One Of Glenn Howerton's Favorite Always Sunny Episodes Was Inspired By A True Story

One of the funniest (and most depressing) episodes of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is season 5's "The Gang Hits the Road," in which the gang attempts to go on a road trip to the Grand Canyon. From Philadelphia that's at least a 34-hour drive, an especially long distance considering that Charlie (Charlie Day) has never even left Philly before. But it turns out Charlie had no reason to be nervous; the trip includes so many interruptions that the gang gives up before they even make it past the city lines.

One of those interruptions is Charlie revealing he's never eaten a pear before, causing an astonished Mac to demand they stop and get one for him. Although the gang's trip was likely doomed either way, this detour was the beginning of the end. What's worse is that it wasn't even worth it: Charlie takes one bite out of the pear and concludes that pears taste like sand.

This whole plot point, it turns out, is based off a real conversation in the "Always Sunny" writers' room. As Glenn Howerton (who plays Dennis and who co-created the show) explained in a 2019 interview, "We had a writer at the time — Scott Marder, who wrote many episodes of the show — who had never eaten a blueberry. And then we found out there were, five, six, seven, eight other things that he'd never had."

Co-creator (and Mac actor) Rob McElhenney would follow up on this story in a 2023 episode of "The Always Sunny Podcast." McElhenney explained, "We really got into listing all the things that he had never eaten. An apricot, a pear, and it wasn't just fruit specific. It was vegetables. ... a chicken sandwich." 

It's clear that even in 2023, 14 years after the episode aired, the main "Always Sunny" cast was still baffled by this. "Very common foods," Howerton said on the podcast. "Like extremely common foods. Not rare foods, not exotic foods, very common foods." Charlie Day agreed it was weird too, asking, "How do you get that far in life without trying a blueberry?"

The real-life gang's confusion by Scott Marder's eating habits, or lack thereof, found its way into the script. Mac's baffled reaction to Charlie's pear reveal seems strongly based on the real reaction he had to Marder. And of all the characters to give Marder's food history to, Charlie makes the most sense; he's the most childlike of the gang, to the point where he literally can't read and he's afraid to leave Philadelphia. 

Although Charlie eventually conquers his fears of the outside world, the ending of "The Gang Hits the Road" makes it seem like he's trapped in Philly forever. It's a fitting fate for a character who can't ever seem to imagine a better life for himself. Other sitcoms let their characters change and grow, at least within the confines of an individual episode, but part of the perverse appeal of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is that it usually refuses to do this. When "Always Sunny" characters do change, like with Mac accepting his sexuality in the later seasons, the process is always slow-moving. 

Like "Seinfeld" before it, this is mostly a show about characters who can't grow. Scott Marder can try new foods, but Charlie is doomed to be a man of limited horizons. And judging by the gang's resigned realization that they're never gonna see the Grand Canyon, the rest of the cast isn't faring much better. 

"I just love the simplicity of that episode," said Howerton. "We're not doing anything crazy — we're literally just trying to drive a car from one place to another, and we can't do it. In some ways, it's picking up where 'Seinfeld' left off."

Like a couple of "Seinfeld" episodes, "The Gang Hits the Road" plays out in a sort of agonizing dream logic. The gang has a simple goal, but something or another always comes along to drag them down. It's like how people will dream about needing to get to work on time, but they'll find themselves trapped in a never-ending limbo between running late and nearly there. The never-ending setbacks in "The Gang Hits the Road" are frustrating to watch, but that's also what makes them funny and relatable.

The other key to making the episode shine, Howerton believes, is the character's strong opinions about basically everything they come across. "There is something very funny to me about getting so hung up on the small things along the way that you never reach your destination," he said. He explained how giving the "Always Sunny" characters strong points of view has been what's kept the show going as long as it has. Charlie can't just be reluctant to leave Philly; he must be terrified of it to the point where he's never stepped outside city lines. Dennis can't just dislike gas station coffee; he must hate it so much he buys an expensive French press to keep in their trailer. 

"It's great comedy fodder, but it's also emblematic of our society more and more. The people that we hear about or from the most are the people who have strong opinions. And I think with that, you can just go anywhere," Howerton said. 

Well, anywhere except the Grand Canyon.