On this day in 2005, the very first episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Gang Gets Racist, premiered on FX!
Everybody loves Always Sunny, everybody that matters at least loves Always Sunny, and so for the people who matter, here's a bunch of neat facts for you -
The pilot episode cost just $200 to shoot, with most of that cost going on tapes for the two camcorders used to shoot it. The episode was an early prototype for Charlie Has Cancer, and featured Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howertron, and Charlie Day essentially playing themselves as struggling actors, under the show's original title It's Always Sunny on TV. The pilot came about from a nightmarish dream Rob claims to have had in 2004, of a man trying to tell his friend he has cancer, whilst the selfish friend seemed to take absolutely no interest in his friend's predicament .
The opening credits of the show are possibly the cheapest opening credits ever shot, as to keep costs down the guys simply drove around Philadelphia recording the city out of the car windows, with public domain music Temptation Sensation being used for the theme song. The only real cost of these opening credits was the cost of their petrol whilst driving around.
Despite the pilot costing so little to produce, Fox awarded the guys with the princely sum of $400,000 to produce the series, yet even with so much money now at their disposal, Rob continued his job of waiting tables even as production of the show was coming to an end.
Dee's character was originally the role of Rob's then girlfriend Jordan Reid in the pilot, however as they split before production of the first series began, the role went to Kaitlin Oslen, who beat out the gang's other hopeful castmember, Kristen Wiig. Kaitlin was unsure of taking on the role initially, and claims she'd told her agent that none of the guys were "cute" following her audition, a little awkward given she begun dating Rob in secret during season 2, and is now married to him with two children.
Partners, friends, and family members are quite commonly cast-members for the show actually, as The Waitress is played by Charlie's actual wife Mary Elizabeth Ellis, and the chick in the pharmacy who Dennis enacts the D.E.N.N.I.S system upon is Glenn's partner Jill Latiano. Devito's wife Rhea Perlman has never appeared on the show, however she did make an appearance during The Nightman Cometh live show the gang took on tour.
On the subject of Devito, he was brought in for season 2 after the show wasn't performing as Fox envisioned, and they felt a name actor would be beneficial - Devito took the role due to his kids being fans. Devito certainly helped boost the ratings, but it was thanks to the show being made available on Hulu and through DVD sales that it really found its mass audience.
The house Mac's mum lived in prior to moving in with Charlie's mum was actually Rob's aunt and uncle's house when he was growing up, and the white house you see next door is Rob's actual childhood home.
Two dudes who worked on Game of Thrones were invited in to pen the episode Flowers For Charlie, and in return they offered to write the gang into an episode of GoT, which never came to fruition. Whilst on the set of Pacific Rim Charlie was approached by director and fan of the show Guillermo del Toro who wanted to secure a role, which would later become his portrayal of Pappy McPoyle in the episode McPoyle vs. Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century. The McPoyle family themselves are based on a real family Rob knew growing up, who were apparently a little odd and had a largely vast family of McPoyles.
Glenn was almost not in season 13, and even though he is present his screentime was limited, as he was shooting his own Fox show at the time. Glenn has also attempted to break out as an actor in other huge roles he sadly never landed, such as Superman in Superman Returns, and Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy. Really though, the roles Glenn should have gone for are Ted Bundy in his various recent media outings, or Joe Goldberg in You.
The gang usually do their own stunts, which has led to some serious injuries. For the episode The Gang Goes to Hell, a scene requiring them to be submerged in water but an unusually buoyant Devito had to be weighed down, and following the scene had to be rescued as he was unable to surface, which upset him so much he went home for the day. Olson meanwhile once got metal lodged in her leg following a fall, and was taken to hospital by Rob, who was confused as to why staff were behaving strangely with him, until he realised he was still in blackface from playing Danny Glover in their Lethal Weapon episode.
Last but not least, Rob and Kaitlin actually own their own bar in Philadelphia named Mac's bar, which is pretty neat!
Happy anniversary, Always Sunny!
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