It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Rob McElhenney responds to Jerry Seinfeld’s ‘PC’ sitcom criticism
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It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob McElhenney has hit back at Jerry Seinfeld’s suggestion that sitcoms have lost their edge with a one-word reference to his own show.
Seinfeld, 70, made headlines this week by claiming in an interview with The New Yorker that “the extreme left [and] PC [politically correct] crap and people worrying so much about offending other people” is responsible for the “death” of television comedy.
The comedian, whose show Seinfeld ran from 1989 to 1998, went on to claim that many of the jokes in the series would no longer be allowed to be broadcast.
“[One would be] Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway’,” said Seinfeld. “Do you think I could get that episode on the air today?”
On X/Twitter McElhenney responded directly to that question, replying: “Probably.”
He attached a picture of long-running It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia character Matthew “Rickety Cricket” Mara, played by David Hornsby.
In the show, Rickety Cricket is a former school friend of the central characters who is first seen onscreen as a priest. Over the course of the show his interactions with the gang lead him into a downward spiral that eventually results in him becoming a homeless crack addict.
McElhenney’s implication being that Rickety Cricket’s dire circumstances make Kramer’s scheme look tame by comparison.
The Independent’s Adam White also believes that Seinfeld is wrong to claim that “PC crap” has killed off TV comedy, arguing that this viewpoint ignores the fact that comedy – including his eponymous sitcom – has always navigated when a joke goes too far.
Earlier this week, McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds shared an update on their investment in Wrexham AFC.
The pair, both 47, jointly purchased the team in 2020 for a reported figure of £2m while the club was in the fifth tier of English football.
Their journeys as club owners have been chronicled in the FX/Disney+ series, Welcome to Wrexham.
While promoting the show’s forthcoming third season, the pair were asked by The Associated Press where they were at financially with the investment.
“Accountants don’t really want to hear about the emotional investment,” Reynolds responded.
“You want to know, like how far in the red I am?” McElhenney asked. “It’s pretty significant. It’s true that in the beginning when we asked our advisors if this was a good economic investment, there was not one person that I can remember that was like, ‘Yes.’
“It was more like, ‘Don’t.’”
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