Glenn Howerton nearly quit ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’

It was the implication. 

Glenn Howerton, who stars as the sociopathic Dennis Reynolds in the long running sitcom “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” revealed that he once almost left the show, which is currently in Season 17. 

During a recent PaleyLive panel to celebrate the show’s 20th anniversary, Howerton, 49, spoke with his co-stars Charlie Day, Danny DeVito, Rob McElhenney, and Kaitlin Olson. 

Howerton, who co-created, writes, and produces on the show in addition to starring on it, said, “It was actually before we started working on Season 12. I was like, ‘Look, I just don’t want to wear out our welcome.’” 

The “Sirens” actor added, “I was worried that maybe we had sort of peaked or something, and I just was like, you know, we’ve been doing this for a long time. And I think I was also anxious.”

Howerton continued,  “I had not figured out yet how to stretch myself and be able to do other things that I wanted to do with my career outside of the show. I just hadn’t figured out how to do that yet. I was aching to do other things, and so I was starting to feel a little boxed in, frankly.”

“It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” which first premiered on FX in 2005 (it currently airs on FXX and Hulu), is about a group of narcissistic and sociopathic friends who run a dive bar in the titular city. 

There’s Dennis (Howerton), his sister Dee (Kaitlin Olson), their father Frank (Danny DeVito) and their friends Charlie (Charlie Day) and Mac (Rob McElhenney).

“They were like, ‘We don’t want to end it,’” Howerton recalled his co-stars saying. “And I was like, ‘Oh, well I can’t stop you.’ And then Seasons 13 and 14, I came back as an actor but I wasn’t in the writers room.”

McElhenney joked that “there were so many moments” where Howerton tried to quit, but the crew wouldn’t “let him because of the implication,” referring to an iconic Dennis scene from the show where the character states, “it’s the implication.” 

During an interview with the Post in May, Howerton said the cast has discussed ending the show. 

“It’s hard to say. It changes often, season to season. There are some seasons where we’re like, ‘Oh, I can’t do this anymore.’ But there are other seasons where everyone is just really stoked and excited to be there, and excited to get the opportunity to continue exploring these insane characters in this insane world,” Howerton explained.

He added, “We were quite invigorated this year. So, I think we’re just taking it year by year.” 

The former “A.P. Bio” star told The Post that after each season, we “check in with ourselves.” 

“We never like to have those conversations about what the future of the show is when we finish a season,” he explained. 

“Because that’s when we are like, ‘Yeah, I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.’ It’s always good to take a couple months off, and then have that conversation, like, ‘Do we want to keep going?’” 

Howerton told The Post that as of 2025, “We’re still having such a blast working with each other. And, there seems to be endless ways to explore the world through these characters. So, we have no intention of stopping anytime soon.”