The gang from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” took part in a panel discussion at the Vulture Festival in Los Angeles Sunday afternoon, but they’re keeping a tight lid on what’s coming for Season 13.
Though early in the discussion, co-creator Rob McElhenney said they were preparing to start up the writers’ room again, but would not say whether Glenn Howerton will be returning for the 2018 season.
“We’re getting back to the writers’ room in February [2018],” McElhenney said. Later in the discussion, he said production is slated to start in April and the release date would be in the fall of 2018.
They were more tight-lipped when pressed about Howerton’s return.
“Eh, damn it,” Howerton said when first asked about coming back. Despite the crowd’s cheers for him to return, he did not commit either way.
“I will say this: All joking aside, I love these guys and we have an absolute blast working together. We’ll see,” he said.
When asked how the writers were preparing for a season that may or may not have Howerton involved, McElhenney remained quiet.
“We’ve got all sorts of surprises,” McElhenney said.
The series regulars have been together in “Sunny” since Danny DeVito joined the cast in Season 2, and all five were on hand for the panel discussion, including Charlie Day and Kaitlin Olson. Howerton’s character, Dennis Reynolds, was written off the show in Season 12 finale when he left town to be with his newborn child.
Howerton is set to star in the new NBC sitcom “AP Bio” alongside Patton Oswalt, which he said would be premiering in early 2018. The series’ future will almost certainly affect whether or not Howerton is available to shoot episodes of “It’s Always Sunny.”
The series has premiered in January for the past three seasons, but aired in the fall prior to that. New episodes will be available on FXX.
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