It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (season 9)

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (season 9)
DVD cover
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	10
Release
Original network	FXX
Original release	September 4, 2013 – November 6, 2013

The ninth season of the American comedy television series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia premiered on the new channel FXX on September 4, 2013.^[1] The season consists of 10 episodes, and concluded airing on November 6, 2013. The ninth season was released on DVD in region 1 on September 2, 2014.^[2]

Cast

Main cast

• Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly (10 episodes)
• Glenn Howerton as Dennis Reynolds (10 episodes)
• Rob McElhenney as Mac (10 episodes)
• Kaitlin Olson as Deandra Reynolds (10 episodes)
• Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds (10 episodes)

Recurring cast

• Mary Elizabeth Ellis as The Waitress (2 episodes)
• Artemis Pebdani as Artemis Dubois (2 episodes)
• David Hornsby as Matthew "Rickety Cricket" Mara (1 episode)
• Jimmi Simpson as Liam McPoyle (1 episode)
• Nate Mooney as Ryan McPoyle (1 episode)
• Mary Lynn Rajskub as Gail the Snail (1 episode)
• Travis Schuldt as Ben the Soldier (1 episode)
• Roddy Piper as 'Da Maniac' (1 episode)
• Dave Foley as Principal MacIntyre (1 episode)
• Andrew Friedman as Uncle Jack (1 episode)
• Lance Barber as Bill Ponderosa (1 episode)
• Chad L. Coleman as Z (1 episode)
• T.J. Hoban as Rex (1 episode)
• Jessica Collins as Jackie Denardo (1 episode)
• Shelly Desai as Hwang (1 episode)
• Zachary Knighton as Random Guy (1 episode)

Guest stars

• Conan O'Brien as Himself (voice only, "The Gang Broke Dee")^[3]
• Peter Jacobson as Rotenberg ("The Gang Broke Dee")
• Ken Davitian as Snyder ("The Gang Broke Dee")
• Lavell Crawford as Landslide ("The Gang Broke Dee")
• Bob Wiltfong as Chet / TV Host ("Gun Fever Too: Still Hot")
• Oscar Nunez as the manager of Sudz ("The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award")
• Roger Bart as Rep ("The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award")
• Seann William Scott as Mac's country cousin ("Mac Day")
• Josh Groban as Himself ("The Gang Saves the Day")
• Burn Gorman as Scientist ("Flowers for Charlie")^[4]

Production

On August 6, 2011, FX announced it had picked up the show for a ninth season.^[5] It premiered on the new FXX channel and moved timeslots to Wednesday nights.^[6][7]

Rob McElhenney revealed on May 14, 2013, that Game of Thrones series creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss wrote an episode of the ninth season.^[8] Charlie Day revealed it would be a Flowers for Algernon type of story about "Charlie getting smarter" in a Limitless style, and is called "Flowers for Charlie".^[9]

In addition, there is an episode called "The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award", which mocks the show's lack of Emmy or other award nominations, a Lethal Weapon 6 episode follow-up, and a Thanksgiving special, which brings back Gail the Snail, The McPoyles and other enemies of the Gang.^[10] An animated sequence (inspired by a Pixar animation) was created for the 100th episode, "The Gang Saves the Day".^[11]

An Aaron Paul cameo was announced, but he was not able to appear due to scheduling conflicts.^[12]

Rob McElhenney revealed at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con that he had written an episode for this season involving the gang becoming contestants on the game show Family Feud. While Family Feud producers were receptive to the storyline, FX refused to allow the episode to proceed to production.^[13]

The season premiered on September 4, 2013, and contains 10 episodes. The series' landmark 100th episode aired on October 9.^[1]

Ratings

The first episode of the season premiered with the lowest number of U.S. viewers since it has been tracked for the show. This was primarily due to the new channel, FXX, being unavailable from many television providers. Many Suddenlink Communications franchises, although carrying the channel, have required the subscriber to buy a "Sports Package" in order to receive the network.^[14] Nonetheless, FX Network president John Landgraf said that "the numbers last night [...] far exceeded our highest expectations" and that "To have just launched the channel three days ago and get these ratings is thrilling."^[15]

