It used to be the case that audiences would get a new season of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia annually... but like a lot of shows in modern television, that's no longer the case anymore. Looking back, 2014 was the only year from 2005 to 2019 that the series missed, but the schedule has been elongated since then, with the last three runs debuting respectively in 2021, 2023 and 2025. Recognizing that pattern, one might assume that It's Always Sunny Season 18 won't arrive until 2027 (Season 17 just concluded last week with a Golden Bachelor-themed finale), but new comments from star/writer Charlie Day suggest that it may get made sooner than that.
The most recent episode of the podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name features Day sitting down for an extended conversation with Ted Danson (both extremely well-versed when it comes to being a part of a long-running show), and it's during the chat that an interesting update on the next season of It's Always Sunny is proffered. Asked where things stand with upcoming episodes, the actor best known for playing Charlie Kelly says that he, Rob Mac, Glenn Howerton and the rest of the writers on the show aren't taking an extended break following the end of Season 17. Instead, he explains...
We're going to start the writers room in October. It's crazy how we're doing it, because last year we wrote all eight episodes in eight weeks, which was not enough time. There was a lot of writing on the weekends.
Charlie Day doesn't elaborate and explain how much time has been allotted to write the episodes in Season 18, but if they add an extra month to the Season 17 schedule, that would potentially mean having scripts ready before the end of the year. There will be other logistics with which the series will need to deal – like the fact that all of the stars of the show have other projects – but a start of production in early 2026 seems possible.
And If new episodes of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia do start cameras rolling in early 2026, it's very possible that we will see the finished work before the end of the calendar year. Why? Because production on the beloved FX series is run-and-gun and tends to be super fast. Or in Charlie Day's words, explaining to Ted Danson how long it takes to shoot a season:
Two-and-a-half months. It's so fast. The whole thing maybe is six months. But we're going to do it at least one more time! I know that much.
As intimated, there is a possibility that the next run of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia will be the last, as it will conclude the four-season renewal deal that was made following the conclusion of Season 14. If it does prove to be the end, hopefully it will be because stars Charlie Day, Rob Mac, Glenn Howerton, Danny DeVito and Kaitlin Olsen decide that it's time to say goodbye to Charlie, Mac, Dennis, Frank and Dee and it's not because the show gets cancelled. It should go without saying that this is a development we'll be keeping a close eye on as the new season of Sunny gets made, so stay tuned for news and updates here on CinemaBlend.
