Here's why It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia season 6 episode "A Very Sunny Christmas" was allowed to get away with multiple uncensored f-bombs. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia has grown from a cult, low-budget comedy on FX to one of the longest-running live-action sitcoms in television history. The show follows the antics of the Paddy's Pub gang Dennis, Dee, Mac, Charlie and Frank, who are all selfish, petty, and self-destructive in ways that are frequently hilarious.
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia set itself apart from sitcoms like How I Met Your Mother due to its lack of a laugh track and willingness to mine humor out of just about any topic. This doesn't help make the Paddy's Pub gang particularly likable, though they are weirdly endearing. The show's record-breaking run is set to keep going for the foreseeable future, as it was renewed for another four seasons in 2020.
Season 6 featured some great episodes, including "Mac And Charlie: White Trash" and "The Gang Buys A Boat." One of the very best It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia episodes is "A Very Sunny Christmas," which was directed by Fred Savage and is twice the length of a typical episode. It's split between two storylines, where Dennis and Dee want revenge on Frank for always ruining Christmas for them and they enlist the help of his old business partner for a very Christmas Carol inspired tale, while Mac and Charlie both learn shocking truths about how their parents lied to them about Christmas when they were children.
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia's "A Very Sunny Christmas" is the kind of "uplifting" special only this series could get away with. It also features some of the best scenes of the series, including the now-infamous Danny DeVito couch scene, where Frank - for reasons not really worth explaining - crawls naked out of a leather couch he was sown into, proving the actor's utter commitment to the role. Another famous moment involves Charlie sitting on a mall Santa's lap after learning his mother worked as a prostitute on Christmas day when he was young, with all of her clients dressed up as Santa. This leads to a shocking outburst riddled with f-bombs as the hurt and furious Charlie asks this poor mall, innocent Santa what he did to his mom, before proceeding to bit him in the neck.
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia's "A Very Sunny Christmas" may have aired on FX as part of season 6, but its history is a little more complicated. It was first released as a solo Christmas Blu-ray and DVD in 2009, which allowed for uncensored swearing, and a year later it aired as the sixth season's finale. While the episode remains uncensored on platforms like Netflix and Hulu, during its FX debut alternate, non f-bomb takes were used during Charlie's outburst and other scenes that pushed boundaries a little too far. Oddly, during "The Gang Does A Clip Show" in season 13 that flashes back to the mall Santa sequence, the show used the uncensored version.