WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17, episode 7.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17, episode 7, “The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time,” teases a fourth sequel to an ongoing movie shtick that’s recurred throughout the celebrated comedy series.
After Frank gets selected as the main contestant on The Golden Bachelor, Dennis takes the initiative to prepare himself and the rest of the gang for the home and family interview portion of the show. Things naturally get out of hand after Dennis pens a script that he hopes will make him and the others seem completely normal and not at all embarrassing.
Dennis goes to great lengths to ensure the quality and authenticity of his production, acting it out as a one-act play in front of a live test screening audience. Mac and Dee’s “characters” test the best, which quickly goes to their heads, while Charlie becomes wildly unpredictable after going off script. After spending a month trying to perfect their scenes, they realized Frank had hired a bunch of actors to play them to make sure he wasn’t humiliated on national TV.
It’s Always Sunny Season 17 Directly Calls Back To “Thunder Gun 4: Maximum Cool”
The whole concept of the gang doing a test audience for their rehearsal dinners is based on their experience going to a test screening for “Thunder Gun 4” back in season 14. Dennis directly mentions it in the latest It’s Always Sunny episode. They haven’t brought up those movies in a while, so it seems like they could be teasing another installment.
In It’s Always Sunny season 14, episode 2, titled “Thunder Gun 4: Maximum Cool,” the gang finds themselves as part of the test screening audience for the movie, switching their roles in the latest season 17 episode. The episode also offered some commentary and criticism on the current state of Hollywood movies, which is reflected in this season 17 episode as the gang debates the concept, “Go Woke, Go Broke.”
It’s Always Sunny Is Due For Another Thunder Gun Sequel Episode
The previous episodes that were centered around the fictional in-universe Thunder Gun movie franchise were in season 7, season 9, season 12, and season 14. It’s highly unlikely that it will be visited again by the end of It’s Always Sunny season 17, so we may have to wait until season 18 for another Thunder Gun-themed episode.
This latest episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of the highest-rated of not only season 17, but of the entire series. Based on this great feedback, it would be surprising if we don’t get more Thunder Gun sequel references and Hollywood self-reflexivity in future episodes of the acclaimed FX comedy series.
