it's always sunny is one of my fav shows and i still watch the newest episodes, but i maintain: iasip lost its magic the minute it left 2005. that show lived in 2005 for eleven years and then somewhere in seasons 12-13 they decided it needed to be happening in present day. but these characters simply cannot exist alongside like. smart phones and tik tok. no. these guys need to still be using flip phones and ipod shuffles. iasip guys need to be using napster on a computer the size of a truck engine. there is no world in which the characters of iasip can live in the same timespace as olivia rodrigo. this show is the epitome of 00's aesthetic, and trying to splice them into the world of like... instagram and trump... it just ain't right. it just ain't right
I'm not really addressing OP because this post is like 3 years old and I'm sure they don't really care because it does read a bit like a shitpost, but it's weirdly upsetting to me to see this post making rounds in the Sunny fandom with nods of agreement, because moving past the jokes, the arguments here are just not factual to the run and point of Sunny at all?
Sunny has always existed in the year of its airing. The whole point of the show is that its satire and commentary is on modern society. The writers room has always purposefully looked to the headlines of *that year* for inspiration (if not a direct pull) for many of their plots for the season. The claim that the show "lived in 2005 for eleven years and then somewhere in seasons 12-13 they decided it needed to be happening in present day" is just bonkers to read. I genuinely can't wrap my head around a chunk of the fandom, today, believing that's true. Especially when so many of the best early season plots pull from events of the year the episodes aired?
Season 3 has an episode that hits on corporate chains buying out small businesses, as well as an entire episode based around a 2006 movie. Season 4 has an episode inspired by the 2008 crude oil spike and Season 5 followed with two more episodes pulled from that economic recession—the commentary in all three of those is exclusively relevant to 2008/9 and wouldn't make any sense in 2005. Season 6's opener is based on Philadelphia attempting to ban same-sex partnerships at the time. Season 7 harps on Facebook and the trend of 2010/11 online anonymity. Season 8 dives into online gaming becoming an obsessive activity pulling people from their real lives. Season 9 has an entire spoof on what modern TV is deemed "emmy-worthy" in 2013......
I can only imagine that the reason people claim and believe Sunny did (nevermind should..) perpetually exist in 2005 (despite the existence of constant, modern commentary refuting that idea since the earliest seasons) is because so many current fans were born in the late 90s to mid 00s and subconsciously disregard all of the political references and technology usage of the mid 00s to early 10s into the collective idea of "the past" because they fail to create a frame of reference for (1) what was politically apt at the time and (2) the progression of technology then versus now.
Failing to contextualise the political plots of the earlier seasons aside, Seasons 1-11 probably seem more dated to younger viewers as compared to the last few seasons because of how fast and cheap technology has become in the last decade (we went from flat screens and smart phones being for wealthy people to being the only option at the cheapest price point). But even so, the Gang have literally always engaged with and commentated on modern technology (and continue to "both-sides" the topic):
From Season 2 when Mac walks in and calls Dennis and Dee losers for using MySpace, to Season 4 when Dennis obsesses over a flatscreen in the bar and Charlie and Dee attempt to make viral Youtube videos, to Season 8 when Dennis makes a stand against the Gang being addicted to online video games, to Season 10 when they all try out dating apps and tackle online ratings, through Season 14 when the Gang makes fun of Dee for believing they watch her Instagram stories and Season 15 when Charlie and Dee, once again, try to make viral videos, this time using Tiktok. There's literally always been a present progression of the use of technology and social media, resisted by at least another member, and balanced by everyone's commitment to relying on their old, trusty camcorder and watching anything at the bar exclusively on their shitty CRT TV.
Whether you like it or not, the nature of the show is literally modern commentary, and that largely encompasses politics and social media today, as it also did in the 2000s. Arguing the Gang shouldn't exist in an era of smart phones and modern politics because it's supposed to be the "epitome of 00s aesthetic" is genuinely a fundamental misunderstanding of the show, and most likely a misreading of a chunk of the earlier plots. Arguing anything pre-10 (I can't give you 12 sorry that's just actually insane lol) remains contained to 2005 only makes sense if you ignore like half the plots.
Sunny has always been a balance of modern political and social commentary since its early days, and if you're struggling to understand that, you might want to reframe your view of modern and give the show another watch, because you probably missed out on a lot of the jokes and complexity of the show if you're viewing the earlier episodes through a lens of a "00s aesthetic" instead of the actual lens of "present day, for when it aired"
