Charlotte shields-rossi | a&e editor

After 20 years on air and 18 seasons under their belt, “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” has changed a lot. But with the return of a 10-episode season, plenty of corpse desecration and yet another coming out scene from Mac, it seems as though the longest-running live action sitcom has returned to its roots.

“It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” follows a group of five people working at an unsuccessful bar in Philadelphia — Mac McDonald (Rob McElhenney), Dennis Reynolds (Glenn Howerton), Dee Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson), Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day) and Frank Reynolds (Danny Devito). Misanthropic and lawless, the self proclaimed “gang” often finds themselves scheming, fighting, ruining the lives of others and, above all else, drinking themselves silly.

In the past couple of seasons, it seems as though the showrunners have strayed away from what made the sitcom so popular in the first place. The characters and their choices seemed unfamiliar. But with the end of the series on the horizon, the 18th season seems to have circled back to its humble beginnings. They brought the characters back to their former glory while doing what they have for the past 20 years – remaining topical and pushing the boundaries.

The first episode of the season — “Frank Marries a Corpse” — follows the nuptials of Frank and Sam (Carol Kane) who he met at the end of season 17. But in true “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” fashion the wedding was filled with scheming from Dennis and Dee, an original song from Charlie, a (heartwarming?) coming out moment from Mac and a very ill Frank. With a show that finds humor in the most disgusting parts of life — blood, puke and sweat — it was fitting that Frank, who had literal cold feet about the wedding, stood at the altar gagging, dry heaving and sweating profusely.

The second episode, “Dennis and Dee Don’t Get Rich,” follows the funeral preparations of two characters. Sam, who contracted a flesh eating bacteria the episode before, and Bonnie (Lynne Marie Stewart), the mother of Charlie, who was written off the show after Marie Stewart passed away in between filming the seasons.

The Reynolds twins, notorious for planning get-rich-quick schemes, hatch a plan to get a lofty inheritance from Sam. Charlie and Frank plan the funerals, which involve shooting Sam out of a cannon at the annual Mummer’s parade.

The show’s earlier seasons often included at least one member of the gang wearing an elaborate costume — “showmanship” and “pageantry,” according to Dennis. I certainly was hoping that the producers of the show would invest more money into the costume budget this season. And my wish came true at the end of the episode when Charlie came out dressed as a full blown Mummer, face paint and all.

“The Gang Gets Tested” begins with Dennis and Dee getting diagnosed with ADHD, leading the whole gang to go back to school to prove their abilities. This episode really put each character back into the well-established archetypes that had been abandoned in more recent seasons.

Dee, who has had an on and off again crack cocaine addiction for over a decade, worked her way up the illicit substance ladder going from a prescription ADHD medication cocktail to crack cocaine. Dennis of course partook in the substance abuse but setting his sights on seducing his professor. Mac started the episode confident in his intelligence but then slowly, with the help of Dennis, found himself deeply insecure in his abilities, leading to increasingly dramatic outbursts. Frank, in an attempt to relieve the glory days of his youth, enlisted a college student to do increasingly dangerous capers, eventually leaving him to his own devices when things went wrong. From an outsiders perspective these antics seem crazy, long time fans of the gang know how perfect it is for their characters.

While most shows benefit from their characters developing as the seasons go on, it’s fitting a show following characters so steadfast in remaining horrible would be unwilling or unable to change after 20 years.

The 18th season didn’t go back to using low resolution cameras and (rightfully) strayed away from the extremely offensive jokes that defined the early seasons. But even being (mostly) culturally continuous and high definition, the 18th season so far has felt like an homage to its formative years.

The season still has seven more episodes to go, all premiering on Hulu at 9 p.m. every Monday.

Charlotte Shields-Rossi can be reached at shieldsrossic@duq.edu