The FX cult hit, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is in its forth season as one of the most controversial programs on TV as it has dealt with a variety of topics that usual comedies steer away from. The show was created by Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton and premiered on FX in August 2005.

The plot of the show centers around unsuccessfully run an Irish Pub called “Paddy’s Pub” in South Philadelphia. The four 20-something friends, played by Gary Howerton who plays, Dennis, Paddy’s co-owner, Dee played by Kaitlin Olson, the twin sister of Dennis and a bartender at Paddy’s, Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie’s friend from childhood and co-owner of Paddy’s and Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds, Dennis and Dee’s father, who slimed his way into ownership of the bar take on some of the most controversial topics of the day, including; abortion, racism, sexism, terrorism, drug addiction, gay rights and cannibalism, just to name a few.

The interesting aspect of the show centers around the dysfunctional aspect of the characters, who at best, can be described as antagonistic to each other on many levels. None of the characters seem to be honest in any way and the interaction between the characters never seems to have a happy resolution by series end, usually catching an innocent bystander or two in the process during an episode.

With the addition of DeVito in season two, the series took a step towards being more legitimate as a sincere contender in how it has portrayed the angst of 20-somethings, even being compared to a Seinfeld of its age…although a slightly more deranged version, at best.

FX has been the standard bearer of the more edgy programs in the last couple of years but more and more of the cable giants have started to take notice with their own programming. Watch Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia all new episodes on Thursdays at 10:00 PM on FX, with the show repeating at various times during the week after the original airs.