10 TV Episodes That Should Have Jumped the Shark (But Didn't)

By season six, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia had well and truly found its groove. The exploits of Dee, Dennis, Charlie, Mac and Frank (Kaitlin Olson, Glen Howerton, Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney and Danny DeVito), heavy-drinkers and narcissists all, were well publicised, and had amassed a sizeable and reliable mainstream audience. But the gang’s ability to go where no other sitcom would go was well and truly put to the test in episode in the ninth episode.

“Dee Reynolds: Shaping America’s Youth” sees Dee take a job as a substitute teacher, wherein she introduces her class to the gang’s attempt to make Lethal Weapon 5. The “film” starts out simple enough, with Mac playing Mel Gibson’s Riggs character, and Dennis as Danny Glover’s Murtaugh (using just a moustache and a deep voice). But, a few scenes in, they switch roles and Mac goes in blackface for his new part.

Now, while blackface usually takes a kicking from the general viewing public - and, by all accounts, it ought to have brought Always Sunny beyond the point of no return - fans of the show loved the episode, because it was so beyond the pale and yet fit its degenerate characters to a tee. The season, and the show, maintained its strong viewing figures, and Howerton, Day and McElhenney (who write the show) returned to the Lethal Weapon premise several times in subsequent seasons. Just don’t expect to see it on Netflix anytime soon.