It may be over a year and a half between last season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and season 13. FXX's long-running series is already confirmed for both a 13th and 14th season, but its main cast has long branched out into other projects. This has complicated matters to the point where the show was already expected to be delayed a year, after the season 12 finale aired on March 8.

As for the show itself, Always Sunny is as hilarious and irreverent as ever. But it's clear that its lead actors, particularly Charlie Day and Kaitlin Olson, have grown in popularity and it has led to the show's main stars needing time to work on other things. A new report indicates that the show's hiatus could indeed last between one to two years.

Matt Webb Mitovich of TV Line reported his "Inside Line" on Thursday afternoon, and within his assortment of TV scoops was a question about the delayed 13th season of Always Sunny. Mitovich said that "a year" between the end of season 12 and the beginning of production on season 13 would be "harsh," but the show is likely to return with the new season in "late 2018," with the delay due to the cast's "extracurricular activities." So if season 13 premiered on Sept. 8, 2018, that would mark 18 months between new episodes.

It's safe to say that all five principal cast members of Always Sunny will be quite busy over the next year. The biggest question mark is Glenn Howerton (Dennis Reynolds), whose new NBC pilot with Patton Oswalt has raised questions of whether he may leave the show. Rob McElhenney (Mac) will be busy as director of the new Minecraft movie, which is expected in May 2019. Olson (Sweet Dee) will film season 2 of her new show The Mick in the second half of 2017 before getting back to Always Sunny. Day (Charlie) just began filming Drew Pearce's Hotel Artemis, while Danny Devito (Frank Reynolds) will presumably begin filming his scenes for Disney's live-action Dumbo remake within the next year.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia remains one of TV's funniest shows and it's already signed on for two more seasons, so there's little doubt that season 13 will get done in the time frame being suggested. While Howerton's potential departure would create considerable uncertainty, fans of the other four main characters have reason to be confident that TV's favorite sociopaths will continue scheming on and generally doing terrible things to hilarious effect. Fans will just have to wait a little longer than usual for the payoff.

Though all the stars are busy, Howerton is the one to keep an eye on moving forward. If he departed from the show, it would be an unprecedented disruption for the series and Dennis fans would surely be disappointed. But that is far from confirmed at this point, and viewers will simply need to be patient as the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia lends their talents to other projects.

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Source: TV Line