Rob McElhenney is the creative force behind It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the critically acclaimed FXX comedy series in which he co-stars and serves as executive producer and writer. The 16th season of the television phenomenon premiered in June 2023. In 2019, it was announced that the series was renewed for four additional seasons – therefore shattering the record as the longest-running live-action television sitcom in history. Sunny has been positioned as a cultural juggernaut on a global scale for its unapologetic satirizing of human nature – consistently delivering record-breaking ratings year after year. The series continues to pierce the cultural zeitgeist with the official Always Sunny Podcast, which launched in late 2021 and is hosted by McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton. The podcast instantly skyrocketed after its launch with its avid fanbase and continues to chart as one of the top-ranking podcasts weekly.
McElhenney is also the creator, executive producer and star of Mythic Quest, the acclaimed comedy series that debuted on Apple TV+ in February 2020. The series, which is co-created by Megan Ganz and Charlie Day and is a co-production of Ubisoft and Lionsgate Television, is set in the development studio of one of the most popular video games in the world. Since its launch, Mythic Quest has been lauded by critics and audiences and was recognized time and time again as one of the best new series of 2020. McElhenney and the team behind Mythic Quest created a special “Quarantine” episode of the series that was written, developed, shot and edited entirely during lockdown and shot entirely on an iPhone. This episode was celebrated as a perfect representation of our world during this climate. An additional season one bonus episode debuted in April 2021, leading up to the highly anticipated second season premiere in May 2021. The series was renewed for two additional seasons; its third installment debuted on Apple TV+ on November 11, 2022.
In 2021, FX placed a two-season order for Welcome to Wrexham, a docuseries tracking the dreams and people of Wrexham, a working-class town in North Wales, as McElhenney and his business partner Ryan Reynolds take ownership of the town’s historic Football Club. The year prior, McElhenney and Reynolds teamed up (before ever meeting in person) to take over chairman duties of the Club in hopes to turn the organization into an underdog story the entire world could root for (regardless of their experience with sports or working with one another). Since taking over ownership, the Club’s value has increased by an approximate 300%. The inaugural season was beloved by critics and audiences worldwide and won the coveted Critics Choice Documentary Award in 2022 as well as a Critics Choice Real TV Award in 2023.
McElhenney is also the co-founder and co-chair of ADIM, a virtual creative space that empowers creators and fans to develop and own a new generation of content. ADIM creators can come from anywhere; people are invited to apply and accepted members have the opportunity to collaborate and create stories, characters and narrative universes under the mentorship of established writers and in return will have a stake in the success and evolution of what they create.
McElhenney, in collaboration with Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton, recently debuted their whiskey line Four Walls, which is a tribute to the bar (Paddy’s Pub) from their hit TV series. All proceeds from this limited collection have been and will be donated to 501c-3 non-profit organizations benefiting the bartending community.
A native of Philadelphia, McElhenney started his career working as an actor in small parts on the East Coast until moving to Los Angeles. It was there he connected with Glenn Howerton (who co-wrote the series) and re-connected with Day (the two met on the 2001 horror movie Campfire Stories) and the three filmed the pilot for Sunny on a camcorder.
