Listen Live
Donate
 on air
Schedule

KCRW

Read & Explore

  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Culture
  • Events

Listen

  • Live Radio
  • Music
  • Podcasts
  • Full Schedule

Information

  • About
  • Careers
  • Help / FAQ
  • Newsletters
  • Contact

Support

  • Become a Member
  • Become a VIP
  • Ways to Give
  • Shop
  • Member Perks

Become a Member

Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

DonateGive Monthly

Copyright 2025 KCRW. All rights reserved.

Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
Cookie Policy
|FCC Public Files

Back to The Business

The Business

John Landgraf; Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton

The origin story of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a lesson in chuztpah and initiative. Three friends and aspiring actors -- Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day -- made a pilot as a short film for themselves. But what began simply, quickly developed into something more significant.

  • rss
  • Share
By Kim Masters • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

The origin story of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a lesson in chuztpah and initiative. Three friends and aspiring actors -- Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day -- made a pilot as a short film for themselves. But what began simply, quickly developed into something more significant. They shopped it around town as a potential TV show and got a lot of bites. FX President John Landgraf talks about how the pilot came out of nowhere from three guys with no experience but how he was taken with it immediately.

McElehenney and Howerton tell The Business producer Darby Maloney about those early days, what motivated them, and how they had the confidence to insist that they be the producers and show-runner despite having absolutely no experience producing TV. They talk about how they welcomed Danny DeVito in the second season. And even though the series is in its eighth season with plans for two more and has been sold into syndication on Comedy Central, it still doesn't feel like a huge success to them... partially because they get no Awards love.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Kim Masters

    partner/writer at Puck News, host of KCRW's “The Business.”

  • KCRW placeholder

    Darby Maloney

    Producer

  • KCRW placeholder

    John Landgraf

    FX Networks

  • KCRW placeholder

    Rob McElhenney

    writer, producer and actor

  • KCRW placeholder

    Glenn Howerton

    writer, producer and actor

    CultureEntertainmentArts
Back to The Business