Top 10 Underrated (& Overrated) Episodes of It’s Always Sunny

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is my favourite comedy show of all time, so I’m bound to have a spicy opinion or two!

I’ll talk about some of the most underrated and overrated episodes of the show … so try not to get too offended! Also, it’s worth noting that if I say an episode is “overrated” that doesn’t mean it’s bad!

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

10 (OVERRATED) – Charlie and Dee Find Love (S8E4)

This is a great example of an overrated episode still being quite good – for the most part, every episode I mention in this list is decent fun!

“Charlie and Dee Find Love” is a good plotline with some fun beats, but it feels a little odd / mainstream for a Sunny episode and lacks an edge. Also, Alexandra Daddario is distractingly hot.

10 (UNDERRATED) – Psycho Pete Returns (S10E3)

As a point of reference, I used the IMBd ratings to work out whether Sunny episodes were liked or hated by the fandom, as they tend to be appropriate representations of the general consensus. To my surprise, “Psycho Pete Returns” was the lowest-rated Season 10 episode.

It has a great cold open, fantastic make-up for Cricket, some bizarre scenes with Frank in the asylum, and an all-time great Dennis freak-out.

9 – The Gang Goes to a Water Park (S12E2)

This is where the IMDb rating comes into play again. I love “The Gang Goes to a Water Park”, and consider it a classic from Season 12, but a 9.5/10 rating? That’s on par with some of Breaking Bad’s top episodes! That puts it in the top three Sunny episodes ever!

The jokes all land, and the chaotic ending is funny, but I could never really vibe with the Dennis / girl dynamic. Also, Mac and Dee’s plot of getting stuck in a water slide is a little boring.

9 – The Gang Gives Back (S2E6)

Season 2 has a lot of episodes that Sunny fans always mention as being underrated and classic, but I never hear “The Gang Gives Back” as part of that conversation.

The whole basketball community service gimmick is great, and the match at the end has some really hilarious moments.

8 – Charlie Gets Crippled (S2E1)

People laud the Season 2 opener “Charlie Gets Crippled” as being a huge step up from Season 1, and while it certainly has its moments I don’t think the show is at its best just yet.

The wheelchair scam is much more alike to what we know the gang are capable of, but Frank is far too subdued in these early episodes and his character feels off in hindsight.

8 – The Aluminum Monster vs. Fatty Magoo (S3E5)

I’ve been watching the Always Sunny Podcast since it started airing, and I was surprised to find out that the creators thought “The Aluminum Monster vs. Fatty Magoo” was a weak effort.

I get what they mean when they say it’s too over-the-top, but it never delves into total parody. Also, Dennis puts in yet another MVP performance.

7 – Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life (S4E9)

I’m not entirely sure whether fans laud this as a classic or not, but this is one of the few Sunny episodes that I actively dislike.

The Dennis erotica is never fully explored, and the scenes with Sinbad in the mental hospital are far too weird for my liking. Also, the “characters trade roles to experience each other’s lives” sitcom trope is overdone.

7 – Mac and Dennis Break Up (S5E9)

There aren’t any high stakes, and it acts more like a bottle episode than a fully-fledged story, but “Mac and Dennis Break Up” does its job perfectly.

It’s a self-contained story about two co-dependent men that struggle to live apart, and the jokes all land.

6 – The Gang Hits the Slopes (S11E3)

There’s a very specific subset of people that this episode was aimed for, and I am not one of them.

Having not seen any of the 80’s party movies that “The Gang Hits the Slopes” references, most of the jokes go over my head. Filming on location was cool, though.

6 – Charlie Kelly: King of the Rats (S6E10)

There are a couple of moments in this that are iconic on their own, but I feel the episode as a whole is a banger from start to finish.

Charlie Day absolutely steals the show, and all of his mad ramblings about spaghetti policies and “Bash me like a rat!” are phenomenally funny. Add on a cheeky little twist at the end and you have a classic.

5 – The Gang Broke Dee (S9E1)

“The Gang Broke Dee” is a tricky one to assess, as the first viewing of it was really funny and the final twist was great. Unfortunately, it’s that twist that makes it so hard to watch again.

This feels like the cruellest scheme the gang ever pulled, and I feel so bad for Dee on every repeat viewing. This is an episode built around that final scene, and the rest kinda falls apart once you know what it is.

5 – Chardee MacDennis 2: Electric Boogaloo (S11E1)

“Chardee MacDennis 2: Electric Boogaloo” gets a lot of hate as being an inferior sequel to the original, and whilst it’s definitely worse it’s far from bad.

The flag-raising ceremony is one of Season 11’s funniest moments, and the games they play are just as fun here as they were the first time around. It loses me a bit once the horror segment kicks in, but I still enjoy the whole package.

4 – The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention (S5E4)

A lot of fans really like this effort, mainly down to Danny DeVito’s unhinged performance (which I don’t disagree with), but “The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention” never really connected with me.

There are funny jokes, but they aren’t quite hilarious. There are great moments, but I don’t consider them to be iconic. On the whole, this is just a good episode at best.

4 – Who Pooped the Bed? (S4E7)

I remember thinking “Who Pooped the Bed?” was a silly and immature episode on my first watch, but it really tickled me on every subsequent viewing.

The whodunnit aspect is expertly handled, the poop-sifting scene is great, and the ending where Artemis lays it all out Poirot style is the perfect way to cap it off.

3 – Mac Is A Serial Killer (S3E10)

“Mac Is A Serial Killer” is a Season 2 episode that fans always laud, but I can never say I’ve shared the sentiment.

The only bit that really made me laugh was Dennis and Dee pretending to be serial killers, and the whole plot feels very boring on a repeat viewing once you know the final twist.

3 – Pop-Pop: The Final Solution (S8E1)

Quite possibly the strongest season opener of all, “Pop-Pop: The Final Solution” is exactly what I want from a Sunny episode.

The writing is outrageous in its subject matter, the cast are hilarious with their performances, and the moment-to-moment jokes always land.

2 – The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore (S7E2)

Fun fact – when I ranked every Season 7 episode a while ago, a commenter got annoyed at me for putting “The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore” in the middle of the pack!

I understand the appeal, but the gross-out humour just isn’t for me. Sorry to whoever that guy was!

2 – The Gang Replaces Dee With a Monkey (S15E4)

A couple of Season 15 episodes could have taken this spot – “The Gang’s Still In Ireland” is their best episode in years, but “The Gang Replaces Dee With a Monkey” is a criminally slept-on introduction to the Ireland arc.

The conversations between the gang at the bar have never been funnier, and Dee’s acting class is so much fun to witness. This was when Season 15 started to turn for the better.

1 – The Gang Beats Boggs (S10E1)

A lot of the “overrated” episodes are ones where I get the appeal but it just isn’t for me, but “The Gang Beats Boggs” felt like a really weak episode on my re-watch.

It relies heavily on the drunk acting, and the shenanigans are very limited on the plane. In all honesty, I have no idea why this is held in such high esteem.

1 – Sweet Dee Gets Audited (S7E4)

I’m genuinely baffled that “Sweet Dee Gets Audited” isn’t considered a classic.

It has a zinger of a cold open, the iconic thin limes debate, and a funeral for a fake dead baby at the end. If that doesn’t qualify it for the pantheon of Sunny greats, then I don’t know what does!

Aaaaand that’s my controversial list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: