Tonight’s twelfth-season finale of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia ended on something of a cliffhanger, with Glenn Howerton’s Machiavellian narcissist Dennis Reynolds declaring that he’s done with The Gang, Paddy’s Pub, and the whole insane city of Philadelphia. Normally, we’d assume that this was just the narrative set-up for more debauchery next year, but Howerton—who also co-writes and co-produces the show—gave an interview to Uproxx today that suggests that Dennis’ status might be more up in the air than it initially seems.
Here’s Howerton, surprising interviewer Alan Sepinwall with a surprisingly long and nebulous answer after being asked whether Dennis was really gone:
“So… it’s a little complicated. I may seem a little bit evasive here, and I don’t mean to. It’s not entirely certain whether I am or am not. I might be. I might be, but I might not be. That really is the truth. Just to be clear, to dispel any potential weirdness, it has nothing to do with my relationship to anyone on the show or Rob or Charlie or anyone like that. It’s partially a creative and personal decision. We may be taking an extended hiatus between season 12 and season 13. So I’m certainly staying open to the possibility of doing more, but there is a possibility that I will not.
The last few hours have made it clear what Howerton—who initially broke the possible-news to The Wrap—is talking around here; NBC just announced that he’s been cast opposite Patton Oswalt in AP Bio, a new sitcom pilot from SNL’s Mike O’Brien and Seth Meyers. That series would presumably cut into Howerton’s extensive Sunny duties, explaining the “extended hiatus” or possible departure he mentioned in his response.
Sunny still has two more seasons with FX, although it’s now extremely unclear how those might play out. For his own part, Howerton responded to a question about looking back at the last 12 seasons of comedic awfulness with pride, saying, “It’s been the greatest joy, honor of my life up to this point, to have been a part of this show.”