It’s Always Sunny – All 15 Seasons Ranked

Even though I’ve already done this list, it’s probably about time I did a reshuffle – especially since Season 15 hadn’t come out at that point.

On top of that, I’ve recently binged through the entire series once more. While a lot of my opinions remain the same, there were a fair few surprises on my rewatch – some seasons held up to my expectations, while others disappointed slightly. How would I (re)rank every Sunny season?

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Meh

15 – Season 1

• Best – “The Gang Finds a Dead Guy”
• Worst – “Charlie Wants an Abortion”
• Better On Rewatch – “The Gang Finds a Dead Guy”
• Worse On Rewatch – “Charlie Got Molested”

Season 1 isn’t a travesty, but it’s clearly the weakest season of Sunny. The creators haven’t found their flow just yet, and the only episode that was remotely good was “The Gang Finds a Dead Guy”.

A lot of the episodes just lack either the edge or the wit that later Sunny is known for, with the worst offenders being “Charlie Got Molested” and “Charlie Wants an Abortion”. At least there are only seven episodes to slog through before you hit the good stuff.

OK

14 – Season 13

• Best – “Time’s Up for the Gang”
• Worst – “The Gang Beats Boggs: Ladies Reboot”
• Better On Rewatch – “The Gang Gets New Wheels”
• Worse On Rewatch – “The Gang Solves the Bathroom Problem”

I originally had Season 13 way down in the murky depths with Season 1, but on a rewatch I can safely say it at least has some things going for it.

There are a couple of absolute classics in this, like “Time’s Up for the Gang” and “The Gang Gets New Wheels”, but also stinkers like “Charlie’s Home Alone” and “The Gang Beats Boggs: Ladies Reboot”. All in all, it was proof that the show doesn’t work as well for me without Dennis.

13 – Season 14

• Best – “Dee Day”
• Worst – “Waiting for Big Mo”
• Better On Rewatch – “The Gang Gets Romantic”
• Worse On Rewatch – “The Gang Texts”

We got two average seasons in a row, and there are hardly any episodes to write home about in Season 14. “Dee Day”, “Paddy’s Has a Jumper” and “The Janitor Always Mops Twice” were good episodes, but nothing crazy.

There weren’t any really bad ones either, though. “The Gang Texts” was a bit of a misfire, and “Waiting for Big Mo” was a lacklustre finale, but they didn’t leave me dissatisfied. If I had to sum the season up in one word, it would be “passable”.

Good

12 – Season 2

• Best – “Hundred Dollar Baby”
• Worst – “The Gang Runs for Office”
• Better On Rewatch – “The Gang Gives Back”
• Worse On Rewatch – “Charlie Gets Crippled”

Some people say that Sunny gets way better once Season 2 comes around, and I don’t think that’s entirely true – “Charlie Gets Crippled” doesn’t get off to a strong start, and episodes like “The Gang Runs for Office” really bog the whole thing down.

We do start to get some classics though – “Hundred Dollar Baby” and “Dennis and Dee Go on Welfare” are iconic, and even outings like “The Gang Gives Back” serve up laughs. Season 2 isn’t great just yet, but it makes for fun viewing.

11 – Season 10

• Best – “Charlie Work”
• Worst – “Mac Kills His Dad”
• Better On Rewatch – “Psycho Pete Returns”
• Worse On Rewatch – “The Gang Beats Boggs”

Season 10 is a bit of a disappointment after Seasons 7,8 and 9 were so good, and if it wasn’t for “Charlie Work” being a masterpiece the whole season could have even ranked below Season 2.

Episodes like “Mac Kills His Dad” are just pure filler with hardly any good jokes, and others like “The Gang Beats Boggs” are a little overrated by the Sunny fandom. If it wasn’t for the aforementioned masterpiece and “The Gang Misses the Boat”, this would have been a very lacklustre outing.

10 – Season 11

• Best – “Mac & Dennis Move to the Suburbs”
• Worst – “Being Frank”
• Better On Rewatch – “CharDee MacDennis 2: Electric Boogaloo”
• Worse On Rewatch – “The Gang Hits the Slopes”

Season 11 was very similar to Season 10 in that a lot of the episodes are passable, but the highlights here are some of the series’ very best.

The two-part finale “The Gang Goes to Hell” is one of the strongest closers, the opener “CharDee MacDennis 2: Electric Boogaloo” is extremely underrated, and “Mac & Dennis Move to the Suburbs” is my favourite sitcom episode ever. All in all, we got the best and worst of Sunny in one neat package.

9 – Season 6

• Best – “Dee Reynolds: Shaping America’s Youth”
• Worst – “Dennis Gets Divorced”
• Better On Rewatch – “Charlie Kelly: King of the Rats”
• Worse On Rewatch – “Dennis Gets Divorced”

I consider seasons 3-9 to be the “Golden Era” of Sunny, so I was mildly disappointed when Season 6 got worse on my rewatch.

Episodes like “Dennis Gets Divorced” are such a slog to get through, and other ones such as “The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods” feel undercooked. Luckily, episodes like “Who Got Dee Pregnant?” and “Dee Reynolds: Shaping America’s Youth” more than make up for it.

