brief period between seasons 12 and 13 where Dennis Reynolds’ future on the show wasn’t clear. At the end of “Dennis’ Double Life,” Dennis decides to leave the gang so he can be closer to his recently-discovered kid in North Dakota. In real life, Glenn Howerton announced he would be leading a new sitcom, “A.P. Bio.” Dennis thankfully returned to the show part-time the next season, and has stuck around full-time from season 14 on.
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But before Howerton officially pulled away from the show for a bit, he was thinking about leaving as early as season 6. In a recent podcast interview with Rick Glassman, Howerton explained how he had felt confined by the show and it was making him a little miserable. “When we were shooting season 6 of ‘Always Sunny,’ I was in a bad place,” Howerton said. “I was feeling burnt out, and frankly I was feeling boxed in by the show.” He explained further:
“At that point, we were doing 13 episodes a season. […] I didn’t want to do it anymore — at all. Because I had other career goals, and it was getting in the way. Because I’m spending, at that point, probably eight, nine months were spent writing, acting, and then in post on ‘Always Sunny.’ Nine months. And I didn’t set out to be a comedic actor, I had other things that I wanted to do. […] I’m not someone with endless amounts of energy. Some people can juggle multiple things at once, I’m not good at that.”
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The good news is that co-star Rob McElhenney, who plays Mac and also co-writes/produces the show, was able to get Howerton out of his funk. As Howerton put it, “[McElhenney], in the most loving way, he pulled me aside and he was like, ‘Hey man, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.’ I was like, ‘Yeah?’ and he was like, ‘Are you okay? Are you doing okay?'”
The two were able to talk through Howerton’s frustrations, and Howerton came out of the conversation a little more content with his situation, and more capable of enjoying the production without bumming out the rest of the crew. It also may have also helped that “Always Sunny” started making changes to its production soon after.