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
95	1	"The Gang Broke Dee"	Richie Keen	Charlie Day & Glenn Howerton & Rob McElhenney	September 4, 2013	XIP09001	0.757[16]
Dee is suicidally depressed after realizing the guys were right about her looks and lack of talent. To snap her out of it, Dennis tries to find a man in her league while Charlie, Mac, and Frank encourage Dee to give her stand-up comedy career another shot.
96	2	"Gun Fever Too: Still Hot"	Todd Biermann	Charlie Day & Glenn Howerton & Rob McElhenney	September 11, 2013	XIP09005	0.606[17]
The gang once again tangles with the issue of gun control after Frank appears on a local-access talk show advocating the right to bear arms.
97	3	"The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award"	Richie Keen	David Hornsby	September 18, 2013	XIP09003	0.521[18]
The gang tries to make their bar worthy of a Philly Best Bar Award.
98	4	"Mac and Dennis Buy a Timeshare"	Dan Attias	Dave Chernin & John Chernin	September 25, 2013	XIP09008	0.458[19]
Dee and Charlie get roped into a pyramid scheme and try to get themselves out of it by scamming others. Meanwhile, Mac and Dennis go out and try to get some free golf clubs, but end up buying a timeshare instead, and Frank is stuck in a playground coil for unknown reasons.
99	5	"Mac Day"	Richie Keen	Charlie Day & Glenn Howerton & Rob McElhenney	October 2, 2013	XIP09004	0.459[20]
Each member of the gang gets their own day where they get to do whatever they want and the others can't complain about it, so Mac uses his day to serve as a religious experience for the rest of the gang. However, the gang take a shine to Mac's cousin "Country Mac" (Seann William Scott), who, unlike regular Mac, is honest about his homosexuality, doesn't push his religious beliefs on others, and treats the others with respect.
100	6	"The Gang Saves the Day"	Dan Attias	Dave Chernin & John Chernin	October 9, 2013	XIP09007	0.509[21]
While out shopping at a convenience store, a robber comes in and holds up the cashier. While hiding out in one of the aisles, Mac, Dee, Dennis, Frank, and Charlie each imagine what they would do to save the day.
101	7	"The Gang Gets Quarantined"	Heath Cullens	David Hornsby	October 16, 2013	XIP09010	0.574[22]
After Frank announces that there's a flu epidemic in Philadelphia, the gang decides to quarantine themselves in the bar so they won't catch the flu, where Frank becomes obsessed with purifying himself, going as far as locking the rest of the group in a bathroom.
102	8	"Flowers for Charlie"	Dan Attias	David Benioff & D. B. Weiss	October 23, 2013	XIP09009	0.460[23]
A Flowers for Algernon-meets-Limitless parody where Charlie is used as a test subject for a new intelligence pill, which makes him smarter and more aware of his messed-up life, causing him to quit his job as janitor. Meanwhile, Dee, Dennis, and Mac try to do Charlie's work but end up getting high on gasoline, while Frank tries to bring Charlie back to his dim-witted self.
103	9	"The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 6"	Dan Attias	Scott Marder	October 30, 2013	XIP09006	0.427[24]
The gang tries to find funding for Lethal Weapon 6 after Frank backs out due to creative differences.
104	10	"The Gang Squashes Their Beefs"	Todd Biermann	Rob Rosell	November 6, 2013	XIP09002	0.535[25]
The gang decides to invite their enemies to Thanksgiving dinner so they can forgive them for everything they've done to them.

References

1. Bibel, Sara (July 22, 2013). "'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia', 'The League' & 'Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell' to Premiere September 4 on FXX". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
2. Lambert, David (July 9, 2014). "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Press Release Confirms Date, Package Art, Extras for 'Season 9'". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
3. "Charlie Day Makes Conan Record An Impromptu Voice-Over". TeamCoco.com. July 16, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
4. Hayner, Chris E. (October 24, 2013). "'It's Always Sunny' meets 'Game of Thrones' in 'Flowers for Charlie' - What did you think?". Zap2it. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
5. Mitovich, Matt Webb (August 6, 2011). "FX Renews Louie and Wilfred, Orders Two More Seasons Sunny". TVLine. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
6. Goldman, Eric (March 28, 2013). "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League Moving to New FXX Cable Channel". IGN. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
7. Goldberg, Lesley (June 6, 2013). "FX's Upstart Network FXX: 7 Things to Know". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
8. McElhenney, Rob (May 14, 2013). "If ur wondering whether or not Benioff and Weiss wrote an episode of Sunny this year the answer is, of course, yes.". Twitter. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
9. Lang, Derrick J. (July 22, 2013). "'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' Season 9 Spoilers Revealed At Comic-Con". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
10. Furlong, Maggie (August 2, 2013). "'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' Season 9: A Thanksgiving Episode, 'Lethal Weapon' Follow-Up And More". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
11. Chance, Molly (June 12, 2013). "'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Season 9: Charlie Day's 'The Waitress' spoiler". Zap2it. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
12. Hasty, Katie (August 14, 2013). "'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Glenn Howerton interview: 5 things we learned". HitFix. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
13. Hayer, Chris E. (July 21, 2013). "‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ at Comic-Con: ‘The Gang Broke Dee’ premieres". Zap2it. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
14. Chandler, Chip (September 4, 2013). "Channel Surfer: Tonight's TV (with VIDEO)". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
15. Porter, Rick (September 5, 2013). "'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' and 'The League' make solid debuts on FXX". Zap2it. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
16. Yanan, Travis (September 5, 2013). "Wednesday's Cable Ratings: "Duck Dynasty" Brings Home Another 10 Million Viewers". The Futon Critic. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
17. Yanan, Travis (September 12, 2013). "Wednesday's Cable Ratings: No Stopping "Duck Dynasty" on A&E". The Futon Critic. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
18. Yanan, Travis (September 19, 2013). "Wednesday's Cable Ratings: "Duck Dynasty" Continues Its Reign for A&E". The Futon Critic. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
19. sonofthebronx (September 27, 2013). "9/25 FXX Always Sunny 458k viewers, 0.3 A18-49; League 445k viewers, 0.3 A18-49" (Tweet).
20. Yanan, Travis (October 3, 2013). "Wednesday's Cable Ratings & Broadcast Finals: "Modern Family," "Duck Dynasty" Lead Demo Race". The Futon Critic. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
21. Yanan, Travis (October 10, 2013). "Wednesday's Cable Ratings & Broadcast Finals: "Duck Dynasty," "American Horror Story" Top Demos at 10 PM". The Futon Critic. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
22. Yanan, Travis (October 17, 2013). "Wednesday's Cable Ratings & Broadcast Finals: "Modern Family," "Toy Story of Terror!" Top Demos". The Futon Critic. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
23. sonofthebronx (October 25, 2013). "For 10/23/13 on FXX, #ItsAlwaysSunny 460k viewers, 0.33 A18-49; #TheLeague 420k viewers, 0.31 A18-49" (Tweet).
24. "Wednesday's Cable Ratings & Broadcast Finals: World Series Finale Overshadows Competition". The Futon Critic. October 31, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
25. sonofthebronx (November 7, 2013). "#ItsAlwaysSunny 535k viewers, #TheLeague 477k viewers; each did a 0.33 in A18-49" (Tweet).

External links

• List of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 9 episodes at TV.com
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at epguides.com