Desperation.
That’s the word Rob McElhenney used to describe his motivations for creating “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” four years ago, a television show that has gained a notable following on FX.
Faced with a need to make money, an unfulfilling job in a restaurant and few acting opportunities, McElhenney decided to do something.
“I wasn’t working, and I just decided to take my career in my own hands and do stuff on my own,” McElhenney said. “It was something to do for fun and actually have the chance to act and produce something I wrote. We weren’t intending to make a show; we wanted to do shorts to show our friends and have a good time.”
Those shorts, developed along with fellow executive producers and stars of the show, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day, have developed into a successful show now heading into its fifth season this September.
Tonight, McElhenney will speak on campus at Ackerman Grand Ballroom at 8 p.m. about his experience on the show and will give advice on how to get into the business. Clips from the show will be screened, followed by a Q&A session.
The fact that McElhenney is speaking on campus about the show is a testament to how far the project has come since it debuted in 2005.
Prior to its premiere, the show had very humble beginnings. McElhenney, Howerton and Day shot the pilot episode titled “It’s Always on TV” for about $200. Executives from FX viewed the pilot, liked it, and the show had its beginning.
Looking back on it, McElhenney is thankful the show came together the way it did, especially at the time it did.
“Now, you go to YouTube, and you can see a million of videos like it,” McElhenney said. “We were really lucky that we did it before YouTube got really big, because we might just have put it on there and left it.”
However, acting was never a childhood dream for McElhenney.
First there were dreams of being a professional football player. When that appeared to be just a dream, then there were hopes of being a professional basketball player. And when that potential career path also turned out to be just a false hope, he thought he might want to be a police officer.
Acting just sort of happened.
“I kind of stumbled into it,” McElhenney said. “In high school I wanted to meet chicks, and there were a lot of girls in acting and I thought it would be a good way to do that.”
“Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia” follows the lives of four dysfunctional friends, collectively known as “The Gang,” and their adventures in owning a bar, “Paddy’s Irish Pub,” in a shady neighborhood in South Philadelphia. Much of the humor from the show comes from the asinine situations they get themselves into and the constant scheming they do behind each others’ backs.
The show did not have a big following from the beginning. Season one, which first aired on Aug. 4, 2005, was only seven episodes long and was on late at night, outside the prime viewing hours.
“We were almost cancelled because no one was watching the show,” McElhenney said. “It was on in the middle of the night on a Tuesday or Thursday, I don’t know. But no one was watching, and no one had heard of it.”
Yet the show had one big-name fan: Danny DeVito. The 64-year-old actor of such films as “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Batman Returns” and “L.A. Confidential,” liked the show, and when McElhenney approached him to ask if he wanted a role, he accepted.
For McElhenney, it is a great opportunity to work with someone of DeVito’s presence and talent.
“It’s amazing when you’re working with an icon,” McElhenney said. “Not just a film and television icon, but a cultural one. He was a fan of the show and was really into it, and we thought maybe if we could get a big name it would bolster the ratings. So I went over to his house, and he said, “˜Yes.'”
Three years later, McElhenney said that the writing process for season five is finishing up, with shooting expected to last from May until August. Once the new season premieres in September, there is at least one more guaranteed batch of episodes to come, since FX ordered 39 additional episodes of the show last summer. After achieving such an the immense amount of success since starting with a camcorder, McElhenney admits that he is not surprised.
“People ask me if I’m surprised by the success we’ve had, and I don’t think so,” he said. “I’ve always thought the show was funny. People either hate it, love it, or have never heard of it. I think when you have such a polarized reaction from people, you have the opportunity for success.”