It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia doesn’t always get enough credit. The FXX comedy series, preparing to launch its 12th season, has managed to stay innovative (and hilarious) for more than a decade now, humming along as the entire landscape of half-hour television has transformed around it. It’s long been a show that thrives by pushing formal and social boundaries, using its nasty if buffoonish quintet of characters to harshly (and repeatedly) explore sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, racism—really, just about every form of hate or ignorance out there. Indeed, the title of the very first Sunny episode from 2005—“The Gang Gets Racist”—still says it all.
Over the last few years, Always Sunny has evolved into something more meta and self-referential, driven as much by its history as it is by original storylines. That sense of self-awareness usually keeps the show’s writing, and to a lesser extent its characters, in check. But the newly released trailer for Always Sunny Season 12, complete with a snippet of an upcoming musical episode, raises the question: Has the gang finally gone too far?
This new Always Sunny musical looks even wilder than the strangely brilliant “Nightman Cometh,” the series’ first stab at a song-and-dance episode. The surreal premise, in a nutshell: The all-white gang has turned black, first indicated when they see “themselves” reflected in a mirror. (Each character’s doppelganger is played by an actor of color, although the show has actually explored blackface before.) And it sounds as if it’s not shying away from the politics of the scenario: “When you’ve just turned black, and you can’t switch back,” goes one verse sung by Dennis (Glenn Howerton), “well you gotta go and find out the rules.”
This is, as ever, uncharted territory for Always Sunny. In its effort to maintain relevance and freshness after 11 solid seasons, the show is now headed down yet another precarious path, one that could either demonstrate its deft satirical touch once more or end at a place that’s more callous than clever. No matter, it should be fascinating to watch—a testament to Sunny’s rather remarkable continued significance, 12 years in.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 12 premieres Jan. 4.
