Posted in: FX, Hulu, Preview, streaming, Trailer, TV | Tagged: danny devito, frank reynolds, frank week, fx on hulu, FXX, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, preview, trailer

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Kicks Off "Frank Week" Festivities

With FXX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia starting back to work and with a record-setting 15th season on the way, what better time than this week to celebrate the greatness that is the pistol-packing, toe knife-wielding, night crawlers-playing, head of Wolf Cola… Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Dee's (Kaitlin Olson) step-dad… Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito). That's right, it's "Frank Week" and the fine folks at FX Networks (including FX on Hulu) are offering some ways to celebrate the man with the respect he deserves- from a live-tweet watch party to a look back at Frank's many facets. After that, Rob McElhenney shares the story of how DeVito's Frank ended up joining the long-running series.

First up (as you can tell from the screencap above and the teaser below), Thursday, July 15, brings a "Frank Week Watch Party" for a live-tweet screening of S05E04 "The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention" and S11E02 "Franks Falls Out the Window." Available on FX on Hulu, the festivities kick off at 6 pm ET/3 pm PT (Twitter: @AlwaysSunny).

And let's not forget just how much Frank is a master of disguise, not when we have the following look back on some of his greatest alter egos- from Frak and Froggy to Dr. Mantis Toboggan MD and Ongo Gablogian, and more:

Back in early 2020, McElhenney appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to discuss what went on behind the scenes that resulted in DeVito joining that series with its second season – a hiring that kept the series from being a "one-season wonder". When the series premiered in 2005, it did so with the support of FX President John Landgraf and the network – but its freshman year run didn't result in a ton of eyeballs tuning in. Landgraf advised McElhenney to bring on someone of "name" who could help boost the show's presence from a marketing standpoint – suggesting DeVito as he had previously run the actor's production company, Jersey Films.

For McElhenney, the idea of bringing a "movie star" of any name (nothing personal against DeVito) would prove counter to the chemistry the cast developed during its first season that made the series so unique. "We said, 'No'. I said, 'No thank you. We don't want Danny DeVito'. I said, 'It's nothing personal against Danny DeVito. I grew up watching Danny. He's a legend and he's incredibly funny and we love him.' But we felt we had something really special and we really thought maybe bringing a movie star on would ruin the chemistry."

While McElhenney made a strong argument from the creative standpoint, it was Landgraf's response that proved to be the "killing blow" in this back-n-forth: he'll have to cancel the show. Check out the story for yourself below (starting at 4:10, just in case), and see the exact moment McElhenney realized you can't worry about chemistry on a show – when you don't have a show…

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