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Its Always Sunny in Philadelphiahas been running strong for 15 seasons.
Yet somehow theyve made it work.
But creative and popular success does not come easy.
Below, you could read an excerpt from the transcript or listen to the full episode.
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I finish every season now as though I think Im done with the show forever.
Glenn Howerton:I took two years almost completely out of the writers room seasons 13 and 14.
Our process is we break stories with the room and then we assign drafts.
Then the drafts go off and we give notes.
We get it as close as we can with the writers.
And the final step is the three of us do what we call an RCG pass.
I didnt feel burned out on that.
Its the story breaking part thats superhard.
:It was a big thing for me to have Glenn back.
I really wanted him back not just because of his strengths as a writer but because of the process.
We only have a certain amount of time before we have to be on set.
We cant say, These arent working lets throw them all out and start over.
So at a certain point, we have to run in the direction of an idea we have.
This is the first chance we were like,Okay, I have opinions about this.
I have opinions about character and story.
Its often a two-versus-one thing.
Two people arguing over something and one guy whos like, I can kind of see it both ways.
Thats what were doing.
On having Charlie meet his dad
G.H.
So it was about tapping into an emotional core of the thing.
We thought it was a nice misdirect.
Its like,Oh, thats cool.
Hes always wanted to know who his father is.
Whether it makes people uncomfortable to watch or not, I dont know, but I dont really care.
But there should be some truth, there should be some reality to the character.
On the biggest fight of season 15
G.H.
I meanhorrormore in the sense of a character becoming horrific.
I had heard so many stories about people having COVID or long-haul COVID where they experienced strange psychological symptoms.
But the fight was less about the scene.
The fight was about process.
But he was sort of giving up on it.
He was like, Fine, whatever, just do it your way.
But the argument was that we didnt want him to just say, Fine, whatever.
And look, he was tired, and he got an idea he wanted to work.
Why are we spending time on something that I know works?
:That was the thing in the gut.
And I have an idea, and I think mines better.
Thats just the way it works.
The argument was less about what was right and what was wrong and more about 15 years of arguing.
Rob didnt want to argue, but were like, No, argue!
Argue as best as you’re able to!
And then let us convince you so that you believe it.
Not Youre giving up and just doing what we want.
I want you to believe in what were doing and then put your spin on it.
And I think the scenes worked.
:I mean, he would probably still say that it was a little bit of a lateral move.
Its not that he didnt like what we were doing.
His idea was a mess.
:But thats our opinion.
And I, by the way, I totally agree with you.
I stand by that.
I dont think what he wanted to do was going to work at all.
I think it was going to feel derivative.
And then we usually end up somewhere either in the middle or going a different direction.
And its happened to me, where Im like, This is so funny.
This is so great, and theyre like, Dude.
Its always pretty much the same conversation, which is basically like that scene were talking about.
Youre navigating personalities and creative ideas.
You have a ticking clock, so theres the pressure of that.
You have time and history, and usually it comes to a head at some point.
We sit down and discuss it like adults, and then we move on.
:To be clear, we dont have a therapist there.
:Theres no mediator.
On when theyll end the show
C.D.
:Were going one at a time at this point.
I think we kind of approach every year like that now.
And if we dont think we can do it, then well stop.
