The It's Always Sunny gang makes a push for the mainstream in season 17 trailer

Frank Reynolds may be on The Golden Bachelor but Hailey "Hawk Tuah" Welch certainly isn't.

By Drew Gillis  |  June 18, 2025 | 4:20pm
Screenshot: FX/YouTube
TV News It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
The It's Always Sunny gang makes a push for the mainstream in season 17 trailer

The biggest story out of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia last year was its (first) crossover with Abbot Elementary. It seems like the gang liked the taste of that experience, because in the first trailer for season 17, they’ve got another crossover-type event coming that also works as excellent brand synergy for the Walt Disney Corporation. That’s right, Frank Reynolds is going on The Golden Bachelor and he’s wooing the contestant “Cawk-chuah” whose catchphrase is “Chew on that thang!” There really is no place like Philadelphia. 

If you think the whole cross-vertical integration is against the sort of punk-rock ethos of the Always Sunny gang, they’re one step ahead of you. In a press release attached to the trailer, the gang makes no apologies for gleefully selling out. 

Seventeen seasons on, Ronald “Mac” MacDonald (Rob Mac), Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day), Dennis Reynolds (Glenn Howerton), Dee Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson), and Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito) return to shamelessly shed their “niche” label for grander aspirations.

They’ll exploit cross-network promotion to increase market share; they’ll scapegoat one of their own to avoid a PR backlash; they’ll risk everything for a handshake with the Saudis; they’ll bend the laws with side hustles to pad their pockets and they’ll change everything about themselves to appeal to a broader audience.

And sure, like any corporate goon, the Gang craves money and parasitic social privileges. That’s been plain since 2005. But they’re also human beings. They crave love… respect… conditional freedom… constant adulation… histrionic amounts of attention… non-stop gratification… and unfiltered, slaphappy eroticism.

Conditional freedom seems like an achievable goal for the gang, and non-stop gratification is certainly something they’ll always pursue. Whether they’ll achieve love, respect, and constant adulation, well, it’ll be fun to watch them try. 

Season 17 of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia premieres on July 9.

 
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