One of the foundational truths of Comedy TV is that Danny DeVito is not afraid of getting weird and gross for the sake of Frank Reynolds earning laughs on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And we absolutely love him for it. His character's latest evidence of stomach-churning debauchery occurs during the FXX comedy's first big Season 18 trailer, as seen above, and if the implications are correct (not those, Dennis), Frank is totally making out with a dead body.
Before we even talk generally about Season 18 hitting the 2026 TV schedule or get into any of the trailer's other hilarious moments, we must first dissect what could be It's Always Sunny's most twisted episode yet, at least in some respects. It appears as if the amazing Carol Kane, who guest-starred in Season 17's Bachelor-infused finale, is still in Frank's life, to the point where they're getting married. Depressingly, Kane's lack of friends and family means that her trio of bridesmaids are Mary Lynn Rajskub's Gail the Snail, Mary Elizabeth Ellis' Waitress, and Artemis Pebdani's Artemis Dubois. I dunno about her, but I'd rather die than have those three at my side.
Okay, so she may have had the same idea, because after a couple of shots of Sam clearly in the land of the living, the tone changes and the wedding festivities become more funeral-coded. Just when you think the Gang might honor Sam's memory with any amount of respect, we see Dee. walking her down the aisle Weekend at Bernie's-style, leading up to Frank leaning in to stick his tongue in seemingly dead Sam's mouth as the crowd gasps in disgust. This is art, people!
Perhaps my favorite thing about this gross exchange of body fluids is Dee's gagging face in the top left. Always so good. Plus, if she's gagging, that definitely means Sam is dead, right? I don't think a whole crowd of people would react that strongly to Frank making out with an unconscious person (for better or worse). So unless she's just in a coma of some kind, I gotta think Frank is marrying a corpse in Season 18. I guess it makes for a cheap honeymoon.
Now let's jump to the second most disturbing thing in the trailer, which somehow isn't the McPoyle family. We're talking about Andrew Friedman's Jack Kelly, Charlie's uncle with major hand-related vulnerabilities. It looks like he's found a way to put his hands to work in a slightly less aggressive way, although I cannot imagine that Uncle Jack's ventriloquist act will be comforting in the slightest.
That said, I definitely still want to see what kind of act he's working with. And what the dummy's name is.
Elsewhere, the Season 18 trailer is filled with goodies, including the Gang getting all decked out to go to a Renaissance Faire, the Gang threatening a beer vendor's life for trying to sell them non-alcoholic suds, and the Gang playing some baseball.
There's also a big parade involved, with a float emblazoned with big images of Carol Kane's Sam and the late Lynne Marie Stewart, who passed away in February 2025, and who's portrayed Charlie's mom Bonnie Kelly for the bulk of the comedy's seasons. It's not quite clear what the reasoning for the event is, but even if it's just to get Charlie in this extravagent costume, it was well worth it.
Thankfully, we won't be waiting too long to see how grody all these episodes get, as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 18 will kick off on FXX on Monday, August 17, 2026, with episode streaming next day via Hulu subscription.
