It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 9

Production

FX picked up a ninth season of the show on August 6, 2011, which debuted on the new FXX channel and shifted to Wednesday nights. At the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con, Rob McElhenney said he wrote an episode where the gang appears on Family Feud; FX blocked production even though the game show's producers were on board. David Benioff and D. B. Weiss guest-wrote an episode called "Flowers for Charlie," which Charlie Day described as a Flowers for Algernon story with Charlie getting smarter in a Limitless style.

The season also includes "The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award," a Lethal Weapon 6 follow-up, and a Thanksgiving special that brings back Gail the Snail, the McPoyles, and other foes. An animated Pixar-inspired sequence was made for the 100th episode, "The Gang Saves the Day." Aaron Paul was announced for a cameo but couldn't appear due to scheduling conflicts. The season has 10 episodes, with the 100th airing on October 9.

Reception

Critics were kind to the ninth season, which earned a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 22 reviews, averaging 7.7 out of 10. The site’s take: Dee hits her lowest point and Charlie gets smarter, proving the Gang is one of TV’s funniest groups even without an award. The season opener had the smallest U.S. audience ever recorded for the show, mainly because FXX wasn’t available on many cable systems. Some Suddenlink franchises even required a Sports Package to get the channel. Still, FX president John Landgraf said the numbers blew away expectations, calling it thrilling for a channel that had only launched three days earlier.