one reason or another, the Gang just doesn’t fit into the rarefied world of academia.
- “The Gang Finds a Dead Guy”: The museum curator refuses to buy the Nazi memorabilia of Dennis and Dee’s grandfather.
- “Who Pooped the Bed?”: The lab scientist refuses to analyze the poop sample to determine whose it was.
- “The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell”: The Gang thinks they know Philly history better than the living history actress.
- “The Gang Reignites the Rivalry”: Dennis gets humiliated and runs out of his old fraternity.
- “Dee Reynolds: Shaping America’s Youth”: Dee and Charlie are fired from their respective jobs as a substitute teacher and a janitor.
- “Gun Fever Too: Still Hot”: Charlie and Mac get thrown off of the premises of Plumbstead for carrying weapons.
The Gang Goes Viral (6 episodes)
Apart from each other, the Gang doesn’t exactly have a lot of friends. Still, they make the most out of social media — whether it’s stalking a potential scam victim or trying to find Internet fame via the YouTube blooper circuit.
- “Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad”: Dee uses MySpace to look up Bruce Mathis.
- “Frank Sets Sweet Dee on Fire”: Dennis, Mac, and Frank try to become famous by doing a D.I.Y. newscast.
- “America’s Next Top Paddy’s Billboard Model Contest”: Charlie accidentally finds Dee’s video confessions and posts them onto YouTube.
- “Mac’s Big Break”: Charlie assures Mac that his failed shot from center ice will get lots of playing time on ESPN.
- “Dee Gives Birth”: Charlie believes that keeping kids off the Internet is the key to good parenting.
- “The ANTI-Social Network”: Frank misunderstands the term “viral video” and creates a video in which Dr. Mantis Toboggan informs viewers that they have just downloaded a computer virus.
Dee Needs a New Ride (5 episodes)
Dee seems to have the worst luck with her cars, but always manages to replace them without much trouble. Of course, it’s not so much that Dee is the best at getting her finances in order so much as she’s the best at conning people into buying her things.
- “Mac and Charlie Die (Part 1)”: Mac and Charlie wreck Dee’s Dodge Neon while trying to fake their own death.
- “The Gang Hits the Road”: Dee’s new Ford Fiesta is stolen by a hitchhiker.
- “Dennis Gets Divorced”: Bill Ponderosa gives her a BMW 3-series, although it really belongs to another of his mistresses.
- “The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre”: Charlie crashes Dee’s PT Cruiser into a telephone pole.
- “Charlie and Dee Find Love”: The Tafts rear-end Dee’s (presumably repaired) PT Cruiser.
Paddy’s Pub Turns a Profit (4 episodes)
Let’s face it: When your bartending staff can’t mix a mojito and barely finds the time to collect your empty glasses between telling jokes, you don’t exactly have the makings of a successful bar. Still, on rare occasions — and always owing to some exploitative scheme — Paddy’s Pub has actually made money.
- “The Gang Gets Racist”: Terrell promotes Paddy’s Pub as a gay bar.
- “Underage Drinking: A National Concern”: The Gang decides to permit underage drinking at at the bar.
- “Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody’s Ass”: Mac, Dennis, and Frank turn Paddy’s into an “anything goes” bar.
- “How Mac Got Fat”: Inexplicably, Paddy’s hits its “turning point” into profitability.
The Gang Opens Up (4 episodes)
Despite their infinite capacity to argue among themselves and conspire against each other, the Gang has been known to bare their souls on occasion — though not always intentionally.
- “Charlie Got Molested”: Although Coach wasn’t the culprit, Charlie really was sexually abused as a child.
- “Dennis and Dee’s Mom Is Dead”: Charlie and Ernesto discover Dee’s high school diary.
- “Charlie Kelly: King of the Rats”: Dennis, Dee, and Mac try to re-create what they find in Charlie’s dream book in order to cheer him up.
- “The Gang Saves the Day”: Trapped in a convenience store during an armed robbery, each member of the Gang entertains an elaborate fantasy about how they might escape (or, in Frank’s case, sneak over to the hot dog station).
Dee Dry Heaves (10 episodes)*
I admit, I double-counted four of these episodes (they’re marked with asterisks). But Dee’s tendency to gag at the slightest trigger was just too good not to catalogue in its entirety.
- “Mac and Charlie Die (Part 2)”: After a fellow passenger on the bus refuses to let her pass, and then throws up on himself.
- “Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life”: After telling a joke about Bluetooth headsets at an open mike night.
- “The Great Recession”*: After Frank cuts himself with a knife and Dee can see his finger bone.
- “The World Series Defense”: When trying to retrieve the World Series tickets from Charlie’s apartment, which was being fumigated.
- “Mac Fights Gay Marriage”: When seeing Bill Ponderosa for the first time since high school.
- “Mac’s Mom Burns Her House Down”: After drinking the immunity-boosting smoothie from the health store.
- “Sweet Dee Gets Audited”*: After seeing the dead dog that was the stand-in for Dee’s fake baby.
- “The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre”*: While unsuccessfully trying to make herself throw up after sucking bat poison out of Frank’s scalp.
- “Charlie and Dee Find Love”*: When first meeting Trevor Taft.
- “The Gang Broke Dee”: In front of the scout for Conan.
* This post has been updated to reflect that Dennis shoots Charlie in the head in “Gun Fever,” not Frank. Our bad!
