The Four Item Checklist the ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Crew Uses to Decide Whether to Make New Seasons Or Not

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the longest running live-action sitcom of all-time. Full stop — not “currently on the air” or any other qualifiers. 

To me, that still always comes off as a little surprising, given that it holds a reputation as a bit of a cult classic. Usually, the sort of show that would break that barrier would be network, appointment-viewing fare with the clout of a Seinfeld or a Simpsons. And yet, Sunny clocks in at a gob-smacking 17 seasons, and even more surprising, isn’t generally accused of a drop in quality. That’s doubly hard, both in genuinely keeping it up, and against natural nostalgia that the early versions of anything are better.

Obviously, they’ve passed a lot of possible exits on this journey, and it takes real and genuine courage to go back to work with a reputation on the line, close to 20 different times. As the seasons stack up, there’s got to be more and more discussion about whether they should keep going back to the well. Something that was discussed in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. In fact, co-creator and co-star Glenn Howerton admitted he’d made soft attempts at an exit multiple times.

So, when it comes time to return to the writers’ room after what are legitimate individual careers for each member? Apparently, Howerton, Charlie Day and Rob McElhenney have a set of criteria that they examine in the light of day to decide whether they should keep going or not. To be even more specific about it, according to McElhenney, they follow an easy, four question checklist:

1. Do we still enjoy it?
2. Are we still having fun?
3. Are we still stretching ourselves creatively?
4. Is the audience still there?

If the show manages to score a perfect four out of four, the next season commences. 

The first two questions seem a little redundant, but who am I to mess with the formula that’s led to a historic television run for one of the funniest shows on television — two things that definitely don’t always go hand-in-hand.