It’s hard to quantify which of the gang’s many business failures was the worst, but they’ve definitely failed big-time more than once. Their first semi-official attempt at a business was in season 3’s “The Aluminum Monster vs. Fatty Magoo,” when the whole gang tries to start a women’s garment factory and end up with dozens of dresses they cannot sell. Prior to that, there were plenty of schemes, but they didn’t have Frank’s capital to get them started. So what about their other attempts? Mac and Charlie’s drink “Fight Milk,” made with real crows, makes people violently ill and got several UFC fighters expelled. Charlie’s sound-dampening Kitten Mittens might have made him money, but he accidentally sold the rights to a lawyer. The guys’ door-to-door gasoline business in “The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis” was a giant bust, their attempts at commodifying Paddy’s have mostly ended in felonies, and they just can’t seem to succeed at anything. So why do fans keep tuning back in to see them fail again and again?
This should go without saying, but the gang are terrible people. To see them succeed would make “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” a very different show. Part of what makes them lovable is that they cannot win, which makes them a bit easier to identify with. It’s also just funny to see terrible people suffer the consequences of their actions. Just as “Succession” is a tragedy about terrible people who have it all and still can’t win, “It’s Always Sunny” is a comedy about terrible people who have nothing and can’t win. The important part is that they don’t win.