Great

8 – Season 15

• Best – “The Gang’s Still In Ireland”
• Worst – “The Gang Buys a Roller Rink”
• Better On Rewatch – “The Gang Goes to Ireland”
• Worse On Rewatch – “2020: A Year in Review”

The most recent season at the time of writing, and Season 15 blew my socks off. It’s such a breath of fresh air after the middling Seasons 13 & 14, and I really hope Sunny sees a resurgence in future seasons.

The Ireland arc is some of the best Sunny ever, with episodes like “The Gang’s Still In Ireland” and “The Gang Carries a Corpse up a Mountain” providing laugh after laugh. If the non-Ireland stuff was stronger, and if the season was longer, this could have been within the top 5 seasons.

7 – Season 3

• Best – “Sweet Dee’s Dating a Retarded Person”
• Worst – “Dennis and Dee’s Mom Is Dead”
• Better On Rewatch – “The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby”
• Worse On Rewatch – “Mac Is a Serial Killer”

Season 3 is where I think the show starts hitting its stride, and we get episodes that are still considered some of the greatest by fans to this day.

Even the worst episode “Dennis and Dee’s Mom Is Dead” is pretty decent, and the best episodes like “Sweet Dee’s Dating a Retarded Person” and “The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby” were proof that the writers finally understood these characters and their dynamics inside-out.

6 – Season 12

• Best – “Hero or Hate Crime?”
• Worst – “A Cricket’s Tale”
• Better On Rewatch – “The Gang Goes to a Water Park”
• Worse On Rewatch – “The Gang Tends Bar”

Season 12 comes out swinging after the slight disappointments of 10 and 11, and if it wasn’t for “A Cricket’s Tale” this would have been the most consistent season.

Episodes like “The Gang Goes to a Water Park” provide the sort of mainstream humour that everyone can enjoy, whilst episodes like “Hero of Hate Crime?” are more tailored to the Sunny faithful – the latter in particular was some of the most hilarious and well-written TV I’ve ever seen.

Amazing

5 – Season 4

• Best – “The Nightman Cometh”
• Worst – “The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell”
• Better On Rewatch – “Who Pooped the Bed?”
• Worse On Rewatch – “Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life”

A fan-favourite season, and yet Season 4 only just cracks my top 5 – there are so many solid Sunny seasons, and as much as it pains me to say it there are four other seasons that I think are stronger than this one.

There are two of the best episodes ever here – “Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack” contains one of the funniest scenes in TV history, while “The Nightman Cometh” proved that they could take any premise and run with it.

If it wasn’t for episodes like “Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life” and especially “The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell” ruining the flow, this could have been an all-timer.

4 – Season 8

• Best – “Reynolds vs. Reynolds: The Cereal Defense”
• Worst – “Charlie’s Mom Has Cancer”
• Better On Rewatch – “Frank’s Back in Business”
• Worse On Rewatch – “The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre”

Season 8 has a very strong claim at being the most consistent of all the Sunny seasons, as I don’t think a single episode was underwhelming or lacked entertainment.

There are three episodes that I keep coming back to – “The Gang Dines Out” has the ridiculous humour that I love, “The Gang Gets Analyzed” is a fascinating character study, and “Reynolds vs. Reynolds: The Cereal Defense” has the best of both. A truly spectacular season of television.

3 – Season 7

• Best – “CharDee MacDennis: The Game of Games”
• Worst – “Frank’s Brother”
• Better On Rewatch – “Sweet Dee Gets Audited”
• Worse On Rewatch – “The Storm of the Century”

I remembered Season 7 being really solid, but it skyrocketed up my rankings when I watched it again – it’s easily one of the show’s best seasons, and a lot of the episodes only get better on a rewatch.

“High School Reunion”, “CharDee MacDennis: The Game of Games”, “The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore” … there are too many classics to name. It’s just a shame “Frank’s Brother” is the worst episode in the entire series, otherwise I would have bumped Season 7 up to the top tier.

All-Time Great

2 – Season 5

• Best – “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System”
• Worst – “The World Series Defense”
• Better On Rewatch – “Mac and Dennis Break Up”
• Worse On Rewatch – “The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention”

I had a tough time picking my favourite season of Sunny, as both this and the top pick have some of my favourite strings of episodes in sitcom history. In the end, I think it’s Season 5’s length that lets it down – episodes like “The World Series Defense” would have been cut from a tighter season.

This is the writers and actors in full flow, and episodes like “Mac and Dennis Break Up” show that a simple premise and strong cast can work wonders. Add to that the uproarious “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System”, and you get a season that should have really topped this list.

1 – Season 9

• Best – “The Gang Squashes Their Beefs”
• Worst – “The Gang Broke Dee”
• Better On Rewatch – “The Gang Gets Quarantined”
• Worse On Rewatch – “The Gang Broke Dee”

Other than maybe Season 8 and 12, Season 9 is the most consistent season of Sunny – every episode here is great, and half of them are amazing.

“The Gang Gets Quarantined” was a stroke of prescient genius, “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award” is the most meta episode they’ve ever done, “The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 7” is Sunny at its most outrageous, and “The Gang Squashes Their Beefs” was a chaotic and perfect way to end it. No other season of television is, or will be, as funny as this.

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