It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Videos by VICE
Videos by VICE
Charlie Day: laughs
How much do you and the rest of the Sunny cast feel like a part of a larger comedic community? It seems that you don’t get talked about at the same time as a lot of the other well-known groups of young comedians.
too
It’s kind of shocking.
Yeah. Having promos for a show in your face all the time can cause burnout.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how her character, Dee, deals with being pregnant.
laughs
Lethal Weapon
How is that different from other sitcoms?
The American Office
South Park
Is it the traditional sitcom writing process with everyone in a room tossing riffs around and writing on index cards?
Do you guys do that weird thing that lots of comedians and comedic writers do when they’re throwing ideas around, where they don’t laugh at something that’s hilarious? They’ll just kind of say “That’s funny” in a clinical way.
laughs
Oh man, I love that one. It has some of the best lines in the show’s history.
I think I know what you’re going to say.
There’s also this stereotype about funny people being kind of damaged or fucked up. You guys don’t seem damaged at all.
laughs
Have many comics gone out of their way to tell you guys that they like your show?
Sunny
The Cosby Show Everyone but me, I guess. But there aren’t that many direct precursors to Sunny, are there?
Well, actually my favorite moment ever on the show is a tiny bit in that episode where Dee is trying to do stand-up but she keeps dry heaving. I could watch that on a loop for an hour.
laughs
laughs
That scene is also great because it reveals a lot about the character of Charlie. How much do you think about backstory for the characters on the show?
Do you think about the character of Charlie at random times when you’re not actively working on the show?
The show is about a group of morally bankrupt people, but they’re still totally lovable. Charlie is so endearing.
Do you know how many seasons you want to do, or are you going to just keep going until it feels like the right time to stop?
Has there been much talk of doing a Sunny in Philly movie?
OK, there have been a few sort of famous things from the show that I’d like to run by you to see if there’s anything interesting behind their origins.
I guess the top of the heap so far for most fans is the Dayman/Nightman thing, the episode with the musical that Charlie wrote—which you guys then turned into a real stage show that sold out every performance it had.
Right, the rapper that Dee dated.
Nice. Did he use the big side or the little bird side?
In real life.
Did you initially have reservations about putting that thing on? It’s pretty revealing.