Like some sort of deranged wild card, irresponsibly wielding a trunk full of flammable liquids, FXX has just poured a little more gas on the burning questions about Glenn Howerton’s relationship with the next season of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Per Deadline, the network has just revealed a description for the 13th-season premiere of Sunny, releasing the following statement to the press today:
The Gang Returns… mostly…. in the 13th season of the FXX original comedy series It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and Frank (Danny DeVito) return to their duplicitous, scheming ways at Paddy’s Pub, while Dennis (Glenn Howerton) takes on the new role of father in North Dakota.
The network’s statement more-or-less jibes with what we’ve been hearing from the show’s cast over the last year, ever since the show’s 12th season ended with Dennis abandoning Paddy’s Pub (followed shortly by Howerton nailing down a new network sitcom, A.P. Bio). Howerton himself has been resolutely ambiguous about whether we’d be seeing Dennis again—although he did make it clear that he’s still a major player in the show’s production—but Kaitlin Olson noted that he’d recently been filming on the show’s set.
Now, it sounds like we might be getting some sort of compromise season, with the series briefly checking in with Dad-form Dennis in North Dakota from time to time amidst all the usual chaos in Philly. Of course, it’s also always possible that we’re just being fucked with, and the show’s resident golden god will be back in his regular barstool within weeks of the series’ September 5 return.